History of Sequoyah

Sequoyah is a nation located on the Southern part of Sur, with human history dating back over 5,000 years. Sequoyan History is dominated largely by inter-tribal warfare as the various tribes attempted to exert their influence over the others. Over time, the Sequoyan tribe came to dominate the other 12 tribes and has become the most populous tribe in Sequoyah

Periods of History

Sequoyan History is divided into 7 periods

• Prehistory - (2,000+ BC-1500 BC)
• Agricultural Period - (1500 BC-1000 BCE)
• Tribal States Period - (1000 BC-1367 AD)
• Imperial Period - (1367 AD-1833 AD)
• Isolationist Period - (1833 AD-1999 AD)
• Modern Period - (1999 AD-Present)

Isolationist Period

Beginning of the Isolationist Period

In 1833, the Union Railroad Company dominated Sequoyan Affairs, with a 12-man council known as the Board of Overseers coordinating business and political efforts. The Board had no authority to levy taxes or overrule Provincial Law, and New Board Members were chosen by existing Board Members. Almost all seats on the board were occupied by wealthy businessmen who had significant stakes either in the Union Railroad Company, the Central Railroad Company, or large plantations around Freemont and San Juan Diego. In 1833, the Board voted to end foreign trade and place Sequoyah in complete isolation. This decision was to protect their business interests from foreign competition, and to prevent foriegn influence from tainting Sequoyan culture. The Sequoyan Church endorsed the decision, stating that it was necessary to protect Sequoyah from threats growing abroad like Marxism and Atheism. Anyone born outside of Sequoyah, except for Creeperans, were deported and no foreigner could enter Sequoyah without express position from the Government. This policy of isolation continued through the rule of the Republic of Sequoyah due to the Sequoyan political culture placing a high emphasis on respecting precedent and tradition. Sequoyah's technological advancement would stall due to this isolation, as Sequoyah developed new technologies independently. The lack of foreign materials caused new technologies to develop far slower in Sequoyah than in any other country. Some schematics and blueprints would be smuggled into the country, but these instances were rare. Historians now view the decision to isolate Sequoyah as one of the worst decisions in Sequoyan History, as Sequoyah was on track to develop into a potential regional power. However, without foreign products or technology, Sequoyah's development stalled, and many of the socioeconomic problems that Sequoyans faced in 1833 are still present today.

The First Republic of Sequoyah

See also: President of Sequoyah

In 1876, the Union Railroad Company and Central Railroad Company began their work on the Sequoyan Transcontinental Railroad to make trade between Angeles and Freemont cheaper, faster, and safer. When construction started in January of 1876, almost 400 men were killed by Cheyall raiding parties in response to the railroad violating their borders. However, the oligarchal government lacked the power to levy taxes to fund military operations to protect railroad construction. Thier mercenary forces were stretched thin and taking heavy casualties. In Febuary of 1876, the Council voted to write a Republican Constitution to be approved by a 2/3 vote. The Council also agreed that any constitution would limit the franchise only to Sequoyan land-owners, thus disqualifying the vast majority of Sequoyans from voting. The First Sequoyan Constitutional Convention met in Freemont in March of 1876. On March 31st, the convention ratified the First Sequoyan Constitution and created the Republic of Sequoyah, a federal government with territorial governments overseen by a national bicameral legislature and a President of Sequoyah that would act as Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief of Sequoyah. A snap election was held on April 5 1876, and Leland Johannson was elected and sworn in as President of Sequoyah on April 20 1876.

