Damn Right Rebel Proud- the UCSA

Formation and Early History

In the GALAXIA timeline, the United States, along with the majority of current states, experienced a complete economic meltdown in the 2017-2020 time frame. Speculation abounds that this was not, in fact, an accident, as evidenced by attempted power grabs by the former federal government. A medium-intensity civil war, vaguely comparable to the Yugoslav wars around the turn of the millennium, resulted in 'Balkanization' at the regional level. Large elements of the Northeast and West Coast collapsed into near-lawlessness, presided over by a vestigial federal government, while the Republic of Texas and Confederate States both reformed. The remaining 'civilized' states generally stayed independent, with occasional trade agreements and temporary alliances.

The Confederacy, composing the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, southern Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma, never became spectacularly wealthy, but maintained the third-highest standard of living in North and Central America, after Texas and Canada.

Western Oklahoma, Arizona, and parts of Colorado joined the Republic of Texas, while New Mexico was forcibly annexed in 2024. Texas maintained both the strongest economy and highest standard of living in North America, and even in the Western Hemisphere.

In the early 2030s, the majority of Europe had been reunified under the UN, following large-scale ethnic purging and genocide perpetrated both by and against radical Islamist groups. The new UN state brought itself into conflict with the two main American states and the CIS over attempted annexation efforts of Eastern Europe and 'disputed' territories on the American East Coast. A large-scale war ensued from the summer of 2031 to fall of 2032, ending in the defeat of UN forces in the Mediterranean and their expulsion from the disputed territories.

An unknown entity, later proven to be the intelligence-espionage arm of the UN state, utilized international airline flights to spread a non-fatal, persistent virus (referred to as Influenza A virus Subtype H7N1) across approximately 75% of the Earth's surface. At first, it was assumed to be a simple seasonal mutation of the common flu virus, and little to no action was taken aside from the suspicious measure of sealing the European borders. However, within several months, the virus was realized to have the effect of permanently sterilizing roughly 85% of those afflicted. In the long term, this caused massive population aging and associated economic stress. A precipitous population decrease resulted between 2070 and 2090, accounting for a nearly 80% drop over twenty years. It is noted that the UN was only mildly affected, suggesting that the release of H7N1 was part of a long-term plan to gain a strategic-numerical advantage.

In the aftermath of the war, most of the independent states of the former US joined the Confederacy for protection. On account of expanding its territory by several hundred percent, the CSA was renamed to the UCSA, or United Confederate States of America. Parts of southern Illinois, Indiana, and western Virginia had long maintained ties to the Confederacy, and were the first to formally join.

In 2075, the first successful test of an Alcubierre FTL drive was accomplished by a Chevron interstellar energy-exploration vessel, successfully recovering thousands of tons of nearly-priceless negative-energy-density hydrogen. Speculated to have a worth in the trillions of dollars, the 'Chevron NED' served as the foundation of an emerging interstellar civilization. The Earth had been rendered only semi-habitable by nearly continuous wars during the late 21st century, driving enthusiasm for colonization.

Initial colonization consisted of semi-voluntary removal of the inhabitants of former federal territories to Gliese 83,1 and G3-33. UCSA colonization was generally aimed towards the galactic 'southwest'. By the turn of the 22nd century, half a dozen 'full' colonies had been established. These colonies were granted full statehood in short order.

Gradually, population and influence moved away from the Earth, causing the UCSA's capital to be relocated from Montgomery, Alabama to a rotating position changed between colonies every six years.

Military and Foreign Affairs

The UCSA remained friendly to the CIS and former British Empire nations, keeping these as its primary allianes even with the shift to an extrasolar civilization. Its primary adversary is still the UN, now-renamed to the UNCS, or United Nations Co-prosperity Sphere, to reflect its conquering of numerous alien systems.

The UCSA maintains a distributed military descended from the US and Confederate National Guard, with both Army and Air units. In light of the impracticality and tactical uselessness of large warships, the Navy has been transitioned to a logistics and surveillance role, with a moderately-sized striker force for force protection. All units answer to the military authority of their parent system-state, and may not be contributed to national operations without consent of the system legislature or, in some cases, government on the state or county level. In effect, it is a defensively-oriented military with a secondary expeditionary role, usually used to protect UCSA or allied resource-extraction and shipping interests.

