North American Confederacy

The North American Confederacy is an alternate history series of novels created by L. Neil Smith. The series includes the novel The Probability Broach and its sequels and takes place in a country of the same name.

Not to be confused with North American Union.

Novels

By publication

By chronology
  • The Probability Broach (1979)
  • The Nagasaki Vector (1983)
  • The American Zone (2001)
  • The Venus Belt (1980)
  • The Gallatin Divergence (1985)
  • Tom Paine Maru (1984)
  • Brightsuit MacBear (1988)
  • Taflak Lysandra (1989)[1]
  • Their Majesties' Bucketeers (1981) takes place in the same universe, although none of the characters from the series appears in it[2]

History

The ostensible point of divergence leading to the North American Confederacy (NAC) is the addition of a single word in the preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence, where in it states that governments "derive their just power from the unanimous consent of the governed". Inspired by this wording, Albert Gallatin intercedes in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 to the benefit of the farmers, rather than the fledgling United States government as he does in real life. This results in the rebellion to become a Second American Revolution. This eventually leads to the overthrowing and execution of George Washington by firing squad for treason later that year, the United States Constitution being declared null and void and Gallatin being proclaimed the second President. In 1795, a new caretaker government is established and a revised version of the Articles of Confederation is ratified in 1797, but with a much greater emphasis on individual and economic freedom.

Following the war, Alexander Hamilton fled to Prussia and lived there until he was killed in a duel in 1804.

Over the ensuing century, the remnants of central government dissipate. The government can no longer create money, only individual people can, being backed by gold, silver, wheat, corn, iron and even whisky.

In 1803, Gallatin and James Monroe arrange the Louisiana Purchase from France, borrowing money from private sources against the value of the land.

Thomas Jefferson successfully leads an abolitionist movement that leads to a peaceful end to slavery in 1820. Jefferson is also responsible for developing new systems of weights and measures (metric inches and pounds, among others) in 1800. He also devised a new calendar system in to honor the birth of liberty as the old year 1776 becomes Year Zero, Anno Liberatis (Latin for Year of Liberation). When Jefferson first proposed the new calendar system in 1796, he originally marked it to Gallatin's ascension to the presidency. However, Gallatin protested that the real revolution was in 1776 and that the Federalist period should be regarded as an aberration and that commemorating even by implication the overthrowing and execution of George Washington might set a hideous precedent (as Gallatin insisted that historians should still count Washington as the first President). Jefferson and Gallatin compromised and utilized 1776 as the new Year Zero.

The absence of government interference creates a libertarian utopia where science and medicine advance at a significantly greater pace than in our baseline history. As Elisha Gray had already invented the telephone in 1867 (91 A.L.), Alexander Graham Bell instead develops a voder technology which allows chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and other simians to communicate and prove they are sentient and the greater primates are granted citizenship rights equivalent to all races of humans. Later on in history, dolphins, porpoises and orcas reveal their sentience and join the land civilizations. In 1888 (102 A.L.), Thomas Edison invents electrically heated streets. In 1947 (171 A.L.), colored television is invented. In 1993 (217 A.L.), mastodons are cloned back to life with frozen tissue.

In 1893 (117 A.L.), almost all North American Nations and territories (Alaska, California, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Newfoundland and Texas, among others) join together to form the NAC, a new nation whose government has very little power and which allows its citizenry to do as it pleases so long as they do not violate anyone else's rights. The NAC is not involved in any major wars as a country, but a massive cohort of volunteers arises to fight whenever Federalist and Federalist sympathizers disturb the peace, most notably in Prussia in 1914 (138 A.L.) and against the Tsar of Russia in Antarctica in 1957 (181 A.L.), where the naval action is led by the NAC version of Robert A. Heinlein.

Other famous people named in the series include NAC President Ayn Rand (who visits the Moon in the 1950s) and earlier NAC President H. L. Mencken (who was killed by his Vice President's mother after killing his Vice President in a duel). A west coast university is named after historical San Francisco eccentric Emperor Norton.

By the start of the series in 1986, the NAC spans the entire continent of North America as well as Greenland, though Panama appears to still be part of Colombia. The capital city of the NAC is Gallatinopolis, which is located in the geographical center of the North American continent while neither Denver or Washington, D.C. exist and New York City was destroyed and abandoned after a war between private security companies in 1878 (102 A.L.).[3] The NAC also has independent settlements on the Moon which were established in 1949 (173 A.L.), Mars and on major asteroids. The government is an utterly powerless entity, with the presidency a largely honorary role preserved only as a coordinator of actions in national emergencies. Along the way, the libertarian philosophies of the Gallatin Party in the NAC remain in conflict with the remnants of Federalist Party (sometimes referred to as Hamiltonians, after the man considered the real villain in the old United States, Alexander Hamilton) which continues to promote strong central government.

