fandomhigh | History: An Exploration of Overlooked Historical Events ; Tuesday ; Period 3

It was safe to say that Riley was still feeling like he could run a few hundred laps and then write the rest of his book this morning. The feeling from yesterday hadn't abated and he'd written several thousand words only to trash them and rewrite them again. He was pretty grateful to have a class to teach to give him something to do.

"Hey guys," he said, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Anyone else been feeling weird? I forgot to get my flu shot this year and I think I'm paying for it."

Of course, he didn't feel sick but what else could it be?

"Anyway, today we're going to talk about the state of Franklin. Anyone know what that is?" He glanced around and didn't expect to see any hands in the air. "Yeah, didn't think so. After the Revolutionary War ended, we had thirteen colonies. Or did we? The state of Franklin, named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, was a part of North Carolina that decided they'd have better luck living on their own than being part of the federal government. So, they seceded but they ran into a buzzsaw. Congress refused to let Franklin join the Union so they became an independent republic. For four years, they chugged along by writing their own constitution, making deals with local Native American tribes and even attempting to negotiate a treaty with Spain."

He paused there to catch his breath and fan himself. "Not bad for a new state, huh? Of course, the last one was the straw that broke the camel's back and Franklin's governor was subsequently arrested. Franklin eventually ran out of steam and became part of the newly formed state of Tennessee in 1796."

Still, Franklin had done pretty damn good for their short time on their own. "Today, we're gonna see how you do with creating an independent nation. We're in the Danger Shop again and each of you is going to end up in a simulation where you're the president, the leader, the head honcho. What I want you guys to do is figure out the path your independent republic will take. What will be your first order of business? Will you write a constitution? What kind of laws would you have? Would you be a dictatorship? A democracy? A monarchy? Will you lead with an iron fist or will you be gentle and benevolent? Go as wild as you'd like and we'll see how your constituents react!"

And with that, he sent the students on their way to their leadership roles.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Like you're the leader!

Jackson Whittemore

Stiles Stilinski

Cecil Baldwin

Victor Mancha

Raven Darkholme

Rilla Blythe

Listen to the lecture, talk to each other, check each other out, or whatever you'd like!

Jackson wasn't handling this week very well.

He looked uncomfortable and twitchy, and like he wasn't going to do a very good job at today's activity.

Cecil was squirming a little, but only partly for the same reasons as most folks; he also had a large, fluffy baby bird cuddled under his sweater. Well, he couldn't just leave him in the dorm room yet; he was a baby!

The Danger Shop has lit up, leaving you in what looks like a legislative chamber. Around you are various members of your government. They are all looking to you for guidance. Amongst the things you might want to discuss are:

- A constitution
- The structure of your government (dictatorship? democracy? etc?)
- Important laws that you want to enact immediately
- Your official title
- The name of your independent republic
- Are you an aggressive state of a benevolent one?
- Will you prosper via trading or via attacking nearby village?
- Equality for all or some?

Basically, this is your time to tell ~~Riley~~ your government how you're going to run your state. Make it count.

"Absolutely everyone is equal," Raven declared. "Everyone. Whatever age, race, nationality, gender, unnatural skin color, strange abilities, sexual attractions . . . everyone." She nodded firmly. "I think that's all we need."

Sooooo. Kind of an anarchy, then?

"Well, I'm Canadian," Rilla said, "so we're....British but not really. In this new land, we shall be polite, but I am in charge. You may call me Rilla."

So...that would go well.

Cecil took a deep breath and steeled himself. He wasn't sure how good he'd be at this whole government thing, but he could do his best, right?

By the time class was over, he'd come up with:

- Constitution: Redacted due to national security concerns.
- Government structure: An elected mayor that could run for re-election every ten years. Or be replaced by coup on the occasion of death. A state council consisting of ~~various mysterious figures~~ whoever was best at things like agriculture, business, tourism, education, security, and such. And an Official State Scientist, just because.
- Important, immediate laws: Do whatever the government says. Try not to kill anyone more than necessary. No littering.
- Official Title: State Radio Host.
- Name of the Republic: New Night Vale
- Aggressive or Benevolent? Well, he thought it was a very nice place.
- Trade or attack? Neither; best just to leave them alone. And get some weapons just in case they didn't feel the same.
- Equality? Well of course! Except for the Mayor and State Council, naturally. But everybody else was equal. Unless your name was Steve Carlsberg. He went back and added a Bill of Right to the Constitution banning anyone with that name from ever being a citizen.

Well, he went with what he knew, okay?

He's there, if a little more twitchy than usual.

Oh, US government. Go home, you're drunk.

History: An Exploration of Overlooked Historical Events ; Tuesday ; Period 3

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