North American Confederacy
Encyclopedia
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.
Their Majestys' Bucketeers takes place in the same universe, though none of the characters from the series appear in it.
leading to the North American Confederacy (NAC) is the addition of a single word in the preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence
, wherein 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
to the benefit of the farmers, rather than the fledgling United States government. This eventually leads to the execution of George Washington
, the abrogation of the U.S. Constitution
, and the reestablishment of government under the revised Articles of Confederation
, but with a much greater emphasis on individual freedom.
Over the ensuing century, the remnants of central government dissipate. Thomas Jefferson
successfully leads the abolitionist movement to a peaceful end to slavery in 1820, and the absence of government interference creates a Libertarian
utopia where science and medicine advance at a significantly greater pace than in our baseline history. Jefferson is also responsible for developing new systems of weights and measures ("metric" inches, pounds, etc) and for devising a new calendar to honor the birth of liberty - the old year 1776 becomes Year Zero, Anno Liberatis. Alexander Graham Bell
, freed from the duties of inventing the telephone by an earlier inventor, develops a voder technology which allows recognition that chimpanzees, gorillas, and other simians are sentient, and the greater primates are granted citizenship rights equivalent to all races of humans. Later, dolphins and orcas reveal their sentience
and join the land civilizations.
In 1892, almost all North American Nations (California, Canada, Mexico, Newfoundland, Cuba, etc) join together to form the NAC, a new nation whose government has almost no powers and which allows its citizenry to do as it pleases (so long as they don't 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, and against the Czar of Russia in Antarctica in 1957 (where the naval action is led by the NAC version of Robert A. Heinlein
).
Other famous persons 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 novel in 1986, the NAC spans the entire continent of North America
as well as Greenland
, with independent settlements on the Moon
, Mars
and the major asteroid
s. 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.
or Libertarianism
.
would solve world's problems. Smith states that his novels are written with the purpose of promoting libertarianism.
, an award given by the Libertarian Futurist Society. The Nagasaki Vector, Tom Paine Maru, The Gallatin Divergence, and The American Zone were all Prometheus Award finalists.
L. Neil Smith
L. Neil Smith , also known to readers and fans as El Neil, is a libertarian science fiction author and political activist. He was born on May 12, 1946 in Denver...
. The series includes the novel The Probability Broach
The Probability Broach
The Probability Broach is the first novel by science fiction writer L. Neil Smith. It is set in an alternate history, the so-called Gallatin Universe, where a libertarian society has formed on the North American continent, styled the North American Confederacy.-Plot summary:Edward William "Win"...
and its sequels, and takes place in a country of the same name.
By Publication
- The Probability BroachThe Probability BroachThe Probability Broach is the first novel by science fiction writer L. Neil Smith. It is set in an alternate history, the so-called Gallatin Universe, where a libertarian society has formed on the North American continent, styled the North American Confederacy.-Plot summary:Edward William "Win"...
(1980) - The Venus Belt (1980)
- Their Majestys' Bucketeers (1981)
- The Nagasaki Vector (1983)
- Tom Paine Maru (1984)
- The Gallatin Divergence (1985)
- Brightsuit MacBear (1988)
- Taflak Lysandra (1989)
- The American Zone (2001)
By Chronology
- The Probability Broach (1980)
- 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)
Their Majestys' Bucketeers takes place in the same universe, though none of the characters from the series appear in it.
History
The ostensible point of divergencePoint of divergence
In discussion of counterfactual history, a divergence point , also referred to as a departure point or point of divergence , is a historical event with two possible postulated outcomes...
leading to the North American Confederacy (NAC) is the addition of a single word in the preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
, wherein it states that governments "derive their just power from the unanimous consent of the governed." Inspired by this wording, Albert Gallatin
Albert Gallatin
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he founded the University of the City of New York...
intercedes in the Whiskey Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States in the 1790s, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented...
to the benefit of the farmers, rather than the fledgling United States government. This eventually leads to the execution of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, the abrogation of the U.S. Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
, and the reestablishment of government under the revised Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement among the 13 founding states that legally established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution...
, but with a much greater emphasis on individual freedom.
Over the ensuing century, the remnants of central government dissipate. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
successfully leads the abolitionist movement to a peaceful end to slavery in 1820, and the absence of government interference creates a Libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
utopia where science and medicine advance at a significantly greater pace than in our baseline history. Jefferson is also responsible for developing new systems of weights and measures ("metric" inches, pounds, etc) and for devising a new calendar to honor the birth of liberty - the old year 1776 becomes Year Zero, Anno Liberatis. Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
, freed from the duties of inventing the telephone by an earlier inventor, develops a voder technology which allows recognition that chimpanzees, gorillas, and other simians are sentient, and the greater primates are granted citizenship rights equivalent to all races of humans. Later, dolphins and orcas reveal their sentience
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
and join the land civilizations.
