Fear Nothing But God: A Graphical History

Lovely map, but may I suggest one more change you can make for this map? The name "Manjutudi", which I understand as the literal translation of the phrase "Manchurians' Land", actually sounds off in written Chinese, it would be better to reuse "Manchukuo" as taken during the period of Japanese overlordship IOTL, or probably not using Chinese at all and use the Manchurian words "Manchu Gurun".

Thanks! A great bit of advice, I'll make that change. Manchu Gurun sounds fitting.

A unique take on political positions. I like it!

Thank you, I wanted to mix it up a little from OTL but keep it recognisable and intelligible.

Also, why is are the Navajo in Oklahoma?

Those borders aren't final but the general idea is they get pushed inland by mounting Spanish and east asian colonisation, suffering an East to West version of the West to East trail of tears that the Cherokee and others experienced OTL. Again though, I might shift them west a little as that's probably too far east to migrate.

Can I ask what’s going on with Rumelia and Anadolu?

I touched on this briefly over in the Map Thread and its definitely something I'll elaborate on in the future. The general idea is that the Ottomans have a better time in the 18th and 19th centuries and more actively puruse a policy of integration and conversion in Europe. When the various revolutions of the 20th century roll around, the Empire crumbles and an anti-Ottoman, revolutionary Turkish republic rises up and takes control of Anatolia, declaring the Republic of Anadolu. After putting down a string of European nationalist revolutions, the Ottomans are actually able to cling on to their European holdings even as the east is lost to them. This leads to a rather ironic situation of a multi-ethnic and islamised Ottoman Empire in Europe with a fiercely anti-monarchist, nationalist turkish republic in Anatolia.
 
Meaning of the Flag of the Fraternal Commonwealth
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Plans for the Future of the TL
Plans for the Future of FNBG:

1. The Revolution in America, New England, New Cymru, Virginia and Albemarle
2.
The Parliament of the Commonwealth and 2016 General Election
3. A List of the Lord-Presidents of the Commonwealth
4. Religion in the Commonwealth, "Old Anglicanism" and the Friends Church
5. A Breakdown of Ideologies
6. Rumelia and Andolu, the Fall of the Ottoman Empire

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This is the general plan for the future of the TL, I'll update this as things are posted and as people make requests. This should also give people an idea of the direction things are going and the kind of things we'll be exploring.
 
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New England, New Cymru, Virginia and Albemarle
The Four Atlantic Commonwealths
New England, New Cymru, Virginia and Albemarle


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New England

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The Flag of New England combines the Fraternal Ensign with an inverted cross of St George, the Flag of England.

The Province of New England is the largest of the "Atlantic Commonwealths" in terms of population and area. A semi-independent nation and Sister Commonwealth of the FC, she boasts a powerful economy and is broadly recognised as the wealthiest and most powerful country in North America. New Englanders, commonly known as Yankees, are stereotyped as busy, businesslike and conservative. Of all the Atlantic Commmonwealths, New England has grown the most substantially since its foundation - integrating not only the formly French territory of Arcadia but also the island of Newfoundland. Her economy is diverse, with traditional agriculture giving way to high levels of heavy industrial production and strong tertiary industries in the 19th century. Boston is home to the Bank of North America and the New England Stock Exchange, making it the premier economic city the western hemisphere.

New England politics are influenced by two main trends; liberalism and Puritan Christianity, represented today in the Ecclesiastical Party and Whig Party, though more than a third of seats are held by so called "minor parties" representing Anthropist, Leveller, Cultivarist and Pokolenite thought. The nation follows the Whitehall Model, though greater power is invested in the Speaker than in most nations and the Governor-President fills a largely ceremonial role.





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New Cymru


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The Flag of New Cymru integrates the coat of arms of William Penn, the nation's founder.
The Province of New Cymru, often simply New Cymru or Newcymru, is a semi-independent nation located on the Eastern American Seaboard, a sister Commonwealth of the Fraternal Commonwealth and one of the four Atlantic Commonwealths. New Cymru is a heavivly industrialised state, with a strong export economy. With Philadelphia, the largest city in North America, known as the "Heart of Technology", the nation produces world record numbers of calculators, scripts and other binary products. She is known for her diversity and has the highest American population of any atlantic commonwealth. Special measures and protections for the local American population are numerous, with children of all backgrounds studying American history, languages and philsophy in school. Faith in New Cymru is defined by high levels of adherence to the Friends Church and to Traditional American faiths. New Cymric citizens are commonly known as "Nukies", a name that now implies substantial pride.

