Republic of Cascadia

The Northwest Pacific Republic of Cascadia, more commonly referred to as Cascadia, Republic of Cascadia or RC is a group of people who seceded from the United States and joined together to create their own nation, the Republic of Cascadia. Cascadia is on the Northwest Pacific coast where Oregon, Washington, and parts of British Columbia (Southern and Western) used to exist. Cascadia has a land area of approximately 895,000 square kilometers, containing three divisions within the country: The country itself, counties and townships/metropolitan areas. The largest county of the 28 existing ones is called Vancouver Island County. Cascadia has a population of about 20 million citizens, most of which are Middle or High wealth. The capital city of Cascadia is Seattle, though Vancouver is slightly larger.

Native Americans
The first people to live and rule the land currently known as Cascadia were various native American tribes with vibrant cultures. The most notable are most likely the Makah culture that controlled some of what is now Seattle and sections going farther south and north of Seattle. The native Americans lived in peace and ruled these areas until the sixteenth century. When European explorers landed on American shores in 1492, much oppression and war broke out against the native tribes, however, this did not effect the northwest tribes--yet. Many Cascadian citizens reject both Christopher Columbus's and Leif Erikson's claim that they "discovered" the Americas. Columbus day is not celebrated as well, instead Native American Heritage day is celebrated, similar to that in the Union of Everett.



Colonization
Since 1492, many explorers and colonists flooded the Americas and began colonizing the land. On April 2, 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed on what he called "La Florida"—the first documented European arrival on what would become the U.S. mainland. Spanish settlements in the region were followed by ones in the present-day southwestern United States that drew thousands through Mexico. French fur traders established outposts of New France around the Great Lakes; France eventually claimed much of the North American interior, down to the Gulf of Mexico. The first successful English settlements were the Virginia Colony in Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims' Plymouth Colony in 1620. The 1628 chartering of the Massachusetts Bay Colony resulted in a wave of migration; by 1634, New England had been settled by some 10,000 Puritans. By the turn of the century, African slaves were becoming the primary source of bonded labor. With the 1729 division of the Carolinas and the 1732 colonization of Georgia, the thirteen British colonies that would become the United States of America were established. All had local governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient rights of Englishmen and a sense of self-government stimulating support for republicanism. All legalized the African slave trade. With high birth rates, low death rates, and steady immigration, the colonial population grew rapidly. Excluding the Native Americans, who were being displaced, those thirteen colonies had a population of 2.6 million in 1770, about one-third that of Britain; nearly one in five Americans were black slaves. Though subject to British taxation, the American colonials had no representation in the Parliament of Great Britain.

The United States of America
Tensions between American colonials and the British during the revolutionary period of the 1760s and early 1770s led to the American Revolutionary War, fought from 1775 through 1781. On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress, convening in Philadelphia, established a Continental Army under the command of George Washington. Proclaiming that "all men are created equal" and endowed with "certain unalienable Rights," the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson, on July 4, 1776. That date is now celebrated annually as America's Independence Day. In 1777, the Articles of Confederation established a weak federal government that operated until 1789.



After the British defeat by American forces assisted by the French, Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States and the states' sovereignty over American territory west to the Mississippi River. A constitutional convention was organized in 1787 by those wishing to establish a strong national government, with powers of taxation. The United States Constitution was ratified in 1788, and the new republic's first Senate, House of Representatives, and president George Washington took office in 1789. The Bill of Rights, forbidding federal restriction of personal freedoms and guaranteeing a range of legal protections, was adopted in 1791. Americans' eagerness to expand westward prompted a long series of Indian Wars and an Indian removal policy that stripped the native peoples of their land. The Louisiana Purchase of French-claimed territory under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 almost doubled the nation's size. The War of 1812, declared against Britain over various grievances and fought to a draw, strengthened U.S. nationalism. A series of U.S. military incursions into Florida led Spain to cede it and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819. The United States annexed the Republic of Texas in 1845. The concept of Manifest Destiny was popularized during this time. The 1846 Oregon Treaty with Britain led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest. The U.S. victory in the Mexican-American War resulted in the 1848 cession of California and much of the present-day American Southwest.

Tensions between slave and free states mounted with arguments over the relationship between the state and federal governments, as well as violent conflicts over the spread of slavery into new states. Abraham Lincoln, candidate of the largely antislavery Republican Party, was elected president in 1860. Before he took office, seven slave states declared their secession—which the federal government maintained was illegal—and formed the Confederate States of America. With the Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, the American Civil War began and four more slave states joined the Confederacy. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation committed the Union to ending slavery. Following the Union victory in 1865, three amendments to the U.S. Constitution ensured freedom for the nearly four million African Americans who had been slaves, made them citizens, and gave them voting rights. The war and its resolution led to a substantial increase in federal power.

