The Independent Nations of America: Spotlight On: NEW ENGLAND

New England

AREA
55,500 sq.m. (16th)
POPULATION
10,847,000 (14th)
DENSITY
195 people per square mile. (5th)

CAPITAL
Boston, Massachusetts
STATES
Aroostook (Houlton), Maine (Augusta), New Hampshire (Concord), Vermont (Montpelier), Berkshire (Springfield), Massachusetts (Boston), Rhode Island (Providence).

RELIGION
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Various
LANGUAGE
English, Various

NATL INCOME 764 billion
MEDIAN INCOME $62,800 (3rd)

ECONOMY
New England’s economy is fairly strong. It is a member nation of the American Northeast Trade Union and freely trades resources with its other member nations. Its big cities, including Boston, Providence and Portland, are centers of finance and high-tech, but industry and small business have suffered under institutionalized policies of high corporate taxes. It exports cattle, fish, timber, textiles, and produces most of the continent’s cranberries and maple syrup, making these products more difficult to come by outside of the ANTU nations. New England is largely dependent on Canada and Foundrya for oil and natural gas, which has led it to join with Atlantica in acquiring drilling rights both offshore and in other nations such as Colombia and Venezuela. Cost of living is high, with substantial pockets of very wealthy citizens.

OVERVIEW
New England is a prominent nation on the continent, but has lost some power in recent years. A founding member of the American Northeast Trade Union, it is highly dependent on other member nations for resources. It maintains a strong international presence, but has so far been unsuccessful in securing drilling rights in other nations, and has to rely on heavily taxed foreign oil. This led to a prolonged conflict in the Panama Zone in the 1980s. In the Redivision of 1994, New England lost little land and formally reclaimed the New Hampshire Free State. For most of its history, the nation of New England has been dominated by the Democratic Party in general, and the Kennedy family in particular (dating back to Vice President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s), widely perceived as a hawkish, left-of-center party favoring the upper class. Besides an Independence Party interregnum administration under Independent William Weld from 1997-2001, the Kennedy-Democratic alliance has held the high office since 1984, and with the exception of first President Edmund Muskie, all presidents have been elected from Massachusetts, the most populous state. Current president John Kerry named his wife, Caroline Kennedy-Kerry, vice president, causing widespread criticism that the Kennedy family was making the gradual transition from a perceived oligarchy to an actual dynastic monarchy. Kerry’s election against popular Independent candidate Lincoln Chafee was rife with allegations of voter fraud. Since the election, New England’s various anti-administration parties (including the right-wing New Hampshire Free Party led by Craig Benson and the Boston Tea Party led by Michael Cloud, and the left-wing Progressive Party led by Howard Dean and the Peace Party led by Samantha Smith) have found common ideological ground. Some ANTU member nations are worried that a possible people’s revolution could be in New England’s future.

HEAD OF STATE