The first 50 miles of track of the Sequoyan Transcontinental Railroad are laid in Western Sequoyah, July 1877

Presidency of Leland Johannson

See also: Sequoyan Frontier Wars

Johannson's presidency is known for the creation of the Sequoyan Armed Forces and the beginning of the Sequoyan Frontier Wars. Johannson campaigned on the creation of a tax-funded federal Army to protect the Sequoyan Transcontinental Railroad. On July 9 1876, the Sequoyan Congress approved the Sequoyan Armed Forces Act, which authorized the creation of the Sequoyan Armed Forces, to be funded by a 20% tax on tobacco sales. The Johannson adminastration quickly promoted members of the Western Sequoyah Territorial Militia to officer's ranks of the newly created Sequoyan Armed Forces and authorized the use of military funds to construct Angeles Military College for the training of new officers. By the end of 1876, 10,000 men had enlisted in the Sequoyan Armed Forces and began engaging the Cheyall and Navaja to protect the railroad builders. In 1877, fighting between the Armed Forces and the Cheyall intensified, with 327 Sequoyan soldiers killed in action by the end of 1877. Johannson responded by offering large subsidies to firearm manufacturers and raising barley taxes by 5% to cover additional recruitment costs. Johannson was becoming increasingly unpopular among the railroad barons due to his inability to prevent Cheyall attacks from stalling railroad development. At the end of 1877, Johannson announced that he would not be running for another term and stated he would support his Vice-President, Andrew Erickson in the 1881 elections. Johannson's political power declined and he was unable to enact any major policy changes from that point onward. However, he regained some lost popularity after he caught and executed several prominent Cheyall War Chiefs in 1879. Beginning in 1881, Johannson devoted his time to promoting Erickson's candidacy by giving speeches in his favor in Freemont and San Juan Diego. Thanks to Johannson's campaigning, Erickson won with 73% of the vote, defeating Whig leader and plantation owner Phillip DeClare.

Presidency of Andrew Erickson

As President of Sequoyah, Erickson strongly aligned the Federalist Party (Sequoyah) with the manufacturing sector, promising subsidies for firearm, steel, and railroad companies to be paid for by taxes on corn, rice, and barley. The Sequoyan Congress passed the 1882 Manufacturing Bill, which levied a 7% tax on income generated from corn, rice, and barley sales and used the money generated to subsidize manufacturers in Angeles and San Juan Diego. However, by 1884, the bill had led to economic collapse as rising agricultural prices prevented many working-class Sequoyans from being able to afford food. Although provided government subsidies, manufacturers did not raise the pay of their workers or cut prices, instead using the subsidies to maximize profits. This led to the Angeles Insurrection in 1885, when nearly 2,000 factory workers gathered weapons and took over several key steel plants in the central part of Angeles. Erickson responded by ordering 2,500 Western Sequoyah Territorial Militiamen to surround the factories and starve the men out. The Insurrection continued for nearly 7 months before a fire swept through the manufacturing sector of the city. The Militiamen were ordered to shoot any Insurrectionists that attempted to escape the fire, leading to the deaths of every single insurrectionist. The event was called the "Angeles Massacre" by the Freemont Expositor and Erickson was blamed for it. In the 1887 elections, Erickson lost by a narrow margin to Whig Phillip Redoubt, a former Brigadier General and plantation owner. Redoubt campaigned on repealing the 1882 Manufacturing Bill and promised to lower the prices on foodstuffs by eliminating agricultural regulation.

The Western Sequoyah Territorial Militia arrives in Angeles to counter the Angeles Insurrection.