New Cymru's politics are broadly standard and adhere to the Fraternal Commonwealth's Whitehall System of a directly elected Head of State (here known as the High Pensioner) sharing power with a power Head of Government, in the form of the Speaker. New Cymru has a two party system with the Quaker Party (known commonly as the Foxes) currently holding the Pensionership and the Popular Party (known as the Bees) controlling the Speakership.





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Virginia

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The flag of Virginia integrates a green field, representing agriculture and the tabacco industry, a golden ring, representing Queen Elizabeth's regnal ring which was worn until death and the roman numerals "IV" in reference to Virginia's status as the "Fourth Dominion".

The Dominion of Virginia, commonly known simply as Virginia is a semi-independent nation located on the Eastern American Seaboard, a sister Commonwealth of the Fraternal Commonwealth and one of the four Atlantic Commonwealths. Virginia is a largely rural nation whose primary exports include tobacco, cotton, rice, corn and wheat. Virginia is known amongst the Atlantic Commonwealths for its high cultural output, exporting many visuo-operatics and stage productions, as well as being home to four of the top six visuo-stages in the English speaking world. She is notably the only Atlantic commonwealth not to have an informal nickname (such as Yankee, Albie or Nukie) and this fits the Virginian stereotype of social conservatism and seriousness. As the smallest Atlantic Commonwealth in both size and population, Virginia's influence is maintained by her "Spoken Power", the influence of her cultural exports.

Unlike other Sister Commonwealths (or the Fraternal Commonwealth itself), Virginia employs a Gubernatorial system of government which places considerable powers in the hands of the Governor, rather than the Parliament or Assembly. A democracy, Virginia elects their House of Burgesses for four year turns (with the most recent election taking place in 2017) which then appoints their Council of State for six year terms, a third of the Council up for appointment every two years. As with the Albionic Lord-President, the Lord-Governor of Virginia is elected by popular vote though the Governor sits for an eight year term and is term limited to two consecutive terms. For many years, Virginia was dominated by the New Whigs and the Nostalgic Party, though in recent years both have declined and the current Lord-Governor and Speaker come from the Levellers of Virginia and Agrarian Party respectively.





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Albemarle

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Albemarle's flag features a design based on the coat of arms of Sir Francis Drake and Sir George Carteret who were both prominent figure's in Albemarle history.

The Province of Albemarle is the most southern of the Four Atlantic commonwealths. Originally known as Carolina, it was renamed due to the association of that name with the Catholic Stuart Kings. Albemarle is a broadly insular nation and more independently minded than her neighbours, though remains tied to the Fraternal Commonwealth by her military, currency, economy and political culture. Her economy is diverse and export focused and despite historic animosity, Albemarle now enjoy productive and increasingly close links with her neighbour, Florida. The Slaver Revolt was the only major war between the Fraternal Commonwealth and her North Atlantic colonies and is a dark mark on Albemarle's history, with much of her culture invariably shaped by the legacy of slavery - which she practiced for generations longer than any other colony and in direct violation of FC law. In recent years, the slow drift away from London that Albemarle has slowed as repeated Alliance Party administrations in Albion have made efforts to accomodate Albemarle's desire for greater economic and trade powers. The people of Albemarle are commonly known as "Albies".

The politics of Albermarle are dominated by the catch-all populist Worker and Farmer's Party, though the Whiggish-Volontist Reform Front has been gaining influence in recent years. The Albemarle constitution is looser than most countries under the Whitehall System and the power of the Governor-President and Speaker tend to vary depending on the personalities inhabiting each role. Broadly however, the General Assembly exerpts a great deal of influence over policy and leadership.


