A Destiny Made Manifest - Part 16: The Commune

The People's Republic of America has been declared through bloody revolution. Jack Quinlan, leader of the new nation - "Chairman Jack" - is tasked with the resurrection of America.

(I'm sure lots of you saw the title of this chapter, said "wtf is going on over here," and are reading this without reading any earlier parts. The BARE MINIMUM that you should go back and read in order to understand how America got to this position is Part 13. Still, you should probably read the whole thing.)

As the Commune was declared, the mobs of the Red Vanguard that fought for the revolution have mostly returned home. As such, the Commune is weak, and in large parts of country, under siege by the New Minutemen, the moderate socialist faction. Terrance Robinson, pissed that Quinlan back-stabbed him, intends to wrest control of the crumbling nation himself.

In the streets of D.C., Vanguard and Minutemen fight hand to hand. The Commune needs to organize armed forces as fast as it can in order to restore order.

Across the country, state capitals are being overthrown by Red Vanguard partisans. A system of "Federal Districts" replaces the system of states; the State of New York is to become the Federal District of New York, for example. Changes will happen slowly; America is a nation slow to change, and one steeped in tradition. Time will erode this.

As the government is established, the policies of the new nation becomes clean. The People's Committee of Public Unity, a council of 30, serves as the chief legislative and advisory body of the new government. While the nation is incredibly progressive on social reforms, the Commune gives its citizens little in the way of rights; public meetings of protest are not allowed, the only press is to be run by the state, and all trade unions are to be state-controlled. And, of course, there is no voting.

The Communist Party USA has been resurrected, and declared the official ruling party of the Commune in order to give Quinlan's Red Vanguard more legitimacy. While CPUSA leader Simon Wing is declared the Head of Government, Chairman Jack has all the power.

As the new government slowly establishes its power, more and more capitalist businessmen are dragged out of hiding and detained by Quinlan's thugs. In a cruel show of justice, Quinlan dictates that these men should work as they never have before, considering death to be too easy on those who worked the proletariat to the bone.

Unfortunately for Quinlan, he inherited the sorry state of finances of America from Cleveland, who currently rotted in a Washington prison. He owed over 250,000 Victoria 2 points to various nations, including the impossibly powerful United Kingdom, who could crush the fledgling Commune like a bug.

Especially unfortunately for Quinlan, the Committee could not balance the budget, considering all of the money that the government would have to spend in order to rebuild the nation.

News from Texas is ill. The Texans - always a rebellious lot - have decided that Communism is not for them. On July 11th, 1890 (my -108 year birthday), they declare the sovereignty of the Republic of Texas once again. Democrat Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross - a former Confederate general - is declared to be the 6th President of Texas.

We can do nothing. But we will have Texas again, one day. We will not let the Texan proletariat toil under the Democrats.

The four new republics all recognize each other, but international recognition is scattered. Britain, of course, has its grubby paws all over them.

A proper Commune Army has gathered in Richmond under the able command of Jeffrey Carr. He engages the New Minutemen in the city before heading north.

Just four months after the Commune is declared, the forces of capitalism have risen once again! The Sons of Liberty, modelling themselves after the same group who resisted the British, have organized militias throughout the East. We will fight these corrupt bourgeoisie until our last breath! For Chairman Jack and Socialism!

Our mobilized forces win early successes against the Sons of Liberty.

Five months after the Commune is declared, Quinlan finally liberates the colonies in the name of anti-colonialism. The Commune of the Congo is declared, headed by a mixed government of Congolese and Americans. A truly progressive nation!

The West African Territory is reformed into the Commune of Biafra! Decolonization!

In addition to this, Quinlan formally admits Alaska as a Federal District in order to ensure that the territory does not declare independence.

The Commune Army, led by the brave William Barnes, engages the New Minutemen in D.C. and eventually wins a smashing victory against them. Communism shall prevail!

Forces of corruption may surround us, but the forces of good are resilient! We will claim victory!

Curiously, the Western Republics have all elected socialist governments into power! It's a good first step towards reforming the nation; when Commune boots stomp through the West, the people will be more eager to join our great nation.

More Sons of Liberty have risen! They are puppets of corrupt politicians and businessmen, no more! We will crush them!

Quickly, the Commune of the Congo reforms into the Republic of the Congo. While we allow them to democratize, we will be keeping a very close eye on them.

Look, Victoria... yeah, women's suffrage is over, but so is... you know, *suffrage*.

The Commune Army, led by EUGENE ROSENCRANS HIMSELF, will march on the Sons of Liberty in the Northeast! The famous general returned to Washington just a few months ago and pledged his rifle to Quinlan. An accomplished and well-known general like Rosencrans is a boon to the Commune.

As rebels rise against the Commune and it becomes clear that the transition of power to Quinlan and the CPUSA will not be smooth, more and more states begin to plan on independence. We will, of course, crush these bourgeois plots!

Eugene Rosencrans eats bad ham on Christmas and dies a poopy, poopy death the very next day. The Commune is dealt a serious blow.

Robert Pope, a quick young general, is placed in charge of the Commune Army. Forwards, brave men!

We take a break from the Red Revolution to do car stuff! We're good good car boys in the People's Republic of America!

