North Pennsylvania (1983: Doomsday)

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is an American successor state that continues to go by its former statehood name. Aside from Pennsylvanian lands, it also controls Chautauqua County and Cattaraugus County, New York and Norfolk County, Ontario. To the north, it borders across Lake Erie, to the north-east it borders, to the east , to the south by the , to the west the , and to the south-west the. In 2007, it was a founding member of the.

Pre-Doomsday
Before the Commonwealth was settled by Europeans, the area was home to the Delaware, and other Native American Nations. The Dutch were the first to take possession, and this has impact on the history of Pennsylvania. In 1638, Sweden established the New Sweden Colony on the site of present day Delaware. New Sweden claimed and, for the most part, controlled the lower Delaware River region (Parts of present Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania), but settled few colonists there.

On February 28, 1681, the King of England granted a land charter to William Penn to repay a debt of about $4,200,000 owed to William's father. This was one of the largest land grants to an individual in history. It was called Pennsylvania, meaning "Penn's Woods", in honor of Admiral Penn. William Penn, who had wanted his province to be named "Sylvania", was embarrassed at the change, fearing that people would think he had named it after himself, but King Charles would not rename the grant. Penn established a government with two innovations that were much copied in the New World: the county commission and freedom of religious conviction.

Between 1730 and when it was shut down by Parliament with the Currency Act of 1764, the Pennsylvania Colony made its own paper money to account for the shortage of actual gold and silver. The paper money was called Colonial Scrip. The Colony issued "bills of credit", which were as good as gold or silver coins because of their legal tender status. Since they were issued by the government and not a banking institution, it was an interest-free proposition, largely defraying the expense of the government and therefore taxation of the people. It also promoted general employment and prosperity. When the Founding Fathers convened in Philadelphia in 1774, 12 colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress, and the Second Continental Congress, which also met in Philadelphia drew up and signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, but when that city was captured by the British, the Continental Congress escaped westward, meeting at the Lancaster courthouse on Saturday, September 27, 1777, and then to York. Later, the Constitution was written, and Philadelphia was once again chosen to be cradle to the new American Nation. Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 12, 1787.

The Battle of Gettysburg—-the major turning point of the Civil War—took place near Gettysburg. An estimated 350,000 Pennsylvanians served in the forces.

Pennsylvania was also the home of the first commercially drilled oil well in 1859 near Titusville.

Doomdsay
On Doomsday, Pennsylvania was the sixth most hard hit state in the United States, losing it's capital Harrisburg, it's largest city of Philadelphia, and Pittsburg, which was not destroyed, but was abandoned due to radiation. Erie, although a large city, was miraculously not hit. It, along with other cities in the area such as Warren, Oil City, and Meadville, would become a haven for those fleeing the rest of Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio.

In 1984, Erie, the largest of the surviving cities, acknowledged the destruction of the Harrisburg and established itself as the provisional capital of the area several months after Doomsday. As the area became densely crowded with refugees, arrangements were made to send a large proportion of them to Oil City, a town with accommodations for 5 times more than its normal population. Food, however, was the main priority, and a specialized diet plan was arranged to the workers who need to do necessary work. Most other families received packaged dry goods such as fish, sun-dried cabbage, grapes, powdered eggs, and carrots, all home-grown Pennsylvanian products.

By 1985, there was still no word from the state or federal government. Representatives of the rump Pennsylvanian counties helped reorganize the state police into a larger unit that would constantly be on the watch for food theft, refugees, and other problems. They were also given orders to open fire upon a the first infraction of fighting, murder, and vandalizing. This kept the local civilians in check since committing these crimes could cost them their lives. Most of the able bodied younger men were divided into task forces that were put to work clearing out bodies, rubble, and cars rendered useless by the Electromagnetic Pulse-wave respectively. In total, nearly a quarter of Erie's population were in graves by 1986.

Post-Doomsday
For many years after Doomsday, the nation's priority was food. While fishing in Lake Erie had checked off some needs, the agricultural output was still inadequate. In 1988, the Council Staff of West Pennsylvania decided to restore the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the city of Erie. However, they did not make any official claim to the rest of the state and only stated that it was a successor to the Pennsylvania government and some of its lands. However, its eventual annexation of nearby lands proved that they indeed wanted to control the rest of the former state.

Then came the winter of 1986.

In 1986, snowfall in Pennsylvania peaked, with over 3-7 feet of snowfall, the entire city was trapped within itself. The known casualties have been 10,000, most due to starvation or hypothermia. After winter, people had an even worse time trying to regrow lost crops. So in all, over 35,000 people have died due to the effects of the 1986 Winter.