Presidency of Phillip Redoubt

See also: Sequoyan Slave Trade

See also: Panic of 1894

Redoubt was popular with both the planter class and the working class of Sequoyah when he was elected President. In July of 1888, The 1882 Manufacturing Bill was repealed and food prices declined sharply. However, as Redoubt's popularity grew, the issue of enslaving captured tribals was being debated in the political arena. The practice of tribes enslaving eachother had existed since the Tribal States Period, but Sequoyans enslaved other tribals far more than any other tribe did since the Imperial Period. In the year 1888, it was estimated that 3% of Sequoyah's population was made up of enslaved tribals. A new faction of the Federalist Party, known as the Unionists, left the Federalist Party over the issue of slavery and formed the Union Party (Sequoyah), an abolitionist and populist party. Redoubt, determined to keep agricultural costs low, campaigned on protecting tribal slavery and passed the 1889 Agricultural Bill, which declared slavery to be an "essential institution of the Republic of Sequoyah" and offered large-scale plantations tax credits. Food prices reached a record low due to the increase of enslaved plantation workers and the tax credits offered to corn and wheat producing plantations. The Sequoyan Army captured thousands of tribal warriors and began selling them to the plantations. By 1891, many Sequoyans believed that Sequoyah would defeat the other tribes entirely and complete the transcontinental railroad. Under the intense offensive championed by Redoubt, tribal warriors were unable to prevent railroad construction, and an average of 5 miles of track were being laid each day. Redoubt had a 65% approval rating among voting Sequoyans and won the 1894 election in a landslide. However, in July of 1894, thousands of Sequoyan farmhands lost work as plantations preferred to purchase tribal slaves. The low prices of food led to rapid deflation in the manufacturing sector, and nearly 15,000 workers in Angeles lost their jobs by December of 1894. The Sequoyan Economy's growth declined by 9% by January of 1895. Redount responded to the crisis by eliminating taxes on manufacturing goods. This only contributed to the economy's deflation and another 20,000 Sequoyans were out of work by June of 1895. Many working-class Sequoyans couldn't afford the incredibly cheap food and manufactured materials on the market. By August of 1895, the Central Railroad Company announced it would be laying off 2,000 railroad workers and replacing them with tribal slaves. Plantations reduced the number of overseers among their slaves, falsely believing a revolt was impossible.

1896 Slave Rebellion

See also: 1896 Slave Rebellion

A Tribal drawing illustrates Winds Fly and his Riders charging into Sequoyan lines at the Battle of the Pass