The 1867 Alaska purchase from Russia completed the country's mainland expansion. The Wounded Knee massacre in 1890 was the last major armed conflict of the Indian Wars. In 1893, the indigenous monarchy of the Pacific Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in a coup led by American residents; the United States annexed the archipelago in 1898.

At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the United States remained neutral. Most Americans sympathized with the British and French, although many opposed intervention. In 1917, the United States joined the Allies, turning the tide against the Central Powers. In 1920, the women's rights movement won passage of a constitutional amendment granting women's suffrage. The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that triggered the Great Depression. After his election as president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal, a range of policies increasing government intervention in the economy. The Dust Bowl of the mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration. The United States, effectively neutral during World War II's early stages after Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939, began supplying material to the Allies in March 1941 through the Lend-Lease program. On December 7, 1941, the United States joined the Allies against the Axis powers after a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. The United States, having developed the first nuclear weapons, used them on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. Japan surrendered on September 2, ending the war.

The United States and Soviet Union jockeyed for power after World War II during the Cold War, dominating the military affairs of Europe through NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The United States promoted liberal democracy and capitalism, while the Soviet Union promoted communism and a centrally planned economy. Both supported countries using their ideologies and engaged in proxy wars. The 1961 Soviet launch of the first manned spaceflight prompted President John F. Kennedy's call for the United States to be first to land "a man on the moon," achieved in 1969. Kennedy also faced a tense nuclear showdown with Soviet forces in Cuba. Meanwhile, the United States experienced sustained economic expansion. A growing civil rights movement, led by African Americans such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., fought segregation and discrimination. Following Kennedy's assassination in 1963, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson and his successor, Richard Nixon, expanded a proxy war in Southeast Asia into the unsuccessful Vietnam War. The subsequent Soviet collapse ended the Cold War.

The leadership role taken by the United States and its allies in the UN–sanctioned Gulf War, under President George H. W. Bush, and the Yugoslav wars, under President Bill Clinton, helped to preserve its position as a superpower. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York City and The Pentagon near Washington, D.C., killing nearly three thousand people. In response, President Bush launched the War on Terrorism. In late 2001, U.S. forces led an invasion of Afghanistan, removing the Taliban government and al-Qaeda training camps. Taliban insurgents continue to fight a guerrilla war. In 2002, the Bush administration began to press for regime change in Iraq on controversial grounds. Lacking the support of NATO or an explicit UN mandate for military intervention, Bush organized a Coalition of the Willing; coalition forces preemptively invaded Iraq in 2003, removing dictator and former U.S. ally Saddam Hussein.

Cascadia
After corruption struck the United States in the beginning of the 21st century, the states that now make up Cascadia began to clamor for independence from the United States. After Everett seceded, Washington and Oregon seceded as well--but did not join Everett unlike many other former US states. The two states eventually became The Republic of the Cascades and signed a treaty in the United Nations with the United States effectively granting the two states independence. Soon, British Columbia wanted to join the new republic but some loyalists residing in the province did not. An agreement was met and a treaty signed than Canada would be allowed to keep the Northern and Eastern parts of British Columbia, while the rest of the province would be allowed to join the Republic of the Cascades, whose name was soon changed to The Republic of Cascadia. A flag was decided on for the quickly developing republic, called the Doug (as opposed to the Star Spangled Banner of the United States). An anthem, Sunset Beautiful, was decided on and made official. Within a year, the republic was almost done nationalizing and reforming itself and its HDI continued growing. After that, the Republic of Cascadia's economical power eventually grew to rival the United States and other countries, as their Gross Domestic Product is at nearly 700 billion US dollars and own a relatively valuable currency, the Casnara.

Cascadia became a United Nations security council member and established itself as both a food and metal provider for the world, important resources which can be traded for the now diminishing need for oil (besides for making plastic). The GDP continued to climb as their diplomacy continued to grow, resulting in alliances with both Russia and New Zealand. In 2007, Cascadia was invited into the G9 effectively making the group the Group of Ten. Meanwhile, HDI and average IQ continued to climb in Cascadia with new educational and environmental programs being established as the debt was slowly being paid off with a trade surplus of exports. Cascadia also uses its surplus for the investigation of new technology along with the strengthening Russia. By 2009, Droids and lasers were soon developed and the two were quickly catching up to Everett in terms of technological advancement. By this time the Casnara had also reached its present strength at about .81 US Dollars per Casnara while being a frequently traded currency.