By 1988, Pennsylvania had managed to return to normal levels of food output.

In 1989 they confirmed that the city of Toledo had survived and had expanded across Lake Erie and into former Indiana and Ohio. This brought joy to the Pennsylvanians seeing another functioning society in the area and soon began much needed trade with the citizens. The steel mills in Pennsylvania were put back on line and were put into overtime to produce metal materials needed for construction and such.

Expeditions Across the Erie
In 1990, the Pennsylvanian government wondered on the possibility of life in Canada. According to Toledo, they had spotted a fishing vessel across the Erie once, but were not able to identify it. A joint Toledo-Pennsylvania expedition across Lake Erie confirmed that life in Canada had indeed survived. Norfolk County, Ontario continued to function after Doomsday, but had indeed suffered more than anyone imagined.

The area was given an ultimatum to join Toledo, Pennsylvania, or stay independent, but they voted the following:

Join Toledo - 37%

Join Pennsylvania - 40%

Stay Independent - 23%

By a narrow margin, Norfolk County became a Pennsylvanian colony, but they promised to return control to Canada if they ever came into contact with them.

In 1991, they later came into contact with the city-state of London-Ontario after they had received reports of farmers near their land from their Canadian protectorate. This was a major event in Pennsylvania since they could now use Norfolk County, Ontario as a major international trade hub across Lake Erie.

Life on the Mainland
In 1995, Oil City was disrupted by their normal routine by an unexpected visit from the State College area. Once contact with State College was established, it was revealed that State College was recognized as the states legitimate government, while Pennsylvania was the true successor to the state. Eventually, Pennsylvania was once again viewed as the legitimate government once international communications were re-established.

In 1997, the area again was visited, this time by the Virginian Republic. This visit brought less spoils than State College or Toledo had, but the Virginians still left on good terms with Pennsylvania.

The New Millennium
By 2000, things had begun to show signs of stability in the area. The level of cooperation between Toledo, State College, and Pennsylvania had allowed one nation to fill in the flaws of the others. By this time, however, they had come into contact with the via their outpost in Ontario. Relations between the two are "disconnected" at best, since distance makes trade a hassle, although it does still occur at a minimum in the Great Lakes region.

In 2000, the twin cities of the in New York and Ontario were found to be functioning perfectly. Pennsylvania helped establish safe roads, and has since been trading with the city-state. Since the city has since become the most economically stable in the region due to its small size and self sustainability, it was chosen as the capital for the.

In 2001, they discovered a functioning city-state in Westfield. The area was annexed shortly after.

At this time, they established relations with the city of Ithaca in New York, which had also miraculously been spared destruction. They offered annexation to the area, but they respectfully declined and instead pursued trade relations.

Pennsylvania also contacted the via Virginia in 2002. The two nations had a lot in common, as both had retained their statehood names and had both been spared attacks on important locations.

In 2007, it was a founding member of the United Communities along with Toledo and London-Ontario. St Marys was chosen as a capital, but eventually it was decided that Niagara Falls would be the perfect capital since it is a Canadian-American city and would not favor either member state.

Road to Ohio
In 2008, the Pennsylvanian militia began the "Road to Ohio" in which they did a joint expedition with Toledo to see what was left of the former state. Eventually, Pennsylvania annexed Ashatabul County and was to annex more land, but has had to stop due to what appears to be a dictatorship deep within the area.

However, in 2010, the project was picked up again. By 2012 Pennsylvania hopes to share a land border with Toledo via annexing former Ohio.

Modern Day
In recent years, Pennsylvania has become home to a small but prosperous economy. Most of this is thanks to the steel mills at Erie, which have provided nearby nations with necessities such as railways, canisters, nails, pipes, and to a certain extent firearms.

Economy
Pennsylvania's economy is primarily based around the manufacturing plants at Erie. To say, it can dedicate its success today to Erie, for whom without it would be a completely survival-based economy.

In the industrial sector, it produces plastic, nails, railways, pipes, munitions, automobiles, and other steel products. Over 50% of the plastic produced in North America is made in Pennsylvania. It has recently reopened a Chevrolet car manufacturing plant in Erie as well.

While it does not have much land for farming, the food products Pennsylvania does produce are cattle, corn, milk, layer chickens, and grapes. It used to have some of the nations best horses before Doomsday, but most of them were on the southern side of the state.

The one benefit of the north-western part of the state is the abundance of oil. Hundreds and hundreds of oil fields have been found all over Pennsylvania, making it largely energy sufficient and local companies such as Pennzoil and Quaker State able to make a very, very large profit off of oil.

