United States of America (An Independent in 2000)

The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country spans all of North America, save for Greenland, where its forty-six contiguous states lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by the Arctic circle to the north and Columbia to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Greenland to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific, accompanied by fellow pacific states: Guam, Micronesia, and the Marshal Islands. The country also possesses several lunar territories, most notably the lunar town of Tranquillitatis.

At 22.54 million square kilometers and with about 535 million people, the United States is the largest country by total area, and third largest by population. The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries, and two centuries worth of territorial expansion. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of US$34.6 trillion

The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and their formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO. The end of the Cold War left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for approximately 20% of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world. The US is a member of the NDC, and the ATF

Demographics
The United States stretches from the frozen tundra of the Arctic circle, to the tropical jungles of Central America. Americans are often considered to be a very proud people that incorporate a love of individual liberty and a sense of togetherness that is not found to the same scale in other nations. Americans also hold a sense of almost reverence for their founders, often using the arguments of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, etc. to justify most political positions; sometimes when the arguments aren't even related.

Language
English was the de facto national language up until 2008 when the country expanded over all of North America. Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English, but encourage French and Spanish as secondary languages. In 2005, about 216 million, or 81% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home; in 2009 that number had dropped to 54.3% of the population. Spanish is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language. Some Americans continue to advocate making English the country's official language, however due to the large population of hispanic Americans, it is unlikely this will gain any ground. Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law. While neither has an official language, the Latin American states have laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French. Other states, such as California, mandate the publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents including court forms, the same is true in Quebec for French. Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico.

Religion
The United States is officially a secular nation; the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids the establishment of any religious governance. In a 2002 study, 61% of Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives," a far higher figure than that of any other wealthy nation. According to a 2008 survey, 70.4% of adults identified themselves as Christian, down from 86.4% in 1990. Protestant denominations accounted for 40.3%, while Roman Catholicism, at 53.9%, was the largest individual denomination. The total reporting non-Christian religions in 2007 was 4.7%, up from 3.3% in 1990. The leading non-Christian faiths were Judaism (1.7%), Buddhism (0.7%), Islam (0.6%), Hinduism (0.4%), and Unitarian Universalism (0.3%).[138] From 8.2% in 1990, 28.1% in 2007 described themselves as agnostic, atheist, or simply having no religion, still significantly less than in other postindustrial countries such as Britain (2005: 44%) and Sweden (2005: 85%), but on the rise. With the election of President Edwards in 2000, and the revelation of his much more Agnostic beliefs, the United States never caved in to the religious right as it did in OTL. Subsequently religion in general is becoming more of a non-issue, and a matter of personal preference rather than the political force it is today. Christianity is actually on the decline, but only just. To counter this, Billy Graham and Pat Robertson began their "Coast to Coast" mission, preaching the bible across the USA in person, which has had some effect, but only by a small margin, in slowing this trend, and it remains to be seen whether or not it can be stopped or reversed. Recently certain Catholic advocates, such as Martin Sheen, have been speaking about a more moderate form of Catholicism more akin to New Testament teachings of peace and acceptance of those different from one religion or lifestyle. Many proponents of this idea are also advocates for a Populist Party.

Education
American public education is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal grants. Children are required in most states to attend school from the age of five or six (generally, kindergarten or first grade) until they turn 18 (generally bringing them through twelfth grade, the end of high school). About 12% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children are homeschooled. The United States has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education, as well as local community colleges with open admission policies, all of which are funded by the US Federal Student Loan fund which ensures anyone seeking higher education funding should they maintain satisfactory grades during the course of their enrollment. Of Americans twenty-five and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 82.6% attended some college, 77.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 29.6% earned graduate degrees.The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%. The United Nations assigns the United States an Education Index of 0.99, tying it for 4th in the world.