In 2006, Cascadia founded its own space program, CSEA, and started building up its Military. Subcategories in the army were developed and new spacecraft and aircraft planned and produced for the twinned military organizations. Various space-capable planes have been produced, one being slightly larger than an Airbus A380. The CSEA recently launched its first space probe, Barnard, and sent it to the gas giant of Jupiter and the four galilean moons. These programs were funded by Cascadia's stable surplus earned from their exports.

Government

 * Main article: Government of Cascadia

Cascadia's people were not happy with the heavy corruption possible in a representative or councilist democracy, so the Cascadian people chose another form, a Parliamentary Republic. They established an elected parliament similar to the United Kingdom, although there was no symbolic monarch. A ministry was also formed consisting of many ministries to run the country. After Cascadia seceded from the United States, most of the population though that the United States government was corrupted in at least one way. The citizens that were seceding to form Cascadia thought that the Representative Democracy in the United States was not working because people were abusing the features of that government and that the president could possibly be corrupted.

The Prime Minister of Cascadia is Nathan Flech, a 42 year old man, and the Foreign Minister is Alaina Roberts, a 40 year old woman. All terms in office of Cascadia last 5 years and then one must be re-elected. Cascadia's term limits are set at that after 3 terms have passed, one may not be re-elected any more. A term in parliament is also 5 years but there is no term limit set. There is one member of parliament per every 500,000 citizens, making the number of parliament members total 40. Ministers are elected individually as well and their terms last 5 years once again. In Cascadia, the elections take place on the first Saturday of May, and most stay open from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Cascadia's government offices are completed and functional in the city of Seattle, and the offices were finished on April 2, 2008. The offices consist of many buildings, including a manor for the prime minister, the parliament building, buildings for each of the ministries, the archive building, CIA (Cascadian Investigation Agency) headquarters, CEPA (Cascadian Enviromental Protection Agency), and many more buildings for various government agencies. There is also an area dedicated to the United States and Canada for nurturing the former and province/states for a long time.

Culture

 * Main article: Culture of Cascadia

The Republic of Cascadia contains just over 20 million citizens as of the January 2009 census. The official language of Cascadia is English but there are two other secondary languages, French and Russian. The French and Russian languages are mostly spoken in what was British Columbia. There are hundreds of various religions and beliefs protected by the freedom of religion, although the most common are Atheism and Christianity. Cascadia is a nation that supports the equal rights of all people in the world, and nearly all citizens believe that every person has the right to exist and do as they wish because it is a gift to be alive.

Racism (and Sexism) is strongly looked down upon in Cascadia. Discriminating against other people such as paying them less money because of their gender and/or race is a crime in Cascadia. If one commits race crime, the punishments can be as high as jail for 1 year to 10 years depending on the severity of the crime. Cascadia allows the mild use of the death penalty and uses it only more murder and rape crimes although some are against the death penalty completely. Once again, Cascadia allows full equal rights to all people, which includes work place discrimination laws, the balanced rights and school discrimination laws. Any jobs where women were not being given the same paychecks as their male equals were given pay raises to what that is of men. In the United States, some women did not get paid quite the same amount of money as a man for the same job. Such inequalities in Cascadia are felony crimes, punishable by a fine of 50,000 casnaras and 1 to 5 years in jail. Stem cell research is completely legal and encouraged by the government of Cascadia because the citizens believe it will save many lives. Once again, Stem Cell Research is encouraged by the Prime Minister and the Cascadian Legislature, and both say Stem Cell Research is the best way to fight diseases and break barriers. Abortion is also for the most part legal, as laws state that women over 18 can have abortions before 20 weeks. Most Cascadians believe that a fetus is not living until the said fetus is 4 to 5 months old. Cascadia is studying to create vaccines and cures for both AIDS, SARS, Influenza and Cancer, as well as other serious diseases. Firearms are completely illegal for those not in the military and any gun shops were shut down by the government. This was decided in 2005 as the citizens took a vote and overwhelming voted either no guns at all or limits on guns.

85% of the Cascadia's population owns or at least uses computers, 96% of those users also use the internet. About 65% of the nation owns or drives a car, and 10% of those car drivers are driving an electric, solar, fusion, or hybrid car. Cascadia has control of only two airlines but it also controls Boeing, a major producer of airplanes. Cascadia is also one of the most plane-attracted nations in the world.