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Very nice collection of Atlantic Commonwealths, Major! Though one thing stood out to me; there's a Jamestown in Virginia AND Albemarle, wouldn't that lead to confusion (especially since one's a capital, the other a major city)? Or perhaps that's a deliberate choice, and any confusion is patently intended. Either way, good show!
 
Awesome!!!

Is the new English shilling unpegged? If it’s the case What’s its position in the FC economies and trade.

So Boston is the largest city in eastern North America? What’s its rough size and how does it compare to London?

Are there french speaking descendant of arcadians left in New England?

I assume american means Native American, there’s many of them left which is cool! I’m sure you have more planned on them but could you give a brief overview of their place in society and level of integration, and if there are important inequalities? . Surprised there aren’t more in Albermale considering their IRL historical importance and Population.

From the dates of the slaver revolt it seems slavery was abolished much earlier than IRL in the other provinces, also explains the lower “Afro” population in the south.

Why is there a notable Sikh popualtion in New England?

Also you may have missed a few words in the New England description

Awesome update as always!
 
Very nice collection of Atlantic Commonwealths, Major! Though one thing stood out to me; there's a Jamestown in Virginia AND Albemarle, wouldn't that lead to confusion (especially since one's a capital, the other a major city)? Or perhaps that's a deliberate choice, and any confusion is patently intended. Either way, good show!

Woops that's a typo; the Albemarle Jamestown is a mistake and one I'll fix shortly.

Glad you liked them though! These four took me bloody ages to get done and were a bit of a roadblock in the project. Hoping I can get to some more varied things now.

Awesome!!!

Is the new English shilling unpegged? If it’s the case What’s its position in the FC economies and trade.

So Boston is the largest city in eastern North America? What’s its rough size and how does it compare to London?

Are there french-speaking descendant of Arcadians left in New England?

I assume american means Native American, there’s many of them left which is cool! I’m sure you have more planned on them but could you give a brief overview of their place in society and level of integration, and if there are important inequalities? . Surprised there aren’t more in Albermale considering their IRL historical importance and Population.

From the dates of the slaver revolt it seems slavery was abolished much earlier than IRL in the other provinces, also explains the lower “Afro” population in the south.

Why is there a notable Sikh popualtion in New England?

Also you may have missed a few words in the New England description

Awesome update as always!

Ah I'm glad you liked it! :D And thanks for the questions, lets me flesh things and out a little more! Fixed the New England thing, I'm clearly just bad at copy-pasting.

I've responded to a lot of your questions below but got a bit carried away and the message is really long! So I've broken things up into spoilers.

The New England shilling is fully independent and the only colonial currency to be so; they broke off the direct connection to the Bank of England in the 1970s in order to pursue a more independent trade and economic policy and to reflect their own power. The move is controversial, both for political and economic reasons but broadly most accept that it was probably the right move to allow the New England economy to grow more organically, despite a dramatic initial loss in value.

EDIT: My bad, got my Boston and Philly numbers mixed up. Fixed now. Philadelphia is huge, closely followed by Boston. Philly clocks in at around 11 million people in its metro area and about 8 million in the city proper whilst Boston has around 9 million in the Metro and 5 million in the city. New York never gained the same prominence as OTL but does still boast a population of 3 million people. Other large Atlantic cities include Albany, Halifax, Jamestown and Roanoke city. At some point, I'll put together a list of the largest cities on the continent. On the other side of the Atlantic, London is also smaller than OTL, at just 12.5 million in the metro area but this is balanced out by several Albionic cities being much lager than OTL. In the south of England Gloucester, Bristol and Oxford all top 1 million people, as do Manchester, Warwick, Norwich and Sunderland.

There is a French speaking population in Arcadia but its still rather small; really there are only about 200,000 native French Acadien speakers. Less than OTL because still-French Canada is next door and the vast majority of French Arcadians have moved north.

American does indeed mean native/indigenous/first nations, ethnicities ITTL are now discussed in purely geographic terms which are deemed to be the most polite. Hence Euro for caucasians, Afro for people of African descent, American for indigenous americans and Far/Mid/Near Asiatic for East, South and West Asian peoples.

