Proposed republic and surrounding nations in 1936, the height of the Kentucky-Missouri independence movement
Most popular flag proposal
The Two Rivers Republic, also called the Republic of the Two Rivers in some sources, was a proposed independent nation that would be created by the secession of the states of Missouri and Kentucky from the Confederate States of America. Closely linked to the Kentucky-Missouri independence movement, the concept of such a nation arose after the Second American Revolution and subsequent annexation of the two border states by the Confederacy. Though Missouri and Kentucky were almost immediately given fully equal status with the other states of the Confederacy, the difference in laws, customs, and culture that had accumulated between the two former Union states and the rest of the South prompted some to consider the new situation more of an occupation than a peaceful annexation, and led to calls for the breakaway of the states into their own nation, or, in some cases, a defection to the Western States of America. The name "Two Rivers Republic" refers to the two rivers that gave the states their names, the Missouri and Kentucky rivers.
Name[]
Early on in the history of the Kentucky-Missouri independence movement, it was agreed that the people of the two states would be more inclined to support independence if the proposed nation had a name and identity to rally around. The placeholder name "Republic of Kentucky-Missouri" or "Republic of Kentucky and Missouri" was quickly dismissed as a possibility, as it was thought too generic and unassuming. One early proposal, coined by Missouri Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, was "Mizztucky." While it was able to gain some publicity and support, it too was soon discarded as being too ridiculous sounding for the general public to truly accept. It was Kentucky state senator Happy Chandler who was credited for creating the name that later won the most widespread support- the Two Rivers Republic. Chandler felt that rivers could be a strong uniting theme for the two states with little shared history, as they existed in a region dominated by several major rivers- namely the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri- and both had a strong river faring culture.
Happy Chandler
While the name quickly became popular, there was enduring confusion about which two rivers it actually referred to. Some believed it referenced the Ohio and Mississippi, two major rivers that made up a large portion of the borders of both states. Other popular theories were that it referenced the Missouri and Mississippi, arguably the two most famous rivers in the region, though they both were contained more in Missouri than Kentucky, or the Ohio and Missouri, the two rivers that most dominated each state respectively. Some even took to calling it the "Three Rivers Republic", in reference to the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri together. Happy Chandler himself always maintained that he had based the name on the Missouri and Kentucky rivers, the namesakes for the two states that would make up the independent republic. Original records strongly support this, though popular claims to the contrary have continued to persist in the ensuing decades and even up to the present day.
Another popular deviation from the original name was the "Republic of the Two Rivers." This version was used by those who thought the name "Two Rivers Republic" did not sound official enough for a sovereign nation. It became widespread enough for some to begin claiming that this was actually the original name coined by Happy Chandler, and that "Two Rivers Republic" was the corrupted version. While easily disproven, this claim contributed to the general confusion around the true origin and meaning of the name.
History[]
In the United States[]
The fates of the US states of Kentucky and Missouri did not become especially intertwined until 1925, the first year of the Second American Revolution. Being fairly conservative, these states did not have as much socialist agitation as the rest of the United States, and they were both relatively unaffected by internal uprisings in the early stage of the war. What they were affected by was incursions by socialist militias from neighboring states, a situation that only worsened as the revolutionaries became more organized and started to act like a real, unified army. Finding it hard to defend their borders with only state militias, and largely abandoned by the US Army which was busy guarding more strategic areas, the governors of the two states were forced to look elsewhere for assistance.
Second American Revolution at the end of 1926
There were two possible options. One was to join the Western Pact, a league of states west of the Mississippi that had declared neutrality in the conflict and joined their militia forces together in defense of their collective territory. However, at this point, Nebraska and Kansas were still officially loyal to the federal government, cutting Missouri and Kentucky off from any military aid the Western Pact could give them. The other possible choice was to ask the Confederacy for help. This option was unpopular with the public, which vividly remembered the warfare against the Confederacy in World War I just five years before. As the conflict dragged into 1926, though, it was clear that the socialists had momentum and a good chance at overthrowing the US government. They controlled the major cities of St. Louis and Kansas City and were encroaching on Louisville. In March 1926, the governors of the states met and reached a solemn decision- they had no choice but to ask the CSA for aid. They sent their request to Richmond and President Glass, but it was initially declined as the Confederacy did not want to reignite a war with the US. As the months went on, however, the situation rapidly declined for the federal government, and Confederate leadership changed their minds. On August 27, 1926, Confederate troops marched across the border and immediately opened conflict with the socialist militias, focusing first on securing St. Louis and Louisville. They were slow and methodical, only taking the land they knew they could completely control without many losses. In late 1926, Kansas and Nebraska announced that they had joined the Western Pact, which would have allowed Missouri and Kentucky to receive assistance from the pact if they had just waited a little longer. The states' leadership began to regret their decision, but there was no getting rid of the Confederate troops now that they had invited them in. Their fortune was now tied to the Confederacy, for better or worse.
