The Second Civil War of the United States had just ended. As one might imagine tensions were still extremely high. The country was divided in two and the line was not easy to draw. The now separate countries would be called East and West America. The West was dramatically larger than the East. The line separated Georgia from Alabama, Tennessee from Arkansas, followed the Mississippi river and ultimately divided Minnesota to the West and Wisconsin to the East. The East would have control over the Great Lakes and the East Coast. The West would have the West Coast, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. The last remaining piece, Florida, was still under harsh debate, both sides wanting to have complete control over their coast line.
Texas had long been seceded from the U.S. before the Second Civil War broke out. Texas supported the West mostly due to its proximity and not necessarily due to Western viewpoints. Texas merely didn’t want to form enemies with neighboring states. Since its departure from the U.S., Texas had grown to be a military powerhouse. Never large enough to challenge the United States by itself, Texas quickly took the opportunity to form allies with the West and fight against the “Old U.S.” as the West called them. In the end, Texas power was what ultimately caused the East to stand down.
Due to their locations, Hawaii and Alaska became part of the West. Puerto Rico, which had become a state after Texas seceded, would also become part of the West, despite its extremely vulnerable location in the East.
Families were divided, some favoring the “Old U.S.” mentality, a complacent viewpoint of the nation’s position in the world, held by the East and the belief of Westerners that drastic change was necessary to become a dominating influential country within the world. The majority of Montana residents favored Eastern view points but were unfortunately completely surrounded by Western states and in no way would be able to survive within the West; without fight many Montana residents fled to the East. Proud Western citizens gladly commandeered the land of Montana. A number of California residents were forced to leave, unwilling to speak the officially Western language, Spanish. Of course there were many people living within either side that did not share the same viewpoint of their newly formed country. They either moved or kept their mouth shut.
After the lines had been drawn and migrations had commenced the ultimate decision came through to the West’s dismay, the East would take hold of Florida. Outrage poured over the West. They had won the war but now lost the crucial piece to their coast line. Some residents were even angrier now than before the war began. They gathered up their arms and were prepared to travel to the panhandle to take Florida as the entrance way to the West. However, despite the anger not much could be done at that point. Under orders of the newly established government the military would not attack and Western rebels alone would not be enough to take Florida. The residents would have to sit back and take the bitter loss of Florida. Even though the war was over, the West would not rest until Florida was theirs.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
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