Continentalism

Continentalism is a political philosophy and historic movement that advocates for the restoration of the former United States through the unification of the its successor states throughout Anglo-America. The idea originates in the years following the American Civil War which saw the union disintegrate and eventually collapse at the hands of John Wilkes Booth following his assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the ensuing assassinations of Lincoln's entire cabinet. With the entire American leadership eliminated, remnants of the Confederate Army laid siege to Washington D.C. in what would become the Confederate Uprising and while the rebellion was crushed, it bought the Confederates enough time to reorganize and other successor states soon emerged with the sole legal one, the United Commonwealth, taking over much of the eastern and southern parts of the former United States to preserve the union and prevent its complete dissolution. In the years following the collapse of the United States, the leaders of the Commonwealth sought to preserve the country to save the union and attempted various negotiations with America's successor states, but to no avail.

Despite the failed negotiations, the idea of unifying the former United States remains a prominent one in Anglo-American culture as groups and individuals throughout the early modern and modern periods have pushed the idea of reintegrating the North American states and eventually unifying them into a single country where the United States of America would finally be restored. The idea of Continentalism itself is properly seen in the Conference of American States since all of the successor states of the former U.S. are members of the international organization and many advocates of American unionism have advocated to go further and reintegrate the North American member states into a single country, but such a move has not yet been proposed nor has any major CAS official offered any support or endorsement of the idea. Continentalism remains a prominent position within Anglo-American politics and many politicians have pushed forward the idea historically, but the vision on what a restored America would be has been the subject to much debate and controversy throughout the years. 

Today continentalism is often advocated for by various political organizations, minor political parties and other movements across Anglo-America. The World Continental Congress, established in 1912, remains the largest continental organization in the world and represents all continentalist political parties and organizations across the CAS and its members. 

Context

Within Anglo-America, those pushing Continentalism, often called Continentals, are concerned with the idea that the nations that make up modern day North America should unify into a single country as a means of restoring the former United States. Arguments in favor of such and idea stem from how the cultures of the North American countries such as the United Commonwealth, Northeast Union and others, are very similar and that the only thing separating the people from being one are borders, flags, and politics. Advocates of Continentalism also point out how Anglo-American nations can wield significant economic, cultural, political and military power if they were to unify into a single nation and the wealth and knowledge gained could be used to benefit the world at large. 

History

Early Continentalism

Continentalism began to spring up following the Confederate Uprising on April 14th, 1865 where the surviving remnants of the defeated Confederate Army revolted against the United States and their actions resulted in the collapse and dissolution of the union. New nations had emerged and it wasn't long before support began to rise for the unification of the United States. Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army, who had managed to successfully suppress the uprising in Washington D.C. and stopped the capital from falling, had attempted to establish a provisional military government with the intent on convincing the newly emerging states in the former United States to merge to restore the defunt union. 

Variants

Traditional Continentalism

Traditional Continentalism advocates for the restoration of the United States and its borders prior to the American Civil War and its dissolution. Traditional Continentalists also believe that the former American government, a federal constitutional republic, should be the new government of of the hypothetically restored America and the former United States Constitution is to also be the main governing document. The new nation is to be comprised of different states, though since much of the Midwest were organized as territories prior to the dissolution of the United States, Traditional Continentalists have been divided on how these new states would be established. The system of government, a constitutional presidential republic, would be restored and that the presidency would be in charge of governing the nation. Traditional continentalists are often called republican continentalists due to their opposition to the monarchy and commonly sympathize with Sierran republicans as well.

Royalist Continentalism

Royalist Continentalism, also called Monarchist Continentalism or Sierran Continentalism, advocates for the restoration of the former United States with the Government of Sierra being the main government of a hypothetical restored United States. The Sierran Monarch would be the full sovereign of the United States and would be its official head of state and the prime minister the head of government. Royalist continentalists are split between supporting an absolute monarchy or a constitutional one, though most royalist continentalists side with the idea of a constitutional monarchy. Martin Gates was famously a royalist continentalist and royalists made up to the first lineup of the Internal Committee and leadership of the World Continental Congress, but lost their majority by 1920 and were regulated to the opposition by 1924.

Communist Continentalism

Communist Continentalism, also known as Revolutionary Continentalism, advocates for the creation of a restored United States under the guiding principals of communism and other ideals espoused by Karl Marx. Communist Continentalists believe that a restored United States under the principals of communism would lead to the liberation of the "proletariats of Anglo-America from the exploitive capitalist and aristocratic classes" according to the Manifesto for Revolutionary Continentalism written by Karl Rosenburg. Revolutionary Continentalists also advocate for a socialist United States or for an anarchist state across Anglo-America and differ on ideology and vision. The most common symbol of the sect is the "Americanized" hammer and sickle which also includes a gear to symbolize the industrialized factory workers along with the miners and farmers of Anglo-America.