The Confederacy proclaimed that they were only trying to "maintain order" in the states across their border and would return the territory to the US government once they were victorious in the war. It was clear by this point, though, that it likely wouldn't end that way. The Confederate Army continued its slow advance and was less effective initially than the two border states had hoped, even being pushed back by the socialists in northern Kentucky. However, they did manage to retake St. Louis by December 1926, and from there they asserted their control over most of the rest of Missouri, now aiming to drive the socialists out of Kansas City. Fighting continued back and forth, but the experienced and professional CS Army was able to drive the socialists back, and by 1928 they controlled most of the official borders of Missouri and Kentucky. On September 12, 1928, the US government officially surrendered to the revolution.
In the Confederate States[]
It was uncertain what the futures of the two states would hold after that point. Most citizens favored joining the Western Pact, while less wanted both states to earn their independence. Very few wanted to join the Confederacy, but that is, of course, the future they got. Before the end of 1928, Missouri and Kentucky were admitted as the 15th and 16th Confederate states. Confederate leaders, giddy over securing the territory they had desired since their war of independence, hoped that the integration process would be smooth, banking on the shared Southern culture between them and the new states to ease the transition. In reality, the culture of the former US states had diverged quite a bit from that of the Confederacy. Slavery had been abolished in Missouri and Kentucky over 50 years before their annexation into the Confederacy, while it was only outlawed in the Confederate States in 1923. In addition, Blacks and women were allowed to vote in the US, while in the Confederacy only white males could vote. The stripping of rights from these two groups led to much unrest, and many of them opted to leave the country.
Unhappy with the new state of affairs, the people of Missouri and Kentucky quickly called for secession from the Confederacy. In 1929, most favored either joining the Western Pact, now the Western States of America, or simply having both states go their own ways as separate independent nations. The Confederate government was quick to suppress these rumblings, not showing any indication that they would let their new acquisitions go peacefully. Nonetheless, the independence movement continued.
In 1931, Kentucky state senator Happy Chandler coined the name "Two Rivers Republic" to represent a combined independent union of Missouri and Kentucky. The name quickly became popular in the two rebellious states. Around the same time, the American Unity Party was officially formed. Led by local politicians, this party aimed to defend (in some cases, regain) the rights of Missourians and Kentuckians, as well as work towards peace with the other American nations so that warfare would not grace their homes for the third time in a generation. Initially, the AUP refused to endorse the independence movement, as party members were more focused on creating a fruitful and prosperous union with the Confederacy than leaving it. AUP leadership considered this to be, by far, the most realistic approach, but it quickly put them at odds with those who wanted nothing to do with their new nation. Chandler, a notable early leader of the independence movement, used the fame he garnered from creating the Two Rivers Republic name to win election as Governor of Kentucky, and eventually as a Confederate Senator from Kentucky. Eventually, spurred by Chandler and other popular leaders, the AUP began to welcome those who favored independence, though this did spur internal conflict between the two new party factions.
Confederate Presidential Election of 1933, the first to involve the participation of Kentucky and Missouri
The independence movement reached its height in 1936. At that time, Confederate society seemed to be falling apart, as the rise of the fascist White Cross League dominated headlines and spurred unprecedented levels of violence, especially against minorities. Not many native Missourians or Kentuckians supported this extreme movement, but they didn't escape the chaos as League members still entered the states to hold rallies and rile people up. Irritated at these provocations, most citizens became absolutely fed up with Confederate life, desperately wanting to break away and be able to forge their own destiny away from the seemingly dying nation. The apparent weakness of the Confederate federal government heightened these feelings and made it seem like as good a time as ever to make their move.
In this same year, more radical acts of resistance against Confederate rule began to be seen. Pro-independence fanatics were becoming bolder every day, provoking riots, vandalizing federal property, and harassing federal officials. These committed idealists came to be known as the "Two Rivers Boys." While hailed as folk heroes by the common people of the two states, historians have not been able to find any evidence that such a group was ever officially organized. It is instead thought that most acts of resistance attributed to the Two Rivers Boys were actually committed by lone wolves, and only later assigned their greater supposed significance by excited locals.
