1786-1812: Early Canadian Skrælige

Political Factions of Skrælige

After the Revolutionary War and the influx of Loyalists, the new Þing had to represent and govern for groups of people who weren't necessarily inclined to get along. While there were no formal political parties yet, the þingmenn loosely organized into factions:

• The Patriots were a Pro-American faction (although they were still upset about the earlier privateer raids), comprised mostly of New Englanders.

• Loyalists, also known as Tories, were the faction most loyal to the British Crown. Their base of power was in the recent white Loyalist immigrants, but included more conservative Old Skræligens as well.

• Finally, the Lyberty/Frelsi faction were basically more moderate Patriots, with cross-language support. They were in favor of remaining subject to the British Crown, but otherwise advocated for their own autonomy. A majority were Old Skræligens, but a significant number of New Englanders supported them as well.

Significant conflict occurred between the Loyalists and the Patriots, as well as some of the Lybertarians. Part of this was provoked by conflicting land claims - most (white) loyalists were granted land throughout the country, with a significant focus on the upper Siguan River Valley. (Black loyalists were granted land, but this was generally inferior farming land in remote areas of Skrælige.) However, in the haste to assign these plots, some of them overlapped with already settled land. Many of the people already there were Patriots - while they were not in active rebellion, they still held some animosity towards the Loyalists, and now here they were stealing their land. Some were able to come to compromises, but most settlers were forced to accept smaller land grants in more remote areas.

Despite being heavily outnumbered in the upper valley, twenty of these settlers decided to stay and fight, sparking the Patriots' Rebellion of 1786 - a small rebellion that had to be put down by the British Army. While this was completely unsuccessful at preserving their land, it served as a rallying call for the Patriots, and inflamed the lingering sectarianism in Skrælige. Occasional sectarian violence would continue to spark throughout the next few decades.

Skrælingborough General Hospital

Among the Loyalists that fled to Skrælige were some doctors involved with hospitals on the continent. A group of them, led by William Lloyd, established a new teaching hospital in 1787, just to the south of the capital: Skrælingborough General Hospital. The hospital began with two goals: treat the poor (the wealthy could afford to be treated at home), and train more doctors and surgeons.

Skrælingborough General Hospital (SGH, later also known as Skrælingborough Almenna Sjukrahus/SAS) was also the predecessor institution to the University of Skrælige (later also known as Haskoli Skrælig). The medical school would eventually expand to create its own undergraduate school in 1828, and expand its research into other scientific fields.

The Outer Sections of Skrælingborough

The original sections of the Þorormur Plan in Skrælingborough had just about filled up by the end of the century, so new plans were drawn up for an outer ring of sections. There would be five larger districts, each with their own larger central square. While these districts would not have the same tight-knit communities around small communal spaces, these would at least reserve more open space for the people. The new sections were named, in clockwise order:

• Þorormur Village (Þorormurþorp), named for Þorormur Goðason, the MÞ who designed the original Þorormur Plan

• Georgeville (Georgþorp), named for the King Georges of Great Britain

• Hospital District (Sjukrahustaður), named for Skrælingborough General Hospital

• New Hannover (Nyr Hannover), named for Hanover (the current Royal House of Britain)

• Lowerport (Neðarhofn)

The plan was drawn up in 1788, not quite in time for development of the city to spill over the old boundary, but not too late to organize the rest of the city's growth.

Growth & Censuses

Skrælige continued to grow throughout the next few decades, which led to some reorganization of towns. In 1792, the land of Abenakiborough was split into two: West Abenkiborough and South Egilstead. West Abenkiborough was the original settlement, and was then merged with Middleton to create one larger town. South Egilstead was a new village, mostly composed of land grants to Loyalist refugees.

Instead of haphazardly commissioning censuses as they had done previously, the Þing instituted a decennial census with the Census Reform Act of 1799 - much like the one created by the new United States. Given that Skrælige was showing no signs of slowing down its growth, these regular censuses would be critical to keeping track of the colony and maintaining representative government.

In 1800, the census counted 25,364 people in all of Skrælige, and in 1810 it counted 33,294.

See also: Full Census Counts

As part of the Census Reform Act, each þingha would have to the number of seats adjusted to its new population, rounded to the closest thousand. As part of this reapportionment, the districts could be split, merged, and otherwise reshuffled, with the requirement that they do not split towns into multiple districts. For instance, this led to the Ragnarsson & Northstead district splitting into its component parts, but meant that Skrælingborough would have to stay as one district. The reapportionment and a subsequent general election would be required to be held within one year of the census. Combined with the four year maximum assembly length, this guaranteed at least three elections per decade.

Anglo-American War Resumes

The relationship between the new United States and Great Britain began somewhat peacefully, but began to deteriorate in the beginning of the 19th century. The Napoleonic Wars were being fought in Europe and across the world, which disrupted trade worldwide as well. Both Britain and France attempted to force blockades on each other, banning neutral vessels (including the United States) from trading with the enemy. Hundreds of American ships were seized by both sides for violating these blockades.

Another major grievance the United States had with the United Kingdom* was impressment. The United States Merchant Marine had lured British sailors with better pay and conditions, but the expanding Royal Navy had labor shortages of its own. It turned to impressment (forcible recruitment) to fill that shortage, not just on its own shores, but from the seas as well. American ships made prime targets for impressing British sailors, and an unknown number of Americans were caught up as well. The concept of British vs. American nationality was complicated as well - Britain did not allow anyone to renounce their citizenship, even if the US considered them to be American citizens, so the British would consider the impressment to be perfectly legal.

These grievances, in addition to other factors (such as the desire by many to annex Canada), led the United States to declare war against the United Kingdom in June of 1812. This began the War of 1812, once again pitting Skrælige against the states just across the Skræligen Sea.