Minerals are somewhat common as well, such as salt, coal, phosphate, sandstone, clay, and limestone. Gravel and silt are found off the coast of Lake Erie, as well.

Pennsylvania remains a major consumer on Toledo's glass products, who have successfully helped make Pennsylvania a better place by providing the staple product of windows. On behalf of the Toledo-Pennsylvania relations, the government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania donated a large metal statue crafted in Erie to the Toledans depicting the workers of Toledo and Pennsylvania. The statue is named "Workers of the Great Lakes".

Government
The government of Pennsylvania is exactly that of pre-Doomsday Pennsylvania state government. In fact, it only holds de facto independence, as it yet to declare independence from the United States. However, in 2002 the Constitution was modified to give more power to the "state" government, specifically the creation of Congress and the right to own militia.

Pennsylvania was, and still is, a largely Democratic state. This has led to most government officials being members of the Democrat party, and as a result, the government holds more control over private companies.

The government of Pennsylvania is made up of the executive branch and the legislative branch. The governor and lieutenant-governor are in command of the executive branch, while a Senate makes up the legislative branch.

Territory
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania exerts its control most in north-west Pennsylvania. However, since Doomsday it now controls parts of former New York and Norfolk, Ontario. And after the beginning of Project Road to Ohio, Ashatabul County of Ohio as well. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is divided into several states as noted below

Pennsylvania
Capital: St Marys

Population: 750,000

New York
Capital: Mayville

Population: 100,000

Ohio
Population: 25,000

Capital: Jefferson

Ontario
Population: 40,000

Capital: Simcoe

Transportation
Since Doomsday, many cars in North America were made obsolete by several EMP's. However, for those cars that remained active, gasoline is not a problem since the state is home to both abundant oil fields and several refineries. In addition, there is an abundance of natural gas to be utilized as vehicles are converted to use that fuel.

Since after Doomsday, Lake Erie was able to retain much of its natural animal populations and beauty due to the lack of major commercial fishing vessels. In 2006, Pennsylvania began to restrict the amount of gasoline-powered boats from entering its harbors in an effort to keep fishing stocks in good health and abundance.

Paved roads have also been restored since the discovery of gravel in Lake Erie.

Diesel-electric locomotives are Erie's specialty, so they are used to travel from Toledo to Superior. The Trans-Lake Railroad is currently the largest functioning railway in North America.

Automobiles
In 2004, an abandoned factory was re-opened into its former use of a Chevrolet factory. The factory has managed to produce over 1,000 cars a year. The two types of cars constructed are a large truck for commercial use called the "Chevy Hulk" and a mid-sized four-seater for city use named the "Chevy Camaro".

Air Transportation
Far View Airport is the nation's main airport at this time, although flights mainly go in and out of Superior, Virginia, or Kentucky.

Culture
Oil City, the "capital of modern oil drilling" is a major tourist spot around the area.

Erie, the largest city in Pennsylvania has recently become a very active, bustling city once more as more and more residents move in from other areas, sometimes from State College or north-east Ohio.

Minorities
With the Amish being a major presence in the area, the surrounding rural communities benefited off of their way of living, especially after Doomsday. The Old Order Amish, however, have become a near-extinct minority, with many of those defecting to the more liberal New Order Amish.

The American Pennsylvanian lands have not seen much immigration in recent times, but the Canadian lands have become home to many of those who have left mainland Pennsylvania for multiple reasons.

Demographics
Since after Doomsday, Pennsylvania German, a dying language before Doomsday, has slowly been on the rise. This is because with less English influence the rural communities have taught more of the young with the Pennsylvanian language. A 2008 census showed that over 9% of the nation spoke Pennsylvania Dutch, leading it to become an official language the year after.

Military
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's military is split up into three divisions: Army, Navy, and Air Force.

International Relations
Pennsylvania was a founding member of the in 2007. It is not a member of the League of Nations at the moment, but will consider doing so further down the road when communications are more easy to come by.

It mainly keeps tabs with local American and Canadian successor states such as State College, Toledo, Aroostook, Superior, Thunder Bay, Niagara Falls, London Ontario, and to a certain extent Kentucky and Virginia. They know of the existence of Blue Ridge, Piedmont, Keene, Plymouth, the North American Union, and Ithaca. It has been irate with Vermont's policies towards Pennsylvania since they have not viewed them as the legitimate successor to the original Pennsylvania government for some odd reason, instead favoring.

Since 2008, they have been within a rather questionable relationship with Canada. The Canadian government has been appalled that another American survivor nation has taken their lands in Ontario, but Pennsylvania assures that these lands will eventually be returned to Canada once, or if Canada establishes a stable regime in the area.