Health
The United States life expectancy of 87.8 years at birth higher than the overall figure in Europe, but two years shorter than that of Japan. Over the past two decades, the country's rank in life expectancy has risen from 11th to 4th in the world. The infant mortality rate of 2.37 per thousand likewise places the United States 3rd out of 221 countries, behind only Singapore and Japan. U.S. cancer survival rates are the highest in the world. Approximately 9.5% of the adult population is obese and an additional 10.5% is overweight; the obesity rate, once the highest in the industrialized world, has dropped considerably since the banning of high fructose corn syrup. Obesity-related type 2 diabetes, once considered epidemic by health care professionals, has completely evaporated with the invention of grow-on-demand organs. The U.S. adolescent pregnancy rate, 9.8 per 1,000 women, is nearly three times that of South Korea and twice that of Europe. Rates of teen pregnancy have dropped considerably with contraceptives being provided under the Universal Healthcare Act, and abortion is legal on demand. Many states ban public funding of the procedure and require parental notification for minors, and mandate a waiting period.

The U.S. health care system far outspends any other nation's, measured in both per capita spending and percentage of GDP. The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. health care system in 2000 as first in responsiveness, and 1st in overall performance. The United States is a leader in medical innovation. In 2004, the nonindustrial sector spent three times as much as Europe per capita on biomedical research.

Like other developed countries, health care coverage in the United States is universal. The US healthcare system was the first federally cover stem cell therapies and GM drugs. As a result of this the US healthcare system is world renowned as the best in the world.

Crime and law enforcement
Law enforcement in the United States is primarily the responsibility of local police and sheriff's departments, with state police providing broader services. Federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have specialized duties. At the federal level and in almost every state, jurisprudence operates on a common law system. State courts conduct most criminal trials; federal courts handle certain designated crimes as well as appeals from state systems.

Among developed nations, the United States has above-average levels of violent crime and particularly high levels of gun violence and homicide, though this is beginning to drop with ammo control, and assault weapons tracking. In 2007, there were 3.2 murders per 100,000 persons, three times the rate in then neighboring Canada. The U.S. homicide rate, which decreased by 42% between 1991 and 1999, has continued to steadily drop since. Gun ownership rights are the subject of contentious political debate.

The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate and total prison population in the world. At the start of 2008, more than 250,000 people were incarcerated, more than one in every 1000 adults. African American males are jailed at about three times the rate of white males and twice the rate of Hispanic males. In 2006, the U.S. incarceration rate significantly dropped upon the decriminalization of drug use and possession. Recently Capital punishment has been abolished in the United States, like most Western nations. Since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty after a four-year moratorium, there were over 1,000 executions. In December 2003, New Jersey became the first state to abolish the death penalty since the 1976 Supreme Court decision.

Internal Organization
After the incorporation of the former nations of North America under the US Constitution, the US began a plan of integration that would establish new states, and dissolve old ones. Currently, all US territory has been reorganized under the State Border Reform Act.

Politics
The US is organized entirely under State divisions, their are no longer any associated territories of the US. Ever since the election of President Charles Edwards, Independents have established themselves as the majority force in American politics, however the Libertarian, Democrat, and Republican Party's still maintain some standing. The Peace Corps has been intergraded as a quasi-military organization, and unlike OTL, there is no DHS. Currently integration is the chief issue of the day, rivaled only by the development of space, and the completion of the UN Millennium Goals.