Based on their lackadaisical response to fascist agitation, those in favor of independence did not expect the Confederates to react very strongly to their comparatively mild provocations. They were surprised and outraged when the federal government actually seemed to react more quickly and aggressively against them than the White Cross League, sending in troops to "keep the peace." Unable to convince the Confederacy to let them go by peaceful means, and knowing an open rebellion would be unwinnable, pro-independence furor slowly died down in the ensuing years. In 1937, Huey Long ascended to the Confederate presidency. He cracked down even harder on the independence movement, not tolerating any resistance to Confederate rule and in some cases lumping independence activists in with the fascists who actually had tried to coup the government.
While any realistic possibility of independence was squashed, the concept of the Two Rivers Republic only became more popular as time went on. Previously divided on what direction they would go if they did achieve independence, by 1938 the majority of those in favor of independence were fully behind the republic. A 1938 poll showed that, among those who wanted secession, 58% wanted to form the Two Rivers Republic, 21% wanted to join the Western States, 8% wanted each state to be independent on its own, 5% wanted to join the USCA, and 8% were undecided or evenly split. The poll showed 42% in favor of secession and 44% against, with the rest undecided, though it should be noted that polling at that time was an inexact science. Even without their independence, a new national identity began to take hold, one that persists in the region to this day. In modern times, a few small groups still call for the formation of the Two Rivers Republic, though most simply take pride in the regional identity they were forced to forge in their time of distress.
Flag[]
"Two Rivers" Flag
"Mizztucky" Flag
"Stars and Rivers" Flag
Independence Flag
Many flags were proposed for the republic, with a few being noticeably more popular than the rest. The first popular design, called the "Two Rivers" Flag, first began to appear in 1932. It was simple in design and symbolism, depicting two rivers on a green field. In that same year, political leaders of the independence movement decided to commission an official flag design from Marie Watkins Oliver, the designer of the Missouri state flag. She produced what would later be popularly known as the "Mizztucky" Flag, a combination of the two state flags with two stars of equal size representing each state. Critics noted that this flag seemed to emphasize the Missouri elements over the Kentucky ones, pointing out the obvious bias that Oliver may have had in trying to secure the legacy of her own famous design. The Mizztucky Flag, revealed to the public in 1933, also became popular, though it never surpassed the original Two Rivers Flag. After the reveal of the Mizztucky Flag, a second variant of the Two Rivers flag began to appear, this one featuring two stars in between the rivers, seemingly borrowing that element from the other flag to create a more united design. This flag, called the "Stars and Rivers" Flag, tended to lag behind as the third most popular option. A fourth flag that was sometimes seen was a simple re-stitching of the Missouri and Kentucky state flags, taking the left side of the Missouri flag and the bottom of the Kentucky flag and flipping the whole thing so that it read "United We Stand, Divided We Fall," the slogan that appears on both state flags. This became common due to its ease of creation, and was simply known as the Independence Flag.
Theorized Function and Outlook as an Independent State[]
Historians, as well as alternate historians, have tried to pin down what the government of the Two Rivers Republic may have looked like. Those in the independence movement came from a wide variety of political backgrounds and represented a diversity of opinions. Leaders of the movement often disagreed on what kind of government the independent republic would have, and so the topic was usually avoided when they met, so as to not cause disunity in the group. Since it would only consist of two states with relatively similar cultures, some envisioned it having a strong federal government with a traditional president and legislative branch, becoming almost a unitary state. Others saw it the complete opposite way, thinking that the presence of only two states meant that the republic should have a weak federal government, the nation effectively acting only as a military and economic union for the two states. One such proposal saw the presidency rotating every year between the governors of the two states, while another had no federal executive branch at all, leaving the governors to execute the laws jointly with the federal government only consisting of a one chambered legislative body.
Located in between all three major American nations, and controlling two confluences of major rivers, the Two Rivers Republic would instantly have been extremely strategically important if it ever gained independence. It would likely have had to align itself with the Confederacy or Western States in order to protect against the USCA, which never ceased to claim the territory as its own. It also would likely have been the first nation invaded by the USCA to start World War II, instead of the Confederacy. Beyond that, it is impossible to say how the Two Rivers Republic might have fared.
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