Native rights are now quite good, but vary a lot by nation:

- New Cymru has always enjoyed at least semi-peaceful co-existence and today have a litany of special protections for Americans and a string of programmes to maintain and share their languages and cultures. The current Speaker of New Cymru is American and two of her former High Pensioners have been. There have of course been conflicts and discrimination, but Penn's constitution ensured that native rights would be fully respected and a substantial amount of state land is under "special protection" and can only be owned, bought and sold by Americans. Some American tribes had their territory formalised and were officially integrated as the local government, such as in Lenape County in the northeast. In recent years, it has been suggested that a notable American name for the region "Lenapehoking" be adopted as official co-name of the nation.

- New England's relations have varied. Their relations are most notably with the Iroquois, who exist as an independent nation to the west. The two were often allies against the French to the north but fought a series of inconclusive wars over their border in the early 19th century. Discrimination and religious schooling was rife but in the late 19th century things began to change and now there are many protections for native languages and full rights are assured by the central government. The situation is broadly comparable to the situation in modern New Zealand, IOTL.

- Virginia's history is the most comparable to OTL Canada. Difficult, often oppressive and aggressive but with modern and 20th century efforts to build links and repair bridges. Since the 1920s there has been consistent representation of Americans in the House of Burgesses and they have achieved full legal equality as well as being registered as a protected group nationally, though these protections are more limited than in the north.

- Albemarle's history with their "American" population is probably the worst, as bitter wars with the Cherokee continued well into the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The current Cherokee population of Albemarle is ~210,000, substantially higher than the ~20,000 that live in the Carolinas IOTL but still rather low. Many moved north and west; to New Cymru and the Haudenosaunee for the most part. There are a further 70,000 Americans of other backgrounds in the state as well. Relations are still tense but have been moving in a more positive direction.

Slavery was actually abolished in the FC during the revolution, so in 1686 (this may seem ASB but IOTL it was a hot button debate in England in the 17th century and Locke who is incredibly important ITTL was in favour of abolition), but there was a major disagreement about the status of the colonies and whether they were a affected by this or could pass their own laws regarding slaves. By the 1720s, London is trying to enforce an end to slavery and New England has already abolished it whilst New Cymru (ever the Quakers) never had it. Virginia begrudgingly gives it up in the 1710s, as it was already in decline given the government's hunting down of slave ships and offer to recomenpense all owners for their newly emancipated slaves. Albemarle was another issue and declared independence in an attempt to maintain the isntitution. This went about how you'd expect and despite limited French and Spanish support, the Albies were crushed pretty decisively. Albemarle had a higher black population than Virginia circa ~1750 but migration north to more enlightened states was wide spread and now the two are about at parity of 72000. With slavery ending earlier than OTL, never reaching the same level of entrenchment, civil rights came faster. There was something of a *"Reconstruction" in Albemarle as the colony was occupied and run directly from London for a few years and to some extent this stuck. There was no full scale segregation as OTL and though discriminatory laws were passed in both Virginia and Albemarle, most were repealed by the end of the 19th century. Full civil rights were achieved by 1900.

Sikh population in New England is there for a couple of reasons; partly its just migration within the Albionic Empire but the reason they're notable in New England is that the East India Company (who still exist, in a new form) had a major hub in Boston. The EIC often employed Sikhs due to their "neutrality" in dealing with Muslims and Hindus, so a small but notable population built up. Then, with Sikhs oppressed pretty badly in Gurkhanistan and with New England's immigration policy loose, many moved west to one of the few cities that already had a Sikh population; Boston - now famed for its vegetarian curry.

Nice work on the Four Atlantic Commonwealths chapter... One small note - there are a couple of sentences cut off in the New England section.

Thank you! Sentences should be fixed now.
 
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Awesome stuff so far! Loving the detail and imagery :)

One clarification, in the write-up you mention Philadelphia being the largest city in North America:

...Philadelphia, the largest city in North America, known as... [Emphasis added]

But in your above reply, you mention that Boston is actually larger with an 11M/8M split between metro and city, while Philadelphia has a 9M/5M split!
 
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Awesome stuff so far! Loving the detail and imagery :)

One clarification, in the write-up you mention Philadelphia being the largest city in North America:



But in your above reply, you mention that Boston is actually larger with an 11M/8M split between metro and city, while Philadelphia has a 9M/5M split!

