Pax Washingtonia:
America rises from flood and ash
from The Complete Modern History
Harper-Hall Books, Sixth Edition c. 2633
In this first chapter we will be reviewing and exploring the events of the late 24th and early 25th centuries and how it impacted the world we live in today. From this early period of destructive wars and hard-learned lessons, the basis of all modern culture sprang. It is from here that the Federal Government of America was able to bring together its remote city-states. These are the events that lead the races away from the neo-feudalism of the first half of the millennium and into the modern age.
We will first explore the PicoGen/ViaCode war through not only the outlines and overviews of this text, but with several newsfeeds and archived webcasts included and linked throughout. We will see how the excesses of two major medical and biotech corporations nearly brought America to ruin. We will review the structure of the Shadowflame MercNet that made this near-catastrophe possible. For students who desire a fuller immersion to the tragic events of 2378, linked media is provided to learn more about the Second Destruction of Chicago and the Pasadena Ultimatum.
From there we will examine how the outcry from the horrors of the war spread so thoroughly accross the continent that the people welcomed a renewal of Federal governance and National powers. Links to texts have been provided so that the student may read the historical documents of the time. This includes: Executive Order 94 - President Escobar's order de-legitimizing the mercenary trade and banishing the Shadowflame Organization for the good of all; The O'Malley-Martinez Bill - the congressional act defining a set of rules for and declaring the political rights of satellite city-states, paving the way for Reunification less than thirty years later; and The Treaty of Capitol - the unprecidented agreement that allowed signatory corporations protection and stability under Federal power in exchange for taxation and sucession of sovereignty.
At the end we shall be reviewing how this crucial period helped to form the innovations and enlightened culture of Modern History. Without the inevitable disaster of unchecked corporate war, there would not be a Federal Government of America. Without the organization and stability the Treaty of Capitol provided, construction of projects like The Cord or Columbia Starport would not have been possible. Without the benefit of a national network grid or the Orbital Communications Fleet, America would not have been able to put its brightest stars on center stage.
Without New Washington, America could very well have never re-emerged from the horrors of Flood and Snowfall. In later chapters we will explore how the irrepresible spirit and unique attitude of America's greatest city shaped the fabric of the world.