In 1892, almost all North American Nations (California, Canada, Mexico, Newfoundland, Cuba, etc) join together to form the NAC, a new nation whose government has almost no powers and which allows its citizenry to do as it pleases (so long as they don't 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, and against the Czar of Russia in Antarctica in 1957 (where the naval action is led by the NAC version of Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
).
Other famous persons named in the series include NAC president Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
, who visits the Moon in the 1950s, and earlier NAC President H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
(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 novel in 1986, the NAC spans the entire continent of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
as well as Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, with independent settlements on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
and the major asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
s. 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
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
philosophies of the Gallatin Party in the NAC remain in conflict with the remnants of Federalist
Federalist
The term federalist describes several political beliefs around the world. Also, it may refer to the concept of federalism or the type of government called a federation...
party (sometimes referred to as Hamiltonians, after the man considered the real villain in the old United States, Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
), 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 American Presidents. In this history, the US merged with several other nations to form the North American Confederacy in 1893. From that point, the individuals listed here are considered Presidents of the NAC. Note that many of these individuals are prominent in the history of either AnarchismAnarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
or Libertarianism
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
.
- George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
: 1789 - 1794 (Executed) - Albert GallatinAlbert GallatinAbraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he founded the University of the City of New York...
: 1794 - 1812 - Edmond-Charles GenêtEdmond-Charles GenêtEdmond-Charles Genêt , also known as Citizen Genêt, was a French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution.-Early life:Genêt was born in Versailles in 1763...
: 1812 - 1820 - Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
: 1820 - 1826 (Died in Office) - James MonroeJames MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
: 1826 - 1831 (Died in Office) - John C. CalhounJohn C. CalhounJohn Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
: 1831 - 1836 - Albert GallatinAlbert GallatinAbraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he founded the University of the City of New York...
: 1836 - 1840 - Sequoyah GuessSequoyahSequoyah , named in English George Gist or George Guess, was a Cherokee silversmith. In 1821 he completed his independent creation of a Cherokee syllabary, making reading and writing in Cherokee possible...
: 1840 - 1842 (Killed in Battle) - OsceolaOsceolaOsceola, also known as Billy Powell , became an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. He was of Creek, Scots-Irish and English parentage, and had migrated to Florida with his mother after the defeat of the Creek in 1814.Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance...
: 1842 - 1848 - Jefferson DavisJefferson DavisJefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
: 1848 - 1852 - Gifford Swansea: 1852 - 1856
- Arthur Downing: 1856 - 1859 (Died in Office)
- Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
: 1859 - 1860 - Lysander SpoonerLysander SpoonerLysander Spooner was an American individualist anarchist, political philosopher, Deist, abolitionist, supporter of the labor movement, legal theorist, and entrepreneur of the nineteenth century. He is also known for competing with the U.S...
: 1860 - 1880 - Jean-Baptiste Huang: 1880 - 1888
- Frederick DouglassFrederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...
: 1888 - 1892 - Benjamin TuckerBenjamin TuckerBenjamin Ricketson Tucker was a proponent of American individualist anarchism in the 19th century, and editor and publisher of the individualist anarchist periodical Liberty.-Summary:Tucker says that he became an anarchist at the age of 18...
: 1892 - 1912 - Albert Jay NockAlbert Jay NockAlbert Jay Nock was an influential United States libertarian author, educational theorist, and social critic of the early and middle 20th century.- Life and work :...
: 1912 - 1928 - H. L. MenckenH. L. MenckenHenry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
: 1928 - 1933 (Assassinated after a duel) - Frank ChodorovFrank ChodorovFrank Chodorov was an American member of the Old Right, a group of libertarian thinkers who were non-interventionist in foreign policy and anti–New Deal...
: 1933 - 1940 - Rose Wilder LaneRose Wilder LaneRose Wilder Lane was an American journalist, travel writer, novelist, and political theorist...
: 1940 - 1952 - Ayn RandAyn RandAyn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
: 1952 - 1960 - Robert LeFevreRobert LeFevreRobert LeFevre was an American libertarian businessman, radio personality, and primary theorist of autarchism.-Early life:...
: 1960 - 1968 - None of the Above: 1968 - 1972
- John HospersJohn HospersJohn Hospers was an American philosopher. In 1972 he was the first presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, and the only minor party candidate to receive an electoral vote in the 1972 U.S. Presidential election....
: 1972 - 1984 - Jennifer A. Smythe: 1984 - 1996
- Olongo Featherstone-Haugh: 1996 - 2000
- None of the Above: 2000 - ?
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 libertarianismLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
would solve world's problems. Smith states that his novels are written with the purpose of promoting libertarianism.
Awards
The Probability Broach won the 1982 Prometheus AwardPrometheus Award
The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society, which also publishes a quarterly journal Prometheus. L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newly founded Libertarian Futurist...
, an award given by the Libertarian Futurist Society. The Nagasaki Vector, Tom Paine Maru, The Gallatin Divergence, and The American Zone were all Prometheus Award finalists.