California and the rest of the Amerian west coast had always been percieved as the new "land of oppertunity" inside of the USA; with it's vaste emptiness of fertile land for farming and a pleasent climate that made said farming easier; unlimited amounts of natural resources, immortalized by the California Gold Rush and now countless oil-wells littering the landscape; and last but not least, an ever-stretching coastline that supplies fish and ships from across the globe. Men and women from all cornes of the world flocked to the Golden State in search of a new life, and many did find it there. Right into the 20th century, the new entertainment industry centred in Hollywood attracted the never-ceasing stream of immigrants.
Then the Great Depression hit like one of California's eartquakes, only worse.
After the cosmic boom of the economy on the West Coast, the bust was felt harder than expected. Not that anyone expected it really, which ade it all the worse. Banks closed down, farmers who had already lost their livelyhoods after the earlier crash of the agricultural sector, now lost truly everything. California's heavy industries grinded to a halt, and the now slumbering international trade meant that fewer ships left the harbours. And what happened when all of this stopped?
Those working there had no work left. And what do workers without a job do? They protest.
Right after then governor, current PSA-president, Frank Merriam's inauguration in 1934, a strike began at the International Longshoremen's Association in San Francisco, and spread like wildfire after it's initial days. Similar strikes took place across the US, and many feared that an all-out socialist uprising would take place if it got out of control. That fear would turn into reality on July 5th 1934, when strikers were attacked by police forces assigned to protect the hired labour intended for the affected industries. Tear-gas was used against the strikers, a police-car was overturned, and somewhere in the fray gun-fire killed several strikers and policemen. As the strikes turned into riots, socialist and communist agitators jumped onto the bandwagon and called for "The Worker's Revolution" to begin, guessing that the fresh Merriam wouldn't dare send in sufficiant police-forces to break up the workers.
They guessed wrong.
Within the following days, not only had Merriam called in the Californian National Guard to stop the revolution, he also called in perhaps the strongest branch of the American Military; The United States Navy. In the bloodiest break-up of civilians in American history, the lethal force of the police and military ensured that the so-called "Californian Worker's State" survived only 5 days, 3 hours and 17 minutes. It is debated whether or not the use of such drastic measures were needed, but modern scholars point to it ensuring that a later socialist uprisng at that scale never would take place in Californian history.
For governor Merriam, things were just as debated. Now you either hated him for openly attacking workers and civilians, or loved him for restoring order and stability in California, compared to the social unrest in the rest of the US. His election in the proper 1934 California-election showed the split in popularity; winning with only 46.3% of the votes compared to the democratic opponent Upton Sinclaire with his 45.9%, he was asked to have the ballots re-counted, but refused it. The opposition and other socialist opponents did not muster the forces to challenge his election, and thus Frank "Marbletop" Merriam was safe and secure as California's 28th governor.
Is was this security that allowed Frank Merriam to push for the indepence of California and the other Pacific states during the 1937 Treaty of Washington, D.C. With the support from the governors of Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and the other Pacific possesions of the US Government, several heads of the West Coast's leading industries and Admiral James O. Richardson, a new nation was created on the American Pacific Coast;
The Pacific States of America, a true successor to the decadant federal government, a shining beacon of liberty and American values on the west coast. Standing united with California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, protected by the Pacific Fleet of the previous US Navy and a vaste ocean in the west, hopes are high for a bright future. But as the initial optimism wears off, problems will arise and threaten to rip the newly-born nation apart. Will she survive and pass on the ideals of the first Californian Republic who revolted against the Spanish, or fade away into the same state as the US did, only to have new nations arise? Only time will tell.
But for now, let's all rise for the Pacific States national anthem.
God bless the Pacific States of America!
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