North American Union (Colony Crisis Averted)

The North American Union is the core of the British Empire, and incorporates most of the North American continent. It consists of 45 provinces, stretching from the borders of New Spain to the Arctic Circle.

History
The North American Union's birth arose from a period of tension between the mother country and its colonies in North America. In the second half of the eighteenth century, in the period after the Seven Years' War, Britain passed several acts designed to closely administer its expanded empire. Tensions mounted as the American colonists grew frustrated with a lack of representation in the British parliament.

In an effort to stave off revolution and war, noted American military leader George Washington led a delegation to the court of King George III. Washington and the king were able to forge an agreement ensuring that North America would remain part of the British Empire.

Slavery and expansionism
Slavery was abolished in the entirety of the empire, including the NAU, in 1834. During the years leading up to the Great Southern Mutiny tensions between slave and free provinces mounted with arguments about the relationship between the state and federal governments, as well as violent conflicts over the spread of slavery into new states. Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. Before it could fully be passed, seven slave states declared their secession - which the federal government maintained was illegal - and formed the Confederate States of America. In the NAU, African-Americans were offered wide avenues of upward mobility, especially entry into positions in the civil service.

With the Confederate attack upon Fort Howe, the Mutiny began and four more slave states joined the Confederacy. Following the British victory in 1836, British Parliament ensured freedom for the nearly four million African Americans who had been slaves, made them citizens, and gave them voting rights. The war and its resolution led to a substantial increase in federal power. The war remains the deadliest conflict in American history, resulting in the deaths of 620,000 soldiers.

White settlement in the west was much slower, but ultimately unavoidable. Some Native American tribes were able to modernize themselves, keeping a large part of their lands and retaining a considerable autonomy. Conversely, at same time of the slave emancipation, Irish immigrants arrived in the Union in massive numbers following the Potato Famine. These immigrants became wage workers, mostly notably in coal mining, and were not always treated fairly.

Great War
Because Britain maintained control of NAU foreign affairs under the Confederation Act, its declaration of war in 1954 automatically brought the North American Union into the Great War. The NAU Royal Army played a substantial role in the Siege of New Liverpool and other major engagements of the war. Out of approximately 825,000 Americans who served in Great War, around 60,000 were killed and another 173,000 were wounded.

The American economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Japan, Britain, Ottoman Empire, and the German Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1957, the North American Union finished the war with a large army and strong economy.

Interbellum and Civil Rights era
North American Union post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new American identity, marked by the election of Martin Luther King in 1965, the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969, and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971. Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare, the National Pension Plan, and American Student Loans, though provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions

.Amidst the presence of various white nationalist groups, a growing civil rights movement used nonviolence to confront segregation and discrimination. This was symbolized and led by Nuevoespañol-Americans such as Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez. On the other hand, some nuevoespañol nationalist groups such as the Brown Berets and Che Guevara had a more militant scope.

Government
The North American Union is an integral part of the British Empire, although it maintains the trapping of an independent country. In accordance with the Anglo-American Joint Declaration, and the underlying principle of one country, two systems, NAU has a "high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region in all areas except defence and foreign affairs."It has its own armed forces including an army, air force and navy. Indeed, the British Royal Navy and Royal North American Navy are closely cooperating and co-equal organizations.


 * List of Prime Ministers


 * List of President-Generals

Royal North American Army
The Royal North American Army was the army of the North American Union. It was designed to complement the British Army and provide support in foreign and domestic wars.

Royal North American Navy
The Royal North American Navy was the naval force of the North American Union. It was modeled on the Royal Navy and operated closely with the older service. While the RNAN's primary functions were the defence of the NAU and as a coast guard, it was a true deep water navy with vessels as large as armoured cruisers.

Royal American Mounted Police
The Royal American Mounted Police (RAM) is the national police force of the North American Union. It had jurisdiction in crimes of an inter-provincial nature including the smuggling of contraband such as illicit drugs and firearms into the NAU.

The RAM Police had detachments in major NAU cities with individual officers or teams of officers available to investigate crimes in smaller towns and the countryside. Each province had a section chief who was responsible for all RAM officers in that section. In addition, the RAM had a large, specialized headquarters staff in Victoria which were available to the provincial sections. These officers were experts in specific legal areas such as forensics or in particular crimes or criminal organizations such as the Sons of Liberty.