Commonwealth of Wenonah

Commonwealth of Wenonah Spanish: La Mancomunidad de Wenona
Flag Seal
Former claims of Wenonah
Capital	Chameau
Official languages	English
Demonym(s)	Wenonan
Government	Federal republic
• President	Jamison "Jay" Ruz
• Superintendent	Lynn Ruz
Legislature	Free Assembly of Wenonah
Independence from the United States
• Declaration of Independence	29 August 2018
• Dissolution	11 October 2019
Population
• Estimate	16
Time zone	UTC-5 ((EST))
Date format	mm-dd-yyyy;
Driving side	right
Calling code	215, 267

Wenonah (pronounced: /’wɛnoʊna/), officially the Commonwealth of Wenonah, sometimes referred to as the Commonwealth, is a sovereign state defined as an enclave within the borders of the Mid-Atlantic region of North America. Wenonah was established as the successor to President Jamison Ruz's earlier project nation, the Federation of the Eastern Shores, after reformations took place at the executive level. Unlike it's predecessor, Wenonah is a federal republic, meaning that the authorities held by each realm cannot be taken back by its central government, the Free Assembly of Wenonah. The nation holds claims of several realms and territories, which are surrounded by the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Although the micronation encompasses area of wilderness and farmland, a majority of the population resides within the realm of Sehconey.

Etymology

The name of Wenonah's predecessor, "Eastern Shores", came from the nation's original territorial claims upon the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia, located on the Delmarva Peninsula, and it's strong early connection to the commercial fishing industry. Over time, the realistic goals and aspirations of the nation drifted further away from this description.

The current name, "Wenonah", comes from the name of the mother of Hiawatha in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The poem is based on oral traditions of Native American tribes. This name gives importance to the Wenonan people due to the strong historical presence of Iroquois tribes in the territories claimed by the Commonwealth.

History

Formation as the Eastern Shores

On August 29 of 2018, The Federation of the Eastern Shores was formally established as a sovereign state by Chairman of the Shoresian Council, Jamison Ruz. Ruz developed a governmental system for his project nation, and bringing along several acquaintances and colleagues with him, declared independence from the United States. The nation had developed as an idea over an extended period of months, and had early roots in online nation building websites. By the end of August 2018, the Eastern Shores had entered several diplomatic agreements, primarily within the League of Micronations. However, Ruz found that the community within the League did not necessarily consist of individuals seeking realistic secessionist motives, and the Federation withdrew from the organization.

Although the Federation of the Eastern Shores consisted of multiple states and territories, all governmental authority was held by the Shoresian Council, a group of influential members within the nation. Basic rights were granted to citizens by de facto ruling, as no official legislation had been passed. The Council established their presence on social media platforms, including Twitter and Google+, in order to further publicize the Federation.

During the month of September, the Federation of the Eastern Shores was mostly stagnant. Besides a diplomatic mission to the southernmost territories of the Federation with members of the Council, no further progress had been made. With less participation from members of government, the Shoresian Council instated a federal shutdown and put development on legislative documents in a state of hiatus.

On October 5 of 2018, Councilmen Alex Gale and Joe Quart of the Shoresian Council resigned from their positions within the nation's government to form the Federation of Eastern Forests. Wenonah and the Eastern Forests promptly solidified mutual diplomatic relations and recognition. The Federation of the Eastern Forests has since gone dormant.

Restructuring of the Commonwealth

In early October 2018, the Shoresian Council held its Seventh Congressional Meeting to discuss the future of the Federation. A decision was made between members of the Council to re-brand itself under a new name and governmental system. Through a democratic referendum, the Council affirmed this decision, and the Eastern Shores was renamed to the Commonwealth of Wenonah. All territories of the former Federation were granted quasi-autonomy under this new system and reformed into "realms", after which Wenonah declared itself a federal republic.

In the process of restructuring, the Shoresian Council was dissolved and replaced with the Free Assembly of Wenonah, a unitary model sharing resemblances to the Congress of the United States. Jamison Ruz declared himself President of the Commonwealth, and appointed Lynn Ruz as Superintendent of the Assembly, a position holding authority over arbitration within the Assembly. Chair delegates were chosen from all realms of the Commonwealth, and given the authority to appoint Deputy delegates and additional representatives. Changes were made to the social media accounts held by the former Federation, and the Assembly was given authority over them. The Assembly also published the nation's full Articles of Federation, detailing the rights of citizens and code of law.

After its reformation, Wenonah entered into several micronational organizations, including the North-Western Alliance, United Sovereignties, and Grand Unified Micronational.

Politics and Government

The Commonwealth of Wenonah labels itself as a non-partisan nation, in the fact that it does not identify with solely left or right wing ideologies. In actuality, the social and economic basis of Wenonah;s ideologies can be contributed to libertarian capitalism, with attributes of distributism and minarchism.