Culture and Economy

The UCSA's economy is roughly equal parts agrarian and industrial. A large portion of its agricultural output serves to feed Earth, given that planet's extremely poor ecological condition, some is used to produce biodiesel and other fuels for transportation, heating, and general use, and the remainder is used for the domestic population and as trade goods. Dixie, Wichita, Ozark, and Lexington are the primary agricultural producers, roughly in that order. The late-colonization sytem-states tend to have higher agricultural output than industrial.

Most planets possess a handful of small manufacturing plants for consumer vehicles and unsophisticated goods, however, not all are equipped to manufacture complex hardware such as electronics and aerospace craft. These products tend to be manufactured in late-colonization system-states, given their generally lower labor costs and ease of transportation. For example, the Rockwell-Boeing Excalibur-class striker is primarily manufactured on Wichita, while the Rainier-McDonnell F-110 Spectre aerospace fighter is built on Dixie, with small assembly facilities in other locations. Manufacturing on the early-colonization system-states is usually their economic mainstay; it usually takes the form of large, heavy forgings without substantial handbuilt components, such as large spacecraft. This form of manufacturing has shifted towards heavy automation, allowing ten workers to do the work of several hundred. Accordingly, employment has become a problem in the early-colonization territories, with temporary relief provided by government assistance. However, this assistance has resulted in higher corporate tax rates, urging operating-cost decreases and further layoffs. The vicious cycle shows little sign of ending.

Culturally, the UCSA can be most easily compared to the United States of the 1960s to 1980s. While a counterculture does exist, primarily in system states with American, rather than Confederate, origins, the UCSA is extremely socially and economically conservative, much to the ire of the UNCS and other, more 'progressive' entities. This is not seen as a problem by the average American, however, with these entities usually written off as Communist or hedonistic abominations.

Race relations have improved to the point of being of little to no concern, however, interstate relations have followed the course set at the beginning of the 21st century. A resident of Newark, for example, who sets foot on Dixie, will most likely be viewed as a 'Yankee carpetbagger' with political leanings closer to the UN than the UCSA, while an Ozark native visiting Newark (notionally; no sane man would actually do this) would be seen as an inbred member of the 'Christian Taliban'. This occasionally escalates to the point of violence, accordingly, travel between the early- and late-colonization system-states is rare except for merchant freighter port calls. In this case, most ports tend to develop a similar culture influenced by but separate from their parent planet.

Politics and Government

UCSA flag used in Newark, Albany,  and Fort Wayne

The UCSA is run less as a nation-state and more as a mutual-defense organization between two opposed spheres, effectively descended from the divide between rural and urban America. Each system-state is a sovereign entity, as stated by the Confederate Constitution of 2019. Foreign affairs are handled by the effectively-nonexistent central government, while defense is coordinated by the War Department using forces owned at the state level and below.

UCSA flag used in Lexington, Dixie, Ozark, Cheyenne, and Wichita (limited usage in Fort Wayne)

The two-party system has largely fallen by the wayside, with most parties formed on the basis of a single issue or field of issues. Traditionally, the Grange, Independence, Christian, and Temperance parties have performed well in the late-colonization territories, while the Workers', Union, and Luddite parties tend to succeed in early-colonization system-states.

Population and Demographics

Population by System-State:
Newark: 8,864,590
Albany: 7,570,261
Wichita: 1,595,728
Fort Wayne: 6,537,334
Lexington: 4,380,415
Dixie: 4,822,023
Ozark: 2,949,131
Cheyenne: 576,412
Total: 37,295,884

From this data, the long-term effects of H7N1 become clear, having roughly decimated the population of most nations. Approximately ten million UCSA dependents remain on Earth, and receive materiel support from the system-states. The above list is in chronological order of colonization, showing a rough decrease in population as one moves outwards from Earth.


In the early 2150s, suggestions of massive UNCS expansion efforts prompted some American companies to accumulate large stocks of industrial products, anticipating massive sales to state- and privately-owned entities. However, the promised colonial expansion never occurred, leaving corporations down billions of dollars in production costs. The ensuing surplus resulted in the closing of numerous manufacturing plants on Fort Wayne and Albany, causing massive unemployment and general economic depression in the 'older' colonies. Barring economic development to reopen these factories, it is likely that Fort Wayne and Albany will begin losing large portions of their populations to outwardly-expanding colonization and mining interests.

United/Confederate States Territory (UCSA), c. 2156

In the above map, all systems with the parenthetical popular name in dark blue are UCSA system-states, Earth being used as the origin of the plot.