Turtledove
Register
Advertisement
Massachusettsflag
Massachusettsmap

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Vermont and New Hampshire to the north, Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The states capital and largest city is Boston.

Massachusetts has been significant throughout American history. Plymouth was the second permanent English settlement in North America. (The first was Jamestown in Virginia.) In the 17th century, Massachusetts became a de facto Puritan theocracy. In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the foment there which led to the American Revolution and the independence of the United States from the Kingdom of Great Britain. In the 19th century, Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to abolish slavery. (Although Vermont had abolished slavery when it was a separate republic, not part of the USA.) It was a center of the temperance movement and abolitionist activity preceding the American Civil War.

A number of US Presidents and Vice Presidents have either been born in, or been established residents of, Massachusetts, from John Adams to George H. W. Bush.

Massachusetts in "The Breaking of Nations"[]

In 2031, the governor of Massachusetts announced that federal laws enacted from 2017 on were void because President Donald Trump had been elected illegally. In response, incumbent president Mike Pence federalized the National Guard units in Massachusetts and the rest of the northeast United States, claiming that "socialist" elements in the secessionist republic Pacifica had conspired with those in the Northeast to initiate another secession movement. Pence warned Pacifica that such actions would be deemed an act of war.[1]

Literary comment[]

Massachusetts' decision to leave the U.S. and form "Newtopia" with the rest of the rebelling northeastern states is a key plot point of James Morrow's work, "The Purloined Republic".

Massachusetts in The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump[]

Massachusetts was one of the Confederated Provinces of America. It was home to one of two Confederal cities named Boston.[2]

Massachusetts in The Disunited States of America[]

After the United States fell apart by the early 1800s, Massachusetts was one of several independent countries in North America. During the Second Northeastern War of 1837, Massachusetts, under the leadership of John Quincy Adams, annexed Rhode Island.

In the mid 19th century, Massachusetts' currency unit was called the Florin.

Massachusetts in A Different Flesh[]

Plymouth was one of the most populous commonwealths in the Federated Commonwealths of America in its early history. Boston was its capital.

Massachusetts in "Election Day"[]

Massachusetts went to Democrat John F. Kennedy Jr. in the 2016 presidential election, which was not a surprise.[3]

Massachusetts in The Guns of the South[]

Massachusetts remained part of the Union during the Second American Revolution.

During the 1864 presidential election, it was one of 12 states carried by incumbent Republican President Abraham Lincoln during his unsuccessful reelection campaign.[4] The state had 12 electoral votes during the election.

Massachusetts in The Hot War[]

Massachusetts lost its capital and largest city Boston to a Soviet atomic bomb attack in May 1952.[5]

Massachusetts in Southern Victory[]

The politics of Massachusetts (along with the rest of New England) were solidly conservative Democrat. Noteworthy citizens of Massachusetts included the Kennedy and the Enos families. Second U.S. President John Adams was born and raised in Massachusetts, as was his son John Quincy Adams, the sixth President. President-elect Calvin Coolidge (who died less than a month before he was to enter office) entered politics as governor of the state, although he was born in Vermont.

The states capital and largest city Boston was a major harbor for the U.S. Navy, serving as headquarters of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. In addition, the German High Seas Fleet's Western Squadron made Boston its primary anchorage.

Massachusetts in The Two Georges[]

In the aftermath of the Seven Years' War, Massachusetts was one of a number of colonies that chafed under unrepresentative direct British rule. However, a new arrangement was peacefully negotiated forming the North American Union. Thus, Massachusetts was one of the oldest Provinces of the NAU.

Massachusetts had borders with New York Province, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Quebec, and New Brunswick, in addition to having a sizable coast on the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts was cleft by the narrow corridor which gave New Hampshire its own small coast, resulting in its northern portion being cut off from the rest of the province.

Following the Potato Famine in the mid 19th century, a large number of Irish immigrants settled in Massachusetts, mostly in Boston. The Irish and their descendants were quite restive subjects of the British Empire, and swelled the ranks of the Independence Party and the Sons of Liberty.

Literary comment[]

The province in the novel includes OTL Maine as well as Massachusetts.[6]

References[]

  1. And the Last Trump Shall Sound, pgs. 64-65, ebooks.
  2. The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, pg. 30.
  3. Alternate Peace, loc. 613, ebook.
  4. The Guns of the South, appendices.
  5. Fallout, pg. 389.
  6. Map The Two Georges, frontispiece.
Advertisement