West Vermont (New England Secession)

The State of West Vermont is a state in the Republic of New England. It is made up of the former New York counties of Clinton, Essex, Saratoga Franklin, Washington, Warren, Columbia, Rensselaer, and parts of Ulster, Albany, Schenectady, Greene, Hamilton and Dutches which were annexed to the RNE. New York's original capital of Albany was placed on RNE's side of the border, originally infuraiting New York.

West Vermont was annexed by the RNE in response to the massive invasion by American troops into the RNE, although West Vermont was recognized as New English sovereign territory until 1991, after every other nation in the world recognized West Vermont.

West Vermont's capital is Troy. It's current governor of Brian Mayfield of the Centrist Party.

Albany
Albany, which has 30,000 on the American side of the Albany Wall and 2,500 people on the New English, is a divided city, similar to Berlin from 1947 to 1989. Once thriving, it's now desloate. Soldiers, rather than police, patrol city streets, and riots are common on the New English side. Towers stand abandoned. Homes deserted.

Many in New England advocate the cession of the New English side of Albany, but it is opposed by every New English president since Milton Emerson, and only a few American presidents make it an issue during campaign time.

Naming
The naming of the counties after being transfered to New English hands was stressful. Several proposals were the State of Saratoga, the State of York, the State of Eastern New York, the State of Victory, the State of Kennedy, the State of Hamilton, the State of Dukakis, State of Ulster, State of New York, the State of Schnectady, the State of South Ontario and the State of Emerson. President Michael Dukakis decided that "West Vermont" suited the state's locale, and the simplicity of the name.

Relationship with the rest of New England
West Vermont has a very tenuous relationship with other New English states and the New English federal government. It rejects the left-wing politics of the rest of New England, instead voting for Centrist candidates. Many unaffiliated members of the West Vermont State Congress are members of the national American Reunionist Party, which is illegal in West Vermont.

Every election year, there is a West Vermont exclusive referndum on whether to return to the United States or not. Every time, West Vermonters vote to return to the State of New York and the United States, but the New English federal government always refuses to recognize those results. Also, each time the referendum is held, less people support reuniting with the United States.