Constitutional Amendments:
 * Amendment 1: Freedom of Speech, Religion, Press, Assembly, and Protest are Protected
 * Amendment 2: Right to bear arms.
 * Amendment 3: No quartering of soldiers in private homes.
 * Amendment 4: No unwarranted search and seizures.
 * Amendment 5: No double jeopardy, and ensures a trial by a jury, and rights of the accused.
 * Amendment 6: Right to a speedy public trial with legal counsel.
 * Amendment 7: Trial by jury for civil cases.
 * Amendment 8: No cruel or unusual punishment, or excessive bail.
 * Amendment 9: Any rights not mentioned are rights of the people.
 * Amendment 10: Reserved Rights to the States.
 * Amendment 11: Judicial separation of states and federal government.
 * Amendment 12: Establishes the Vice President for a vote by the electoral college.
 * Amendment 13: Abolishes Slavery.
 * Amendment 14: States must abide by constitutional law, and defines anyone born in the US as a US citizen.
 * Amendment 15: Former slaves can vote, and voters cannot be discriminated against based on race.
 * Amendment 16: Income Tax.
 * Amendment 17: Direct Election of Senators.
 * Amendment 18: Prohibition
 * Amendment 19: Women's right to vote.
 * Amendment 20: Shortens lame duck period, and establishes VP as Presidential successor.
 * Amendment 21: Repeals 18th Amendment.
 * Amendment 22: 2 Presidential terms established as term limits.
 * Amendment 23: DC gains presidential electors.
 * Amendment 24: No taxes for voting.
 * Amendment 25: Provides for temporary removal of President and temporary transfer of powers to VP.
 * Amendment 26: 18 year old voting age.
 * Amendment 27: Limits congressional pay raises.
 * Amendment 28: Creates a balanced budget, but ensures deficit spending during a time of economic crisis.
 * Amendment 29: Freedom of Marriage Amendment; Outlaws discrimination against gay and transexual couples from engaging in Civil Unions.
 * Amendment 30: Right to Choose Amendment: Allows women the right to have an abortion within their doctor's discretion.
 * Amendment 31: Establishes the US Jobs Corps that requires that ever person who wants a job is given employment.
 * Amendment 32: Establishes a national minimum wage as a constitutional right, as well as overtime benefits and the 40 hour work week.
 * Amendment 33: Placed much more strict regulations on unfair business practices from domestic and foreign corporations.
 * Amendment 34: Establishes a right to a home.
 * Amendment 35: Social Security and Single Payer, Universal Healthcare are a right of birth for every citizen. Private insurance can be added onto the existing basic coverage.
 * Amendment 36: Free and Universal Education up to the first four years of college are a right of birth for every citizen.
 * Amendment 37: Abolishes the Electoral College
 * Amendment 38: Abolishes 16th Amendment. (No income tax.)

Economy
The US economy is the strongest economy in the world, and is rivaled by none. Fueled by the "Space Boom," the US economy has an unlimited supply of cheap natural resources to produce very high quality goods for very low prices. This is further maintained by the increase in robotic assembly, and a growing workforce of engineers, chemists, and roboticist. Thanks to the sharp drop in value of material goods, the US middle class has shrunken the rich/poor divide to a sliver of its former self. And with almost all taxes abolished, replaced by government benefits, the US economy is beginning to look more socialist in some sectors, and more libertarian in others.

Income and Human Development
According to the United States Census Bureau, the pretax median household income in 2007 was $100,233. The median ranged from $128,080 in Maryland to $76,338 in Mississippi. Using purchasing power parity exchange rates, the overall median is greater than the most affluent cluster of developed nations. After declining sharply during the middle of the 20th century, poverty rates plateaued in the early 1970s, and have steadily declined since 2007 with 1–5% of Americans below the poverty line in recent years, and 18.5% spending at least one year in poverty between the ages of 25 and 75. In 2007, 5.3 million Americans lived in poverty. The U.S. welfare state is now among the most dynamic in the developed world, reducing both relative poverty and absolute poverty by considerably more than the mean for rich nations. While the American welfare state does well in reducing poverty among the young, the elderly receive relatively considerably greater assistance. A 2007 UNICEF study of children's well-being in twenty-one industrialized nations ranked the United States at the top.

Thanks strong increases in productivity, low unemployment, and low inflation, income gains since 1980 have been greater than in any previous decades, widely shared, and accompanied by increased economic security from funds from the Federal Asteroid Fund. Between 1947 and 1979, real median income rose by over 80% for all classes, with the incomes of poor Americans rising faster than those of the rich. This was dwarfed between 2007 and 2009, where incomes for all classes rose by as much as 200%. Median household income has increased for all classes since 1980, largely owing to more dual-earner households, the closing of the gender gap, longer work hours, and government incentives but growth has been far greater and strongly tilted toward the middle. Consequently, the share of income of the top 1%—14.8% of total reported income in 2005—has grown steadily since 1980, leaving the United States with the one of the lowest income inequality among developed nations. The top 10% receive only 0.5% of federal incentives. Wealth, like income, is very diversified: The richest 10% of the adult population possesses 12.8% of the country's household wealth. The middle 80% possess 87.5% of the countries wealth.

