Republic of Lincoln (1983: Doomsday)

Not to be confused with the state of , a subdivison of the .

Pre-Doomsday
Before Doomsday, the state of Nebraska was the leading farming and ranching state in the United States.

Post-Doomsday
Though the city of Lincoln was spared, Omaha and the nearby Offutt Air Force Base (HQ of the Strategic Air Command) were both destroyed by nuclear strikes. The resulting radiation from the blasts and radiation from strikers further west caused the quality of agriculture in the region drop significantly.

Attempts by the Governor Kerrey of Nebraska to maintain some control as all contact with the US government proved too much and he was found in his office dead from suicide. The mayor of Lincoln quickly assumed “emergency powers” to bring order to his city before it collapsed in anarchy.

It was not until April 8th, 1984 that a new government was organized. Calling itself the Provisional Republic of Lincoln, the new nation intended to act as a “place holder” for the US government until contact could be reestablished.

Contact
In spite of its isolationist policies, the Republic has kept tabs on the outside world. This is done via the network of HAM radio operators that still dot the nation. However, in 1996 the President recieved horrible news. The American Provisional Administration had officialy disolved itself. Earl Nelson, the President of Lincoln at the time, uses the local radio transmitter to broadcast the official Declaration of Independance. It eventually made it to the captial of the ANZC.

Government
The government of Lincoln strictly follows an almost word-for-word copy of the Constitution, and the inalienable rights are taken very seriously. This is due to Lincoln desperately hopeing that the Federal Government would be restored, and as the "place holder" they need to preserve the institutions the US held dear. The major differences are the lack of a ellectoral college, as necessity goes against its existance. Also with the UPA's disbanding in 1996, the major political parties in Lincoln voted to rename themseles the Conservative Party (Republican Party), and the Liberal Party (Democratic Party). Also a number of new amendments have been added to the Constitution over the years.

1. Abortion is legal in cases of disigured infants or infants with fatal conditions.

2. Marriage is deemed a religious institution only, making gay marriage legal.

Military
The republic of Lincoln hosts a reasonably armed militia for self-defence purposes only. This is because despite the negative effects of Doomsday, the agriculture of the area is still decent. And to prevent one of the many armed nomadic tribes from raiding them for food, the Lincolnites need a way of defending themselves. It currently monitors the fortified borders, and operates border checkpoints on all major roadways. It currently follows the policy of letting a small amout of refugees in per year. The smaller borders fortunately make it much easier for Lincoln to enforce immigraton laws.

Economy
The economy of the state was primarily based on agriculture and ranching. The effects of Doomsday's radiation made it much harder to recover than it would have otherwise. They still got it up and running, but in twice the time. The Republic has minted its own currency since 1996. Virtually all of the tender printed has the likeness of Abraham Lincoln on it. Except for the One Dollar bill and the quarter. These mirror the old United States', as they have the image of their Founding Father Roland Luedtke on them. They are otherwise virtually identical to the old US designs, except In God We Trust is replaced with The Good Life.

Religion
As before Doomsday three of the four major faiths in Lincoln are Roman Catholicism (28%), Lutheranism (16%) and Methodism (11%). However there is a new faith that is rapidly on the rise. It is called Lincolnism, and it is a worshipping of Abraham Lincoln as a deity. This has been on the rise since the republic's culture was centered on Lincoln in the years following the APA's disbandment in 1996. The reasoning behind it is that people started seeing simmularities in the Chistian God and Abraham Lincoln. Both were described as kind, compassionate, fair, but firm. This newly founded religion is the fastest growing, as the citizens of Lincoln are bombarded with images of their namesake.The fifth category is fairly self-explanitory. The sixth category are simply people who refused to fill out "religion" on a census, and thus doesn't fully qualify as a category. The local religious leaders are mostly the pre-doomsday figures, except for the Lincolnists. They are lead by Robert Baron.

1. Roman Catholicism (28%)- 249,200

2. Lincolnism (21%)- 186,900

3. Lutheranism (16%)- 142,400

4. Methodist (11%)- 97,900

5. Non-religious/Atheism (10%)- 89,000

6. Unknown (14%)- 124,600

Law & Order
The new Supreme Court of Lincoln has attempted to stick to the old US legal system, though punishments tend to be harsher to cetain individuals. These are the repeat offenders with no chance of rehabilitation. There is a three-strikes policy in place. Three major crimes, and a very large chance of commiting more simply gets the criminal in question executed.

International Relations
The Republic has, by virtue of diplomacy, been recognised by every country it has been in contact with. The Republic is an observer in the LoN, and is a very popular candidate for full membership. The Republic has cordial relations with every nation they meet. The lone exception is the NAU, as relations with them are marred by by "debate" (aka vicious argument) on the status of western Nebraska.

Capital Reconstruction
In honour of the namesake of the Republic, a replica of the the Lincoln Memorial has been built in the City of Lincoln. The streets have also been renamed in honour of former Presidents of the USA, from George Washington to George H. W. Bush.

Memorial
In more recent times, as the radioactivity of the ruins of Omaha has gone down, the plans for the construction of a Doomsday memorial were put forward. Using materials salvaged from "Old" Omaha, including copper from plumbing, iron from (useable) rebar, and concrete from various sources. It is of a Phoenix rising from the ashes of the world. On its plinth is a complete list of the cities destroyed by Doomsday. It was built in front of the former Nebraska State Legislature in Lincoln. It was unveiled to the public on September 26th 2009, the 26th aniversary of Doomsday. However, Omaha's ruins cannot and will not be rebuilt. The ruins were salvaged and demolished while part of the site had been, and still is, used as a cemetary for Doomsday's dead. The burial site has been declared the Omaha Memorial Cemetary. A true necropolis has been built. So far about a million mausoleums (built from salvaged materials) have been built, and a system of cattacombs were dug. The construction of the cattacombs was aided by the old sewer system of Omaha.