Also I admit I'm a little afraid, and probably won't post it in the Map Thread, but here is the latest version of that Two Americas map, with original description. Hopefully posting it here goes okay this time.
The Two Americas
Here is a teaser for the new version of Heart of Dixie. It is of a continent deeply divided against itself, as much in 1900 as it was in 1860. Much has changed over the past decades in the latter half of the 19th century that has caused the two nations, once a loose whole, to become as different as any other two countries. In the north is the United States, a mighty beast of industrialization and capitalism that spans the continent as a colossus. It is a land of great inequalities and contrasts, from the farmers and workers rising up from impoverishment in populism and leftism to the rich industrial capitalists, bankers, stockbrokers, and other purveyors of wealth who seek to make America the greatest workshop the world has ever seen. It is a place where one can get lost in the West forever, in plains and mountains larger than all of India, or lose one's self in cities no larger than some farmers' ranches, whose seemingly-endless blocks grow in every direction. It is a land like no other, and the envy of the entire western world.
To the south is the Confederate States, an altogether different animal who lumbers along, sick and weak, into the 20th century. As much as the United States is a land of contrasts, the Confederate States is even moreso. Rich industrialists and slavers (in some states in all but name as even without slavery the rich white men are always favored and provided a way to rule over their black workers) are far separated from the masses of teeming poor white farmers, laborers, and factory workers who stand only a little above the slaves or former slaves who toil endlessly in a system designed specifically to oppress and subjugate them in the most inhumane and evil way that could possibly be conceived by man. Yet it is not an enduring system, and by 1900 that becomes ever more clear, as agitation among the poor black and poor white communities only continues to grow (helped along by a sympathetic United States). The works of Marx, Engels, and Clemens--known for a certain tract known as "Heart of Dixie"--spread like wildfire through the lower classes of the Confederacy, and only time will tell what will be birthed from this seed.
It is a world both similar to and vastly different from our own, of the many millions of peoples who inhabit it and their contributions to the world. It is a world of destinies and fortunes, spread across so vast and great a land as has never been known before. It is the world of Heart of Dixie, and it is a world coming this August, 2017.
If you enjoyed this map and want to support me (and get some bonus goodies), donate to my Patreon:
www.patreon.com/toixstory