Soft Continentalism

Soft Continentalism is used to refer to to the unification of Anglo-America in more subtle cultural and political ways rather than full unification and the merging of Anglo-American nations into a single nation. Soft Continentalists often argue that the former United States can only be restored through means of union between the Anglo-American states instead of full unification because Anglo-America, while having similar cultural views, differ beyond just borders and full unification will face significant opposition if full unification was to be carried out. The Conference of American States is cited as a major success of Soft Continentalism and the only way to restore the former United States. Soft Continentalists also point to how the nations of Anglo-America have been around for so long that it would be impossible for a physical unification of all the nations believing that it would lead to violence and how the peoples should be united in spirit and culture.

Greater Continentalism

Greater Continentalism advocates that all members of the CAS, including those outside of the former United States, should merge into a single unified nation. Greater Continentalists believe that all of Anglo-America will not be included if the nations in the American mainland were to merge and not the rest of the CAS and believe that the wealth and knowledge of Anglo-America will be able to spread faster if the entire CAS became a unified superstate. Greater Continentalists believe that a confederation would be the best form of government and autonomy would be given to the states that make up the hypothetical Greater United States. Some the more extreme advocates of Greater Continentalism go as far as wanting both North and South America to unite into a single superstate.

Technocratic Continentalism

Technocratic Continentalism believes that any restored American state should be a technocracy and its leaders chosen based off of scientific and technological knowledge. Advocates cite how the technological progress of the Anglo-American states can reach its fullest potential if any unified American state is lead by scientists, technicians, and other workers skilled in the field of science and/or technology. The idea was first introduced in the 1930s by the Technocracy Movement and is still promoted in the present day despite the movement having peaked in the late 1930's and early 1940's in popularity. 

Supporters

Political organizations

Various political organizations have sprung up in Anglo-America in the years following the dissolution of the United States and have been advocating for continentalism since the late 19th century. The oldest continentalist organization is the New Union Society of the United Commonwealth which was formed in 1898 by Hubert Whitehall, the child of a Union Army soldier and veteran of the American Civil War who fought the Confederate Uprising. Hubert became a politician and pushed for continentalist policies throughout his political career. In 1912, the World Continental Congress was established and became an international organization made up of continentalist political parties and organizations similar to the Communist International. The WCC managed to gain international attention during the mid-20th century and would send delegates to CAS meetings by the start of the 2000's.

Continental Question

Main Article: Continental Question

Since the War of Contingency, the idea of the Continental Question, the idea of if and how should the Anglo-America unify in order to restore the United States. The idea has been a major source of debate within the Continentalist movement about the idea of reunifying Anglo-America and if yes, how should a restored United States be culturally, politically and economically. The common belief is that the original constitutional republican government of the former United States should be the new system of government for a restored United States with the presidency being restored as well. The economic aspect has been the source of major debate with many pushing for a capitalist system and others supporting a socialist economic system under the guiding principals of Landonism, the interpretation of Marxism and Socialism by Sierran politician and republican advocate Isaiah Landon. The debate comes from the information gathered by Hubert A. Whitehall in his reports about the peoples of Anglo-America and how they could be implemented in a hypothetical restored United States with many asking how could such a goal be possible.

Cultural Continentalism

The term Cultural Continentalism refers to the common cultural and social views, beliefs, and practices practiced by the peoples of Anglo-America that were documented by Hubert Whitehall and written down in New American Thought. Common practices such as adherence to Christianity and similar political structures and governments are often used to spread the continentalist ideology and to appeal to as many people as possible. The idea of cultural continentalism is on full display during America Festivals held in various Anglo-American towns where they housed communities that were sympathetic towards continentalism. These festivals display American flags and red, white and blue colored cloths, banners and cups as well as American themed decorations and festival games. The festivals are held at random dates, but major ones are scheduled on July 4th for Union Day, and April 14th for Remembrance Day.

Flag of the former United States.

Symbols and iconography

The American flag, commonly known as the Old Glory, is the most common symbol of continentalism and is displayed in continentalist material and festivals. The flag is used due to the movement's idolization of the former United States and desire to restore it and the colors of the flag are commonly used in other continentalist iconography. Faces and murals of the Founding Fathers are commonplace in continentalist iconography with George Washington's face being on the emblem of the World Continental Congress. The stars on the flag are also used with the second most recognizable continentalist symbol being the Diamond Stars, a symbol of four white stars in diamond formation with each star representing the "four corners of the United States" according to official statements by the WCC and other continentalist organizations. Other symbols are used by variants of continentalism and vary on what kind is being used. Red is commonly used by revolutionary leftist sects of continentalism such as red banners and the red colored "Americanized" hammer and sickle used by communist continentalists which includes the two tools and a gear to represent the "oppressed industrial, factory and agrarian worker and their symbol of resistance" according to Karl Rosenburg, founder of Communist Continentalism.

Notable figures

• Hubert A. Whitehall (1856-1911) - Founder and first leader of the New Union Society. 
• Philip Martin Gates (1872-1934) - Founder and first Secretary General of the New Continental Congress
• Matthew Wallace (1889-1938) - Leader of the Continental Front and Secretary General of the World Continental Congress.
• Karl Rosenberg (1890-1978) - Commonwealth communist activist, founding philosopher of Communist Continentalism and the founder and first Chairman of the Continentalist Workers' Party. Vice Secretary General of the World Continental Congress.

See also

• United Commonwealth
• Conference of American States