Foreword from the Historian

The revolution of the United States against Great Britain in 1776 showed the world one thing: that if a group of people thought that their constituents and their ideals were not being represented in a form of government, they expected change. And if that form of government refused to accept change, revolution was inevitable. The success of America's revolution in 1781 upon Washington's defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown during the American War of Independence embedded this idea not only into the foundation of America's government, but into the very fabric of American culture. The expansion into the American west and upper Midwest in the 1800's carried this idea. As independence and liberty carried forward, short-lived nation states like the Republic of Texas and the Republic of California mirrored these principles. Similarly, throughout America's history they were all eventually absorbed or granted statehood for multiple factors, but mainly for the sake of public debt repayment, national security and cultural identity.

But as unlikely as it seems, even the most esteemed historical scholars have always entertained the idea of "what if". What if the Republic of Texas had refused statehood and won its independence from the Empire of Mexico? What if the Republic of California had been allowed to exist peacefully as a sovereign nation? What if the Republic of Deseret came to fruition, or if Lee had won Antietam and Grant was killed at Vicksburg? As most have guessed by now, this is a fictional history of a republic that explores this possibility.

Minnesota, like most states in the Union, has had an interesting history throughout its existence, but not one that has ever recognized independence as being a fundamental part. Granted statehood in 1858 prior to the start of the American Civil War, its areas were first thought to be explored by Norse Vikings from as early as 1362. A Native American breeding ground, it enjoyed a century of tranquility free from European settlement before being further explored by French fur traders in the 17th century. Following the United States' acquisition of the territory from Britain after the Treaty of Paris in 1783, it began to see American settlement in the mid-19th century, which culminated to a "rush" of white settlement in the late 1840's and 1850's along the Mississippi River and saw the displacement of thousands of Native Americans westward into the Dakotas who recognized their existence as a free people would soon be at risk.

This history, however, covers a much more interesting turn of events. What if, perhaps, Minnesota had seen a larger influx of white settlement prior to the 1840's? What if they, like their forefathers, also found themselves to be misrepresented by elected officials? And what if these elected officials refused to change the status quo? One can only speculate.