President of Wenonah

The President of the Commonwealth of Wenonah is the head of state, and is granted minimal authorities. They have the ability to veto legislation only if it threatens the commonwealth of the citizens. If an act is vetoed, it has the ability to be voted upon again by the Assembly, who will then seek popular majority for a passing of the legislature. The President also has the authority to convene or adjourn Congress, command defensive forces, grant reprieves and pardons, receive ambassadors, and sign treaties, which must be ratified by three-fifths of the Assembly. The President of the Commonwealth of Wenonah must make a yearly address to the nation, which shall be broadcast publicly. The President additionally holds the right to make suggestions to the Free Assembly of Wenonah, and meet with Ambassadors and other heads of state from other nations. The President is elected every third year, and may serve as many terms as they are fairly elected to. If collusion occurs, the assembly is entitled to conduct a fair trial which may lead to impeachment.

Presidents

Term No.	Realm	Name	Political Party	Term start	Term end
1	Sehconey	Jamison Ruz	Independent	August 29, 2018	January 1, 2021

Superintendent of the Assembly

The Superintendent of the Free Assembly of Wenonah, also known as the Superintendent, is the legislative body's semi-head of government. The role of the Superintendent is to break ties in legislative votes, pass or veto the establishment of new realms within the Commonwealth, assess the process of amendment to the Articles of Federation, and declare national emergencies. In the event of severe illness or resignation of the President of the Commonwealth of Wenonah, the Superintendent of the Assembly shall be sworn in as their replacement, and will serve out the rest of the term. If the Superintendent is not available for the position, the Free Assembly of Wenonah will vote upon a replacement for the President, and said individual shall be bestowed the position. The Superintendent is elected every third year, in accordance with Presidential elections.

Superintendents

Term No.	Realm	Name	Political Party	Term start	Term end
1	Sehconey	Lynn Ruz	Independent	October 10, 2018	January 1, 2021

Free Assembly of Wenonah

The Commonwealth of Wenonah is composed of states and territories that function under one unicameral legislative body, the Free Assembly of Wenonah (FAOW), in which citizens of numerous political ideologies vote on and pass legislation, as well as taking roles of government action i.e. diplomatic affairs, treasury, maintaining justice, and defense. Citizens remain the sovereign, allowing for popular vote on passing executive decisions, making laws, directly electing or dismissing officials, and conducting trials, as well as action through referendum, initiative, and recall. The members of the Free Assembly of Wenonah are bestowed the power to write and pass legislation, hold a referendum, propose amendments to the Articles of Federation, elect members of the Assembly, dismiss members based upon a fair trial, and enforce legislation that has been passed. Chair delegates are elected by citizens of each realm, and the elected chair may appoint deputy and secondary delegates to serve on the assembly.

Overall, the duty of the Wenonan government is to protect the citizen's access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The government does not spend excessive funding on agencies, but rather opens the positions, that would normally be granted to a federal agency, to citizens of the Commonwealth, organized into independent committees. Additionally, the Assembly serves no jurisdiction over the free market economy, unless a danger arises detrimental to the well-being of the market.

Diplomacy

Foreign Relations

Although the Commonwealth of Wenonah does not have any official legislation declaring the recognition of foreign macronations and micronations, it recognizes all states within the United Sovereignties, North-Western Alliance, and the Grand Unified Micronational.

Organizations

Since its foundation in August 2018, the Commonwealth of Wenonah has been a member of several inter-micronational organizations. On its second day of existence, Wenonah (as the Federation of the Eastern Shores) applied for membership to the League of Micronations, a group focused on the development of project nations and diplomatic conversation between them. After witnessing a lack of maturity on the organization's social platform, President Ruz made the executive decision to leave the LoMN.

Shortly thereafter, Wenonah was invited to become part of the United Sovereignties, an organization dedicated to the advancement of micronational states and cooperation between nations. President Ruz became highly involved with the organization, eventually serving as Secretary of the United Sovereignties from January 1 to April 15 of 2019. As of April 15, Ruz serves as the Director of Emerging States Support.

Wenonah also involved itself with other organizations during the time, including the North-Western Alliance. In late 2018, Ruz was elected as Vice Chairman of the North-Western Alliance; however, he soon resigned due to conflicts of interest.

In December 2018, the Commonwealth of Wenonah was accepted into the Grand Unified Micronational, and President Ruz was appointed as the Wenonan delegate.

Name	Entry to Organization	Status of Membership	Members' Positions within Organization
League of Micronations	August 30, 2018	Left (September 8, 2018)	Member
United Sovereignties	October 13, 2018	Active	Director of ESS
North-Western Alliance	October 21, 2018	Left (January 20, 2019)	Former Vice-Chairman
Grand Unified Micronational	December 30, 2018	Active	Delegate

Geography

Territorial Claims

The Commonwealth of Wenonah lays claim to several areas within the State of New Jersey and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of America. The largest of these claims are referred to as a "realm", while the term "territory" is used simultaneously for smaller claims or less proximal locations. The Realm of Sehconey, situated within the Southeastern portion of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, contains the Capitol of Chameau, the nation's largest fresh water body (Springfield Lake), and the Presidential Estate. An additional claim is held over land within Southern New Jersey, which has port access to the Atlantic Ocean for the distribution of goods and services, and tourism. The Commonwealth at one point laid claim to Tangier Island, off the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula, but has since rejected this claim.