Cascadia allows and supports the use of nuclear (both fission and fusion) power for citywide power and various other types as well. The reactors are heavily guarded and have Mechanical droids and Anti-aircraft guns protecting them against terrorists and other threats. The chance of a meltdown at this point at one of the 5 reactors in Cascadia is currently at about 0.0003% chance, the lowest in the world. Using superheated ions for power in Cascadia is being researched in alliance with Russia.

Interesting Facts About Cascadia

 * Cascadia uses the metric system, and only puts Kilometers per hour on traffic signs, but uses the customary and metric system on measuring cups.
 * Over 25% of Cascadians are atheists.
 * 85% of citizens aged ten or older own a computer.
 * 96% of computer owners use the internet on that computer.
 * 65% of citizens aged 16 or older drive a car.
 * Cascadia has the lowest pollution rate of any nation, and has just beaten out Everett.
 * Cascadia has the lowest nuclear accident probability rate of all nations, which stands at 0.0003% and still falling with breakthroughs.
 * Cascadia is the fourth highest nation in artificial intelligence levels, after Everett, America and Russia.
 * Cascadia is the most western country in the world and is overall closest to the international date line of its right side.

Celebratory Months

 * Black History Month (February)
 * American Heart Month (February)
 * National Nutrition Month (March)
 * Cancer Control Month (April)
 * Child Abuse Prevention Month (April)
 * LGBT Pride Month (June)
 * Native American Heritage Month (August)
 * Prostate/Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October)
 * Poverty Awareness Month (November)
 * Human Rights Month (December)

Economy

 * Main article: Economy of Cascadia

Cascadia has has a relatively valuable currency. At the moment, the Cascadian Casnara is in between the New Zealand dollar and Australian dollar at about 0.814 casnaras per US dollar. Cascadia has no debt, which was most of was paid off in 2007, and the national surplus is about 0.87 billion Casnaras, or about 0.71 billion US Dollars. The Cascadian Gross Domestic Product is a little bit more than six trillion US dollars (or 7 trillion 400 billion casnaras), while the unemployment rate sits at about 2.5% (gaining slowly). The main jobs Cascadia depends on are the aircraft, computer technology, biotechnology, timber, and metal (both building and luxury) industries. Cascadia is famed for holding the Microsoft Corporation's headquarters. Microsoft had later built both an Everetti and American sector in each country and kept its Headquarters in Cascadia. Bill and Melinda Gates became Cascadian citizens. Boeing also does major work in Cascadia, which also has a large Cascadian Airbus sector. Cascadia also has many metals under its ground and large forests which provide valuable metals, sturdy metals, timber, food, and more to trade with other nations. In return for the wealth of important trading materials, Cascadia often buys Grains from the United States and cars and manufactured goods from other countries such as China, the East Asian Federation, or Europe.

Taxes
Since the Gini rate is very low in Cascadia at 26.3%, wealth is distributed relatively evenly compared to other countries, but it is still not perfect. Most of the citizens are taxed 5% to 20% of their income depending on their wealth and income, although the richer and poorer citizens may exceed this average ranges. Unemployed citizens are not taxed anything and receive help from the government of Cascadia. Most of the citizens in Cascadia believe they have a fair amount of taxes.

Military

 * Main article: Military of Cascadia

Outer Space

 * Main article: Cascadian Space Program

The Cascadian Space Exploration Agency (CSEA) was formed in October 2006. The agency is new and currently consists of seven major space craft, the RC-1 cruiser and a second, larger craft, the RC-2 battlecruiser. The battlecruiser is a powerful spacecraft that capable of leaving the atmosphere more efficiently than a rocket. The battlecruisers also uses fission-fusion recycling system to move itself through the void of space. Both the space force and air force of Cascadia work together to both plan and build spacecraft and/or aircraft.