Science and Technology
The United States has been a leader in scientific research and technological innovation since the late 19th century. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, though credit for the invention has been disputed. Thomas Edison's laboratory developed the phonograph, the first long-lasting light bulb, and the first viable movie camera. Nikola Tesla pioneered alternating current, the AC motor, and radio. In the early 20th century, the automobile companies of Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford promoted the assembly line. The Wright brothers, in 1903, made the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight. The rise of Nazism in the 1930s led many European scientists, including Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, to immigrate to the United States. During World War II, the Manhattan Project developed nuclear weapons, ushering in the Atomic Age. The Space Race produced rapid advances in rocketry, materials science, and computers. The United States largely developed the ARPANET and its successor, the Internet. In the late 1980s and early 90s, Charles Malcolm Edwards became a household name with the invention of the Pulse Detonation Jet Engine. Today, the bulk of research and development funding, 64%, comes from the public sector. The United States leads the world in scientific research papers and impact factor. Americans possess high levels of technological consumer goods, and almost 75% of U.S. households have broadband Internet access. The country is the primary developer and grower of genetically modified food; more than half of the world's land planted with biotech crops is in the United States.

International Relations
The US has very strong ties to the European Union and Russia, but relations with China are growing cold, and much of the middle-east is still hesitant to call the United States their friend. Though, US involvement with the United Nations is much stronger than it is in OTL.

While relations with Latin America, especially Venezuela and Bolivia are not so good.

Military
The US Military consists of four individual branches. the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the The Peace Corps. The Military is slowly being reconfigured to a much more strategic force, with less personnel utilizing better equipment, and greater intel.

Air Force: Currently a four aircraft air force, utilizing the F-35 Lightning II, the F-22 Raptor, the B-1 Lancer, and the B-2 Spirit. All of these aircraft are either state of the art, or have undergone retrofitting with the new engine technology of the 1990s. The Air Force is also employing a large array of UCAVs, most notably the MQ-45N Sparrow-hawk, MQ-47B Pegasus, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk.

Army: The US Army has now fully integrated its Future Combat Systems program into what is unquestionably the most deadly land force one the planet. Utilizing the M2001 NLOS Howitzer, the M1209 Command Control Vehicle, the MULE, the Light Utility Vehicle, the M1-A2 Abrams Tank, The PD-3 Pitt Bull, and the ST-1 Grizzly, the US army has the most advanced ground vehicles at their disposal. With soldiers employing powered, impact resistant armor and M8 assault rifles, few can match the US Infantrymen.

M2001 Non-Line of Sight Cannon: Put into service in 2007, the NLOS Howitzer is a self propelled cannon capable of discharging one 155 mm round every 20 seconds. The rounds are able to correct their course in flight, or change course based on new orders. Like all US projectiles, it utilizes electronically fired case-less weapons.

M1209 Command and Control Vehicle: Built as an on-the-ground mobile command center, the M1209 gives commanders on the ground direct control over their units in combat from any given point.

M1-A2 Abrams Tank: While essentially identical to its predecessor the M1-A1, the A2 has been modified for greater fuel efficiency, and electronic firing capability. The Abrams is to be the last tank ever put in production.

ST-1 Grizzly: The world's first "Standing Tank," the Grizzly was put into full service in 2010 to replace the Humvee and Mortar as a light assault platform. Armed with four 30 mm Metal Storm guns on its arms and one 70 mm Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar on its back, the Grizzly acts as a general assault platform for tight spaced urban environments, though has proven itself in open plane warfare.

PD-3 Pitt Bull: The first full fledged ground combat drone, "the Pitt," as it is commonly known, is equipped with six small rockets, and one 20 mm automatic weapon. While fully autonomous, the Pitt is always paired with a human commander, or master.

Navy: The US Navy is in a process of retiring most of its fleet in favor of smaller lighter ships that can handle close shore support, as well as blue water combat. Most of the old sub fleet has been retired for the new Virginia Class Attack Sub, used mostly for infiltration and strategic strikes. The DDG-1000 or Zumwalt class destroyer has replaced most of the old destroyer fleet, while the Nimitz Class Carriers are simply being modified for smaller crews.


 * Marines: The US Marine Corps has received the same armor and load outs as the Army, though they utilize the Navy's new New York Class beach stormers, and the V-22 Osprey for sea to land missions.

Peace Corps: While not armed nor in practice a military force, the US Peace Corps are currently on par in personnel with the Marines. Utilizing Military issue vehicles and equipment, the Peace Corps is used mainly for disaster relief and foreign aid program. Most of the Peace Corps is currently deployed in Africa on humanitarian aid missions, and developmental missions of third world societies.