Presidents of the Old United States/North American Confederacy

The Probability Broach includes a timeline for the history of the United States which includes a listing of those who followed Washington and Gallatin as the Presidents. In this history, the United States merged with several other North American nations to form the North American Confederacy in 1893. From that point, the individuals listed here are considered Presidents of the NAC. Many of these individuals are prominent in the history of either anarchism or libertarianism and are the following:

NumberNameYears servedNotes
1George Washington1789-1794 (13-18 A.L.)Overthrown and executed by firing squad for treason. First president to die in office.
2 and 7Albert Gallatin1794-1812 and 1836-1840 (13-18 A.L. and 60-64 A.L.)
3Edmond-Charles Genêt1812-1820 (36-44 A.L.)
4Thomas Jefferson1820-1826 (44-50 A.L.)Second president to die in office.
5James Monroe1826-1831 (50-55 A.L.)Third president to die in office.
6John C. Calhoun1831-1836 (55-60 A.L.)Lost reelection to Gallatin in 1836.
8Sequoyah Guess1840–1842 (64–66 A.L.)Four president to die in office, was killed in battle by a Mexican sniper. First Native American president.
9Osceola1842–1848 (66–72 A.L.)Second Native American president.
10Jefferson Davis1848–1852 (72–76 A.L.)
11Gifford Swansea1852–1856 (76–80 A.L.)
12Arthur Downing1856–1859 (80–83 A.L.)Fifth president to die in office
13Harriet Beecher Stowe1859–1860 (83–84 A.L.)First female president. Advocated on banning alcohol during her presidency, though her plan is never put into action.
14Lysander Spooner1860–1880 (84–104 A.L.)By 1986, half-metric ounce .999 fine silver coins were minted in his likeness.
15Jean-Baptiste Huang1880–1888 (104–112 A.L.)Is of French Canadian and Chinese ancestry.
16Frederick Douglass1888–1892 (112–116 A.L.)First and only African-American president.
17Benjamin Tucker1892–1912 (116–136 A.L.)
18Albert Jay Nock1912–1928 (136–152 A.L.)
19H. L. Mencken1928–1933 (152–157 A.L.)He killed his vice president in a duel and was subsequently killed himself by his vice president's mother, resulting in him becoming the sixth president to have died in office.
20Frank Chodorov1933–1940 (157–164 A.L.)Chosen by the Continental Congress to be president following Mencken's death.
21Rose Wilder Lane1940–1952 (164–176 A.L.)Second female president.
22Ayn Rand1952–1960 (176–184 A.L.)Third female president. During her presidency, she became the first president to travel to the Moon.
23Robert LeFevre1960–1968 (184–192 A.L.)
24 and 28None of the above1968–1972 and 2000-? (192–196 A.L. and 224-? A.L.)[4] [5] In 2008, "None of the above" is elected president for life, presumably abolishing the office of the presidency.
25John Hospers1972–1984 (196–208 A.L.)
26Jennifer A. Smythe1984–1992 (208–216 A.L.)Fourth female president.
27Olongo Featherstone-Haugh1992–2000 (216–224 A.L.)Born in 1932 (156 A.L.). He had served as Vice President under Jennifer Smythe. He was also the first primate to hold office of the presidency. He was a gorilla.

Themes

The North American Confederacy is much more advanced in science and technology and much wealthier than our Earth, implying the author's view that libertarianism is a superior political order. Smith states that his novels are written with the purpose of promoting libertarianism.[6][7]

Awards

The Probability Broach won the 1982 Prometheus Award, an award created by Smith himself and given by the Libertarian Futurist Society.[8] The Nagasaki Vector, Tom Paine Maru, The Gallatin Divergence and The American Zone were all Prometheus Award finalists.

See also

References
  1. "Uchronia lists the chronology of the series".
  2. "WorldFAQ: L. Neil Smith's North American Confederacy".
  3. https://www.bigheadpress.com/disppage2?story=TPB&file=/simages/TPB/TPBp045.jpg
  4. In The Venus Belt, Lucy Kropotkin claims that she came in second during the 1968 presidential election, avoiding the presidency by only one vote, her own.
  5. In The Venus Belt, it was revealed that Olongo Featherstone-Haugh (pronounced Fanshaw), the gorilla who served as Vice-President in this book, had been elected President. At the end, Olongo retires and None of the Above (which is always an option on the ballot) is returned to office.
  6. "L. Neil Smith article on "Advocates for Self-Government". Archived April 24, 2003, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "A letter on Smith's website that stresses his libertarian ideology".
  8. "Prometheus Awards".
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