In January 1896, an enslaved Cheyall Medicine Man named Winds Fly claimed that the First Bison and the First Horse, the Gods of the Cheyall religion, had appeared to him in a vision and told him that they would aid him in freeing his people. Winds Fly was held captive on a plantation 15 miles west of Freemont where nearly 4,000 Cheyall warriors were enslaved. Winds Fly preached about his vision in secret to the other slaves and coordinated a revolt against their overseers. On 21 January 1896, Winds Fly executed his plan. Once the sun began to set, the slaves began heading back to the shoddy barracks where they slept. However, they suddenly turned on their overseers and beat them to death with rocks and farming tools. They then lit the fields on fire and ran to the plantation house, where they beheaded the plantation owner and his family. Almost all 4,000 slaves had escaped the plantation under Winds Fly's leadership. Although many in Winds Fly's army wanted to return home to the Cheyall Tribe, Winds Fly decided he would march on every plantation and free as many slaves as he could. By 31 January 1896, Winds Fly had liberated 3 plantations and commanded a force of 8,000 freed slaves. They only faced resistance from municipal militias. Winds Fly's men brutally executed any overseers and plantation families they came upon. On 1 Febuary 1896, President Redoubt ordered the Eastern Sequoyah Territorial Miltia and the 1st and 3rd Legions of the Sequoyan Army into Freemont to put down the revolt. The 1st and 3rd Legions marched east from patrolling the Transcontinental Railroad, while the Territorial Miltia mustered 6,000 able-bodied men in Freemont and armed them with lever-action rifles, giving them an advantage over Winds Fly's army, which was limited to few rifles and mostly used improvised weapons. The Militia was ordered to hold Winds Fly's army until the 1st and 3rd Legions could arrive. On 26 Febuary 1896, the Militia began patrolling the plantations surrounding Freemont. On 1 March 1896, they located Winds Fly's army heading towards the largest plantation in Sequoyah, Pelennor Fields, 30 miles north of Freemont. The Militia, using horses and wagons, were able to beat Winds Fly's army to the plantation by half a day. The Militia recieved further orders stating they had to hold Winds Fly's army for 3 days before they would recieve reinforcements. Rathern than fortify the plantation, the Militia decided to cut off the rebelling slaves on the road to the plantation, so as to prevent large property damage. The militia formed lines along the road and prepared to annihilate the freed slaves through the use of traditional line-firing tactics. At midnight on 3 March 1896, the Militia spotted Winds Fly's army and opened fire on them, beginning the Battle of Pelennor. Winds Fly ordered his men into a frantic retreat out of range of the rifles, taking heavy losses. Rather than pursue the fleeing army, the Miltia held their positions. At around 2 AM, a heavy fog rolled in and a heavy rainstorm began, severely limiting the visibility of the Militia. Winds Fly used the fog as a diversion and ordered 200 of his men to make silent advances on the militia's left flank and engage them in a melee. At 3 AM, the 200 freed slaves charged the militia's flank and engaged them in a melee. The confused militia ordered their men to turn, incorrectly assuming the main force was along the flank. Once the militia began turning, Winds Fly ordered his main force to charge from along the road. His men were able to reach the Militia's lines without heavy fire and engaged in a savage melee battle. By dawn, the remaining militiamen surrendered, having taken heavy losses to the highly skilled Cheyall warriors. Nearly 3,000 militiamen were captured by the freed slaves and executed. Winds Fly, however, lost over 1,500 men in the battle. But they were able to succesfully liberate the plantation, freeing nearly 11,000 slaves. Winds Fly burned the plantation, destroying a major food source for Eastern Sequoyah. Now, armed with captured weapons and horses from the Territorial Militia, Winds Fly had created a formidable fighting force. He announced that his new army would march West and destroy the transcontinental railroad. However, news of the militia's defeat quickly reached Freemont. President Redoubt sent a telegram to the entire Sequoyan Army patrolling the transcontinental railroad (made up of over 30,000 men) and ordered them to engage and destroy Winds Fly's army. The 1st and 3rd Legion were joined by 20,000 additional troops as they marched to face Winds Fly's army. On 12 April 1876, the Sequoyan Army engaged Winds Fly's army in Isiah's Pass, beginning the Battle of the Pass. Recognizing that he was faced by a superior force, Winds Fly took command of 1000 of his best warriors, armed with captured rifles and placed on horses, and ordered the rest of his army to flee towards Cheyall lands. Winds Fly and his warriors used the pass to bottle the approaching Sequoyan army and began firing at the approaching army relentlessly, sending their first 3 advances into retreat. As the sun began to set on 12 April, most of Winds Fly's army had escaped north to Navaja lands. However, Winds Fly and his men were running out of ammunition. Noting that some of his men could still be reached by Sequoyan forces before they were able to escape into the wilderness, Winds Fly ordered his men to charge the Sequoyan forces to buy the retreating slaves additional time. Winds Fly and his warriors led a cavalry charge into the Sequoyan ranks, with nearly half of the riders being killed by rifle fire before they reached Sequoyan lines. The cavalry charge allowed the remaining slaves to escape. Ultimately, none of Winds Fly's riders survived the charge. However, their charge allowed over 17,000 slaves to escape to freedom. Although it is widely agreed that Winds Fly was killed in battle, his body was never positively identified, leading to Cheyall legends that Winds Fly was pulled from the battle by the First Bison and would return to the Cheyall in their most desperate hour of need. The Slave Rebellion of 1896 is widely considered the only succesful slave rebellion in Sequoyan History since 17,000 slaves escaped. Furthermore, the rebellion destroyed several key plantations and caused a famine in Eastern Sequoyah and fueled economic collapse. Ultimately, the rebellion destroyed the popularity of the once-powerful President Redoubt and led to thousands of famine-related deaths. Redoubt had little political power for the remainder of his term and spent the rest of his term using government funds to rebuild private plantations. Although this alleviated some of the food insecurity Sequoyans faced, the burnt fields were leeched of nutrients and it took a decade for Eastern Sequoyah to once again have adequate food stores.