Boschland

From Roses, Tulips, & Liberty
Boschland
Republic of Boschland
Boschlandt
Location of Boschland
CapitalVoorhaven
Largest CitySint Jozef-Carmen
Government TypeParliamentary republic
LanguagesAmerikaens (official)
Spanish (official)
Boschaens (lingua franca)
Genoese
Others

Boschland, also spelled Botsland and officially the Republic of Boschland (Amerikaens: Republiek van Boschlandt, Spanish: República de Botslandia), is a Batavian country in Central America. The isthmus nation is sandwiched by the Latin superpowers of Mexico to the north and Colombia to the south. Modern Boschland was formed as a result of Voortrekker expeditions and Amerikaener settlement in Costa Rica.

Etymology

The name Boschlandt means 'forested land' in Amerikaens, coming from the word bosch (forest) and landt (land). Bosch is often corrupted to bots in Spanish and English.

Costa Rica is still used in literary and geographical contexts. A poetic name for the country is Nicoja, coming from the Nahuatl term necoc yáotl (lit. with enemies on both sides).

History

Premodern history

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish Empire, Boschland was home to indigenous Hootar states such as Packaka and the elective monarchy of Nicoja. These states were conquered by the Spaniards in the 1520s, and were eventually incorporated into the colonial administrative division called the Kingdom of Guatemala. This led to the formation of a mixed-race Spanish-speaking society in the region.

The rise of the Redemptionists (1803-1815)

In 1803, a Venerationist priest, Pastor Jeb Teuling, claimed to receive a vision from God to fathom a New Zion far from the excesses and sin of modern New Netherland society. With his natural charisma and charm he rapidly grew a following in revivalist and venerationist circles in New Netherland and started to preach a version of Christianity that dramatically broke from mainstream (and even revivalist) protestant tradition. In 1805 he founded the Church of Christ the Redeemer and over the next decade became a major figure in New Netherland religious life, so much in fact that he and his followers (which now went by Redemptionists) faced strict repression from the state.

Voortrekker period (1815-1865)

In 1814 Teuling claimed to receive another direct vision