46 Stars is a timeline which explores a world drastically different from ours, with the first point of divergance during the American Revolution, when the Haldimand Affair ends differently in Vermont after more prolonged Royalton Raids, and Vermont refuses to pay New York the $30,000 to end the claims to them after the Revolution, resulting in Vermont remaining an independent state and indirectly changes the course of history and leads to a different history for "America's Four Republics". This results in a different United States of America, and a different world as well through the theory which is known as the Butterfly effect.
Rules
NOTE: If you get bored by long rules, just skip to the bottom of the rule section to get the basic fundamentals.
46 Stars is a unique element in the Althistory Wikia as it is going to be an experiment which will take the advantages of both a singular timeline and a cooperative timeline, in what I am calling a "miniature group timeline". Starting off with only a few nation profiles, editors can choose one of those several available for editing. They will be allowed just one of the important nations, however, and they must find a way to give that article as much quality as they can, without bringing on an amount of stress and boredom on the editor. Which brings me to my next step. Once the editors have met the basic requirements (18,000 bytes, at least 5 pictures, and one subpage) and all of the initial five to eight important nations are created, an "award system" will be unlocked. Finishing all of the initial nations will unlock the next continent, from which editors can pick as many nations as they please to create from that continent. Once that continent has reached a 10,000 byte requirement (it is less because there will be more nations on the other continents) than the next continent will be available for editing, and so forth and so forth. One tip is that no over-detailing is necessary, so we don't need to know the name of every president of the Republic of Republica, since most likely few people in OTL would exist due to the butterfly effect.
Another unique element in this timeline is that it will experiment with the disputed phenomena known as "timeline roleplaying" (I wonder who inspired this part?). Once someone creates a nation, they can cooperate with other members of the timeline to create the history of the world. Like you have read above you may choose from a wider selection pool for nation profiles once you have finished your first one.
Articles will go through a proposal process, but nowhere near the one in 1983: Doomsday in terms of duration, The only required section to be finished is the history for graduation, but in order to unlock new countries you must meet the basic requirements.
The last thing I want to tell you is that nobody is going to be the supreme overlord of this timeline. The only job that some people will have that the rest of you won't is unlocking new areas once the rest become completed, but besides that there will have no extra-ordinary power or control over the timeline. You guys will have to make the decisions, like in a RPG (Role-playing game), so consider this a "written RPG". My last request is just don't do anything retarded, I.E. Mexico taking over someone else's nation in Europe from some recent war because than I will go Catherine on you (a now-banned control freak) and you will be stripped of your nation for a indefinite duration. Three strikes, which must pass a 2/3 community consensus, and your out of the timeline.
I hope I didn't bore you from this talk, or freak you out with the strike system or discourage you with the reward system and basic requirements, but this is going to be fun, just wait and see.
Condensed Rules
For those of you who skipped the big section above, here are the four basic principals of the timeline:
1. Only one of the 'main' nation profiles for everyone. Remember this timeline centers heavily on the alternate history of the Four American Republics so that would mean one of those Republics for everyone and someone will get the US (and possibly the CS), Canada (and possibly Quebec and/or Newfoundland and Labrador), and Mexico. Secondary nation profiles will also be available to new members of the timeline when the Four American Republics + The Big Ones are completed.
2. This isn't 1983: Doomsday. Nuff said. No Colonel Sovietka getting missile warnings and blowing up half the world with nukes.
3. Remember to cooperate and plan with the other members of the timeline to get a community feel.
Other Notes
The timeline's history is going to begin in 1776, and the current day and age is 2010.
Introduction
The point of divergance occurs during October of 1780, when Lieutenant Houghton of the British Army's 53rd Regiment of Foot and a single Grenadier, along with 300 Mohawk warriors from the Kahnawake Reserve in the British province of Quebec, attacked and burned the towns of Royalton, Sharon and Tunbridge along the White River in eastern Vermont. This raid was launched in conjunction with other raids led by Major Christopher Carleton of the 29th Regiment of Foot along the shores of Lake Champlain and Lake George and Sir John Johnson of the King's Royal Regiment of New York in the Mohawk River valley, to attempt to drive the Vermonters out of Vermont and to burn anything of military value that might be used by the Green Mountain Boys if they decided to attack Montreal or Quebec City again. Four Vermont settlers were killed and twenty six were taken prisoner to Quebec.By the time the local militia could assemble, Houghton and his command were already on their way back north. The militia caught up with the raiders near Randolph, Vermont, and a few volleys were fired back and forth, but when Houghton said that the remaining captives might be killed by the Mohawks if fighting continued, the local militia let the raiders slip away.
However, unlike in our timeline, a second raid occurs, this time suppressed by the Green Mountain Boys at the cost of twelve civilian lives and twenty GMB casualties in the Battle of Royalton. Afterwards, Ethan Allen still meets with Haldimand, on terms of a ceasefire, although in this timeline Ethan Allen states angrily at the Governor of Quebec:
"The bastards! You have descended upon with nothing but fire and flames and now you ask for peace? And for us to return to your empire? The [people] of Vermont shall hath nothing to do with you hounds!"
As a result of the negative meeting, fighting between the Green Mountain Boys and the British Army continued for three more bloody years, and eventually the British capture governor Thomas Chittenden at the Second Battle of Montreal and threaten to surrender or they will execute him, and against the advice of Ethan Allen the governor insists that they "fight until the Green Mountains themselves die!", and thus Governor Chittenden is killed, with Ethan Allen becoming acting leader of Vermont for the rest of the war.
The Vermont-British war succeeds the American Revolutionary War in duration. General and Governor Ethan Allen finally ends the war with a last stand at the capital Windsor, on January 6, 1785. The British, who had by then lost approximately 7,000 soldiers to the Vermonters, recognized them at the Treaty of Windsor, and agreed not to invade them ever oncemore.
Like in our timeline, neither New York or New Hampshire recognize Vermont as a separate entity and still wish for a charge of $30,000 to drop the claims. However, with Vermont's funds stretched to the max on reconstruction efforts, they decline to pay. As a result, the Green Mountain Republic remains a separate entity from the United States of America.
As a result, the United States gains its first true ally in the Vermont Republic, rather than a state or a territory. Vermont, which by then had developed a quasi-national identity shared a close relationship with the United States, and was nicknamed the "Fourteenth State". This has a profound effect on the happenings of America, resulting in a closer population density in the major cities.
Shortly after, Great Britain's war with France had effects on American trade.