While the Commune's actual control doesn't really extend across the Mississippi, we attempt to crack down on Sons of Liberty activity out in Wyoming to some effect.

In Binghampton, New York, Robert Pope leads the Commune Army to a loss against a force of Sons of Liberty led by Augustus Young. At the same time, the New Minutemen rise in the Midwest! We can only hope that our enemies will destroy each other!

We will not tolerate Sons of Liberty! Can these poor fools not see that they are mere tools of those that enslave them?

In his diaries, Quinlan despairs that so many workingmen of the nation would support the bourgeoisie. His writings, popular amongst modern day Communists, depict this particular era to be traumatic for Quinlan, who expected the people to greet him with open arms.

Of some importance, the Italian nation has declared war on Austria-Hungary for Milan and surrounding territory.

The Bourgeois, it seems, still lurk in every corner. Hundreds of thousand of Commune citizens have been corrupted by their words.

Dreadful news reaches the ear of Quinlan early in 1891. Delegates from across the South have met in Richmond and declared the Confederate States of America are to be born anew. That such a backwards and conservative nation that revolted over SLAVERY nearly forty years ago believes it has a right to exist is insulting to Quinlan and the proletariat everywhere.

Philip McKinney, former Governor of Virginia, is elected as the 2nd President of Confederacy by the convention.

The Confederacy manages to secure much of its former territory, with the exception of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Unfortunately, West Virginia has decided to leave with its big brother state. This unholy and blatantly racist nation will not be allowed to survive! The Commune forever!

Sons of Liberty surround us. Quinlan begins to get nervous. Like Cleveland before him, he plans to flee the capital if things begin to truly go sour.

In Williamsport, Pennsylvania, General Pope wins a battle against George Sheridan to keep the Commune somewhat secure.

As Sons of Liberty rise up in Washington, however, Pope is crushed by the forces of the rebel Russell Forsyth. The People's Committee evacuates the capital in the chaos, moving northwards to Pennsylvania.

In a controversial decision that Jack Quinlan choses as a last-ditch to secure peace, the People's Republic of America recognizes the South's right to secede, hoping that the South's armies would march to the North and help him create peace and order. Entirely contrary to his idealogy, this was a complete hail mary. It backfired, and remained perhaps the biggest misstep of Quinlan's time as chairman.

Men across the Commune sing of liberty, freedom, and democracy. The Internationale is replaced once again with the Star-Spangled Banner. Slowly, old politicians begin to come out of the woodwork, leading these pro-democracy forces against the Commune's holding.

Gold is found in the Black Hills, meanwhile, America is in its fifth straight year of near-anarchy. Jolly good!

Pope is decimated by a huge Sons of Liberty militia led by Ambrose Halleck, an elderly farmer from Iowa who had resigned from the Army after the Southern Rebellions had concluded. He organized revolts in the midwest, and generally became something of a folk hero to many Sons of Liberty.

In Boston, New England declares independence! As the Commune is set to fall at any minute, this is clearly proof that the Sons of Liberty do not care about a united democracy; they care about power.

Governor Tyson E. Paxton, a Republican, is declared to be the first President of New England. The nation is breaking, perhaps permanently, as Sons of Liberty storm Washington.

In response to the the massive Sons of Liberty armies, the New Minutemen, feeling a bit out-gunned, organize more militias. While open conflict has not begun between the two rebel groups, ideological differences seem to make war a foregone conclusion.

The number of men currently in the Republican Militias is now nearly half a million. Americans, it seems, want their liberties back!

Dire news from the Midwest. The states of Illinois, Missouri, and Michigan have formed a loose confederation they dub the "New American Alliance." The new republic is to be run jointly by the governors of these states, and they have a bit of thing when it comes to calling everything "new."

The New American Alliance, headquartered in Chicago, is the newest breakaway republic. They are not run by the Democrats, no no no; they are run by the New Democrats. New!

While the American people had once been united under one banner just five years ago, the former nation sits in eight pieces. Can they ever truly be glued back together?

In the last days of Quinlan's reign, he hears the news that Arkansas has fled the ship and left for the Confederacy.

Thanks to the secession of Arkansas, the country is now effectively cut in half between East and West. This is going to be a logistical nightmare. for a good long time! Screw you, New American Alliance!

On September 3rd, 1891, Jack Quinlan and the Committee are captured by Sons of Liberty. Quinlan, refusing to sign away his Commune, is summarily executed, along with the rest of the Committee members that do not surrender to arrest.

A group of 37 politicans - all but three former Congressmen, or at least state legislators - form a Provisional Congress in Washington. They re-adopt the Constitution, and promise elections in November of 1892, allowing citizens to vote for Congress. While power was initially to be given back to rightful President Cleveland, he was found dead in his cell, along with many other men in prominent positions of power. As there are no suitable candidates, the Provisional Congress declares Ambrose Halleck, a career soldier and militia leader, will serve as the president until the 1892 Election. Already, people are creating a Cincinnatus-esque legend around the man.

The Second Republic now rules the American nation. While a hard road lies before the nation, we will unite the Disunited States of America in the name of liberty! Long live freedom and democracy! Long live the Union!

Thanks for clicking! Check in next time as the Second Republic truly establishes itself! May the Eagle soar!