Free State

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[Reason: Events changed in Cyberpunk RED, needs to be checked against Home of the Brave]

Free States
Information
Type	Autonomous states
Leader(s)	Free States Board
Country	NUSA
Region	Western NUSA
Capital	Multiple

The Free States are a number of North American states with various degree of autonomy with respect to the New United States of America.

History

1990s - 2010s

On August 17, 1996, President James Richard Allen was assassinated during a campaign stop in California. Vice President Harold Harrison Hunt subsequently became the next President of the United States, gaining free reign to advance the plans of the Gang of Four.

The Collapse left millions of citizens homeless and caused any government outside of Washington, D.C. to decimate. The United States Military Forces were ordered to return to home soil to maintain order during this chaotic time and establish Martial Law. The Martial Law introduced a shoot-on-sight curfew in many major cities such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, and led to an incident known as the "Houston Incident," where over 2,000 citizens were slaughtered by artillery bombardments executed by the military under order of the Gang of Four.

The streets of many cities across the United States were covertly regulated by many federal forces, such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), the Federal Prison system, and paramilitary services secretly provided by several Megacorporations. Unidentifiable due to their lack of uniforms or badges, they contributed heavily to the thought that the United States government had turned into a gang of thugs, causing local governments and their allies to protest, then resist federal invasions with counterattacks that caused State Militias and National Guard details to face the paramilitary groups. The imposed Martial Law would frequently be interrupted due to other major events in the following years.

As the conflicts between the states and Washington escalated, more and more states began to consider leaving the Union. The process began with places like New York and Texas, which refused to pay taxes to Washington as part of economic strikes. The rebellion then took the form of economic blockades, with the states, protesting against the federal government, blocking the two-way flow of goods at their borders. The impasse was violently broken when a para-militarized police unit–subordinate to Gang of Four–without flinching, took control of San Francisco, leading to a regular battle in the streets between residents and federal forces. The governor called on the National Guard for help, which sided with the city in the dispute. In response, paramilitary forces, operating under the auspices of the federal government, tried to capture the state capital, Sacramento. California then announced that the Washington administration henceforth no longer had authority over the state, and officially withdrew from the Union.

The United States Armed Forces, which had long regretted supporting the actions of the Gang of Four, refused to participate in the Wars of Succession, even as California authorities blew up the passes connecting the state with northern Nevada and Arizona. At this stage, more states rejected the supremacy of the federal authorities and declared themselves "Free States." The armed forced, having come to their senses, refused the order of taking back the country given by the Gang of Four, causing the Free States to remain free.

2020s - 2050s

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2060s - 2070s

Main article: Unification War

During Rosalind Myers' reelection campaign in 2068, she presented a plan for reunification with the Free States. Most of the Free States opposed that plan, however some agreed and rejoined before the instigation of the Unification War: Southern California and Utah. Both North and South Dakota also rejoined the union at some point before or during the war.

With this instigation, most of the western Free States united under the Free States of North America alliance to combat the NUSA.

By the mid 2070s, the Free States were divided into three groups: the recently established Western Corporate States (Oregon, Washington and Idaho), which had maintained their neutrality during the war; the allied Free States of North America (NorCal, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming), which had opposed the NUSA during the war; and the Republic of Texas, which opposed both the Free States' alliance and the NUSA's expansion.

List of Free States

Current

• Arizona
• Northern California
• Colorado
• Idaho
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Night City
• Oregon
• Texas
• Washington
• Wyoming

Former

• California — Separated into Northern and Southern California.
• Southern California — Left its autonomy and returned to the NUSA shortly before the Unification War.
• North Dakota — Left its autonomy and returned to the NUSA shortly before or at the start of the Unification War.
• South Dakota — Left its autonomy and returned to the NUSA shortly before or at the start of the Unification War.
• Utah — Left its autonomy and returned to the NUSA shortly before the Unification War.

Unknown

• Alaska — Unknown current status, but not referred as a Free State anymore.

Notes

• There have been three known associations of Free States in the story so far: the defunct Pacifica Confederation, the Western Corporate States, and the Free States of North America.

Gallery

The remaining Free States (in slate blue) in the West, plus the Western Corporate States (in steel blue), Texas (in Indian red) and Night City in Cyberpunk 2077.