History of Kirkland

History of Kirkland

Native American settlement (?-c. 800

Mississippian Civilization (c. 800-c. 1500)

Exploration and European Colonization (1673-1804)

Louisiana Territory (1804-1812)

Missouri Territory (1812-1821)

US State of Missouri (1821-2011)

Most Glorious and Holy Empire of Kirkland (16 Feb.-23 Oct. 2011)

Democratic People's Republic of Kirkland (23 Oct.- Present)

The history of Kirkland traditionally begins with the declaration of an independent Kingdom of Kirkland and extends to the modern state of the Democratic People's Republic of Kirkland. However, the history of Kirkland extends into the distant past.

Native American settlement

The North American continent was originally settled by people coming from the continent of Asia. Theories abound as to how these people came to North American but the most accepted theory involves a land bridge across the Bearing Strait that joined Siberia and Alaska. The people then slowly descended the continent eventually settling both North and South America. These people lived a nomadic life in most places.

The Native Americans in Kirkland were nomadic. However, eventually these people settled down to found the Mississippian Civilization that would dominate the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers for over 700 years.

Mississippian Civilization

The Mississippian Civilization was a mound-building culture of Native Americans. They lived in what is today parts of the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States. These people had a maize-based agriculture and lived in primitive cities. They had a complex social hierarchy and religious order.

The Mississippians would thrive for an extended period of time but would eventually succumb to overhunting, deforestation, and a collapse of the maize crops over many years. Until the mid-1600s there would be no single power that would be in charge of the region.

Kingdom of Kirkland

Early in the day on 16 February 2011 Brayden began to draft a constitution for what would become Kirkland. He immediately found what he called a "divine inspiration" for his work and concluded that he was to be King by the Grace of God. Brayden declared himself King of Kirkland and immediately began to write the preliminary laws of the new nation. The Kirkish Constitution and the "Royal Seven" (the first seven royal decrees) were completed late in the evening on the 16th of February. In the ensuing weeks the nations established many laws. It also began to show economic growth with the founding of a Bank (the First Bank of Kirkland) and an armament production and distribution company (Kirkland Armament Corporation).

Most Glorious and Holy Empire of Kirkland

As 2011 pressed on the Kingdom continued to grow. The government began to act more regularly and made laws regularly. The Kingdom added a fourth Grand Duchy on April 1, the Grand Duchy of Arlington. In early July the Parliament passed a bill that changed the "Grand Kingdom of Kirkland" into the "Most Glorious and Holy Empire of Kirkland" and conferred upon the King the higher title of Emperor. The nation continued to prosper while slowly growing. By July 17 the nation's forum boasted 10 members. However, a storm was looming that would impact the course of the nation's history.

Coup of July 19th

Anger against the monarchy and nobility began to bubble. The nation's regular citizens were becoming increasingly upset at the measures taken against them. The government had instituted a number of laws that removed almost every semblance of freedom from regular citizens. Only nobles were allowed full consideration under the law and even that was a stretch after the passing of the Sedition Act. Finally, after many months of tension the Kirkland People's Liberation Movement, a secret underground communist group, led by Nathaniel Yates attempted a coup to overthrow the Emperor. However, the coup failed and Yates and all of his associates were permanently banned from Kirkland. A Parliamentary report was commissioned to summarize the events before during and after the coup. This event led the Emperor to question the current constitution and on July 24 he called for a constitutional convention to draw up a new constitution that would grant him even more power than before.

Era of Darkness

Following the failed coup an era of repression set in. The Emperor and the Parliament passed many laws limiting freedom of speech and expression. Anyone found to be sympathetic to any kind of rebel causes was banned and many laws were in place to make such moves perfectly legal. The new constitution that was enacted was full of "reforms" that took away many citizen rights. The military came to a prominent place in Kirkland as increased security became a priority. However, this era could not last. Eventually the concern over rebellion and revolution began to subside. Paranoia was no longer rampant. In an unprecedented move the Emperor instituted the first constitutional monarchy of sorts in his home Grand Duchy of Alovia. He allowed for a completely democratically elected legislature with a limited executive. This lead to the era of enlightenment.

Era of Enlightenment

Following the democratization of Alovia, a wave a freedom swept over Kirkland. The much-hated Sedition Act was repealed. An act guaranteeing freedom of speech passed through Parliament. In the first such motion of its kind the Parliament adopted a Constitutional amendment that separated Parliament into two houses, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords was to function much like the old Parliament but with each noble being automatically granted a seat. On the other side however, the House of Commons was to be made up of only regular citizens and was to be democratically elected. This was to be the first national democratic legislature in Kirkland since its founding. What came to follow was an outpouring of democratic sympathy and liberalism. On September 26, 2011, the Grand Duke of Arlington His Grace, Dakoda George who ruled Georgeton thought it was quickly becoming inactive. He entered negations to have Georgeton land merged into Arlington on September 27, 2011 and on September 28th 2011 all Georgish lands became part of Most Glorious and Holy Empire of Kirkland and Dakoda George became the Duke of the Dukedom of Georgeton.

Dissolution of the Empire

On October 13, Emperor Brayden announced that the nation was to be dissolved. Dakoda George immediately took control of the nation, and later that day, Mark II announced his support and launched a Re-organization plan. However, the Prime Minster, His Grace Stephen Landes, Grand Duke of Balromia, stepped in on the 18th of October and invoked the Constitution and declared Dakoda George's claim to the Regency void. This did not end the re-organization but rather brought the re-organization under the leadership of the Prime Minister as the new Regent.

In the end the nation was split into two separate entities, the United Kingdom of North Kirkland and Arlington and the Democratic People's Republic of Kirkland. The nations recognize the sovereignty of each other and maintain cordial diplomatic relations.

Democratic People's Republic of Kirkland

The DPRoK was founded by Nathaniel Yates following the dissolution of Kirkland. He thought that, in the chaos of the dissolution, a new communist nation could be found from the ruins of the old. He gained an early ally in the Duchess of Halmonton who pledged her territory to the new nation with the promise that she would be made governor of that territory and be guaranteed a seat in the new nation's legislature.

On October 25, 2011, Yates announced publicly the creation of the Democratic People's Republic of Kirkland. Immediately the nation's population grew. A meeting was set for October 27 at which time all the people of the new nation would work together to form the nation's founding documents and establish to nation fully. Because of easy communication the meeting was pushed up a day to the 26th. On that day the gathered citizens drafted and approved a new constitution.