Ah excellent point! Just me crossing wires. Numbers for Philly and Boston were the wrong way round. As KutKu asked me "So Boston is the largest city in eastern North America? " my brain just went "Yeah that sounds about right" and agreed but you are correct. Philly is indeed the largest city. I'll fix those numbers now. :D

I'm really glad you're liking it. I hope to do more modern worldbuilding now, hopefully, flesh out the present to make the world feel a little more real. So elections in the FC are next; boxes for the first (1686) and most recent (2016) Parliamentary and Presidential Elections are on the way!
 
Ah excellent point! Just me crossing wires. Numbers for Philly and Boston were the wrong way round. As KutKu asked me "So Boston is the largest city in eastern North America? " my brain just went "Yeah that sounds about right" and agreed but you are correct. Philly is indeed the largest city. I'll fix those numbers now. :D

I'm really glad you're liking it. I hope to do more modern worldbuilding now, hopefully, flesh out the present to make the world feel a little more real. So elections in the FC are next; boxes for the first (1686) and most recent (2016) Parliamentary and Presidential Elections are on the way!

Neat! I take it there is no canal system ITTL that connected NYC to the lakes?

Philly is HUGE in TTL - I love it and can't wait to hear more, especially the two parliamentary boxes! :)
 
Neat! I take it there is no canal system ITTL that connected NYC to the lakes?

Philly is HUGE in TTL - I love it and can't wait to hear more, especially the two parliamentary boxes! :)

Glad to have sparked your interest, I hope you like what you see! :)

Yeah NYC is far, far less developed than OTL and the state is a lot more decentralised in terms of population and development so no canals for her. Generally, the lakes are in a much weirder situation than OTL; they're effectively contested three ways between the French, New Englanders and Haudenosaunee people are weary to invest heavily in them or in developing around there rather than the safer coasts.

Funny thing is mega-Philly could have happened IOTL, at the time of the American Revolution it was larger than NYC and was the second city in the US for the majority of the nation's history. ITTL, NYC is overshadowed by her northern and southern neighbours, in part because she is forced to share prominence with Boston whilst Philadelphia is the heart of a growing and wealthy New Cymru. Also as wealth in New England is based in Boston, not New York, that financial driver for growth isn't there either.
 
This is really good so far MC! The only thing is that New Cymru is really annoying to me as it should really be New Wales or Cymru Newydd. Keep up the good work!
 

Deleted member 107125

I really like this timeline! I think this year has given us some great graphic timelines, yours included. Perhaps when you’re ready, you could expand on the world outside of the Commonwealth?
 
Mini Progress Update:

Hey for those few people who were interested in this, fear not! It is not dead. I've just been incredibly busy at work, been contracted out for a job for the duration of the ongoing UK General Election (which is on Thursday) and I've been so busy with that and fulfilling my obligations re: election games that I've had no time to develop this further.

Next update should be a rundown of ideologies, explaining just what all those strange things mean and how they interact with one another. After that a list of FC Lord Presidents from the revolution through to the mid 18th century, some little stuff on cities and architecture, something on the world at large through the World Forum and its leaders and finally whatever requests I get from people. I think once I've done a lot of that and worked out some stuff focusing on international powers and our *World Wars (they won't be called that) then FNBG will have a solid foundation I can tweak and expand out in whatever direction appeals to me and the readers most at the time. :)
 
This is really good so far MC! The only thing is that New Cymru is really annoying to me as it should really be New Wales or Cymru Newydd. Keep up the good work!

You're right it really should! That was the name suggested IOTL though so tragically we're going for it. See "New Caledonia" of OTL :p/

I really like this timeline! I think this year has given us some great graphic timelines, yours included. Perhaps when you’re ready, you could expand on the world outside of the Commonwealth?

Absolutely! That's a major goal of mine. Soon we'll have "World Forum" updates which will show off the flags, systems of government and leaders of most major nations and from there I can explore them in some depth.
 
I have to admit that I really like how far you're taking this world building. Something like brand new ideologies (or even just remixes of ideologies we're already aware off) is a real treat after looking at many TL's which tend to be more tame in their ambitions.
 
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