New England was the only region the English ever held colonies (including New Brunswick and Nova Scotia). The Romans had reached the Americas first and had established colonies along the rest of the East coast and Mexico while English officials concentrated their subjects in New England. They sat around trying to find a good reason to expand their colonial reach further, as if timber, gold, and free land weren't enough.To the West of New England laid the great lakes, a land that English colonizers had a strong desire to settle. The landscape was covered in hot commodities back in Europe such as beaver pelt and timber. After a time, English colonizers began to move West and unofficially settled the land in the name of their mother country. English officials did not authorize the move, but made no attempt to stop it either. People survived in the colonies, but that doesn't but that does not mean they were happy or comfortable. The English monarchy passed numerous additional taxes in order to help pay the debt from past wars. The English citizens in New England were not fond of any of the new pieces of legislation, as it stifled economic advancement in the region. They were already handing over almost forty percent of their earnings to the crown. The majority of colonists in New England were self employed and entrepreneurs, which made the tax increase that much worse. A trio of merchants in particular had been effected by the tax hike, and they were not the kind of men to forgive and forget.
September 9, 1784
Boston, New England Colony
John Hancock was one of the most popular businessmen in New England. He had inherited a lucrative shipping business from his uncle, Thomas Hancock, in 1754 and quickly amassed a load of wealth. In that same moment, Hancock had earned a reputation for being generous and using his personal wealth for public projects. The man swung open the door to the tavern and walked in. He swiveled his head looking for some old friends who were supposed to meet him, and spotted them sitting at a table in the far corner.
"How are we doing to day lads?" Hancock asked casually.
The two men at the table killed their previous conversation and looked at Hancock. "I've seen better days" said the first, "As have I" responded the second, both with half smiles. "It is good to see you again, John." Alexander Hamilton said (the first man).
"May I take a seat?" Hancock pulled out the chair and sat after a nod from both men. The three men sat in silence for a moment, as Hamilton and Benedict Arnold (the second man) seemed to be waiting for Hancock to say something.
united in a boycott that lasted fifteen months until both acts were repealed by the British parliament in fear of a possible rebellion. Another war began a decade later in 1778 between the British and the French that was fought back in Europe. This war was ultimately won by the French in 1783 and left the British Empire severely in debt, with their resources severely depleted.
The British Colonials saw an opportunity. Their industries were heavily regulated by the crown and many were forced to house British troops for weeks at a time. Two representatives from each colony (New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut) met in Boston to draft a request for independence from the British Empire, one of them John Hancock. The first request was immediately denied, but the plan had not been destroyed, merely changed. John Hancock and his close friend Benedict Arnold (who never betrayed the cause) led colonial militias in hit and run attacks and ambushes in the western forrest on British Regulars stationed in the colonies. They hoped to tire the British military, and knowing that the empire was deeply in debt and lacking resources, it was extremely improbable that the British Parliament would declare another war so soon.
Eight months had passed before the plan became effective. The British officers in the colonies had no desire to continue fending off local militias and British regulars were not mentally prepared to fight another war. In 1785, a second meeting with colonial representatives took place, and a second request for independence was sent to Britain. On April 6, 1785 their request was granted and British troops were withdrawn from the region. The colonials named the land Liberterra, meaning free land, and elected John Hancock as the first President of the newly founded Constitutional Republic of Liberterra.
The population grew rapidly thereafter, and coastal cities became very dense. In 1799, the second President of Liberterra, Alexander Hamilton, annexed the land to the West of Quebec for the population to spread out. Fortunately, the land was vacant other than intermittent French fur trappers who were permitted to stay. The people named the new province Lafayette after a French immigrant to New England who was a representative at the second colonial meeting to draft a request for independence. Lafayette also became a successful businessman and very well known politician in the following years of Liberterran Independence. The nation as it was at this point was perceived as whole for the next eighty five years, conceived in freedom and able to be birthed because of the diligence and effort of great men.