 * Primary Weapon: Advanced Laser Firer-2.1.
 * Sidearm: Aphet M95 .35
 * Armor: Dragonscale Body Vest
 * Fleet Stats:
 * Fighters: 300
 * Sweepers: 175
 * Frigates: 16
 * Cruisers: 6
 * Battlecruisers: 1
 * Scientific: 2
 * Total Troops: 2,600

Environment

 * Main article: Environment of Cascadia

Cascadia currently has the lowest pollution rate in the world due to environmentalist reforms in 2005 and the decommissioning of coal power plants, followed in 2006 by oil and eventually natural gas power plants. Tree planting operations have been started by the Cascadian Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of the Interior of Cascadia. Furthermore, Cascadia currently only uses renewable sources to create its power for industry, commercial businesses, services, and residential homes. The main power sources of Cascadia is Nuclear power; including both Fusion power and Fission Power. as well as some small amounts of Hydroelectric and Solar, though Solar is mostly used in portable devices, such as droids, whereas Hydroelectric is mostly used for surplus power in small towns with rivers. The Fission Power is clean, and 100% of Nuclear Waste can be turned back into Uranium, along with a 0.01% chance of meltdown at all plants. Fusion power is naturally safe, though the cost is so high few have been built. Geothermal power also exists, and is mostly used for towns near active or dormant volcanoes.

Technology

 * Main article: Technology in Cascadia

Foreign Relations

 * Main article: Foreign Relations of Cascasdia

Union of Everett
Everett and Cascadia have enjoyed increasing warm relations despite their different views on Russia as a nation. The countries recently fought together in the 2010 Yarphese War against the Grand Yarphese Republic, and also share much technology together such as robotic and agricultural technology. Both countries are also founding members of the Planetary Alliance For Freedom (PAFF).

Grand Yarphese Republic
Despite Cascadia fighting in the 2010 Yarphese War against Yarphei, relations have began to improve with the country, hopefully to pre-war levels as Cascadian officials stated. Cascadia criticizes the slow improvement of human rights which seem to increase at the same rate as the defrosting of foreign relations between the two countries. However, the two nations are at opposite poles of the political spectrum.

Beliefs

 * LGBT Rights: YES. Most Cascadians believe that everyone has equal rights including the LGBT community who have been oppressed for long enough.
 * Gay Marriage: YES. This is part of LGBT rights and there is no reason to prevent this.
 * Abortion: YES. More than half of Cascadians believe it is a woman's right to choose to abort her birth, but only before 15 weeks have passed.
 * Death Penalty: RARELY. Only in Murder or Rape cases do people deserve to be killed for an extremely serious crime.
 * Torture Methods: NO. Cascadians it is wrong to do that, plus people will lie. Put them in jail when proven guilty instead.
 * Stem Cell Research: DEFINITELY. Cascadians believe it will provide many discoveries in our field of science.
 * Weapons of Mass Destruction: NO. We are only waiting for them to destroy Earth.
 * Fission Weapons: NO. They are dangerous.
 * Fusion Weapons: NO. They are dangerous, and just as bad as any WMD. Many Cascadians think Fusion Weapons are simply an excuse for Everett and others countries to have WMDs.
 * Ion Weapons: PARTIALLY. Cascadians are not planning on using them, nor constructing them, only to provide Russia and Zulkavita with defense. Otherwise they are too dangerous.
 * Radioactive Weapons: NO. They are extremely dangerous.
 * Chemical Weapons: NO. They are extremely dangerous.
 * Biological Weapons: NO. They are extremely dangerous.
 * Equal Rights: DEFINITELY. Every person on Earth deserves the same rights unless they violate someone else's, or if they violate laws set by the majority.
 * Innocent Until Proven Guilty: USUALLY. People can't be put in jail if they haven't been proven guilty, unless they were caught red-handed.
 * Assisted Suicide: SOMETIMES. If someone knows they are incurable then it is their right to terminate their life.
 * Criminal Rights: PARTIALLY. people who hurt the community do not deserve full rights as stated above but for their welfare do have to have some.
 * Foreign Interference: RARELY. Only in cases where close allies are attacked or it is justified (decided by people) to do so.
 * Vigilantism: NO. We let people follow the law but not with guns or similarities.
 * Freedom of Speech: YES. Everyone has rights to say what they want.
 * Freedom of Religion: YES. Everyone has rights to believe whatever they want.
 * Freedom of Expression: YES. Everyone has rights to express themselves as much as they like.
 * Freedom of Choice: YES. Everyone has rights to choose what they want.
 * Freedom of Press: USUALLY. The press has rights to print the news and things, but things like gossip and false things annoy people so the press must be limited.
 * Right To Protest/Assemble: USUALLY. Protests and constructive or harmless assemblies are fine but whole blockades will result in the dissolving of the protest.
 * Right To Privacy: YES. Everyone has rights, the government cannot simply barge into your house.
 * Right To Bear Arms: YES. To secure the freedom of the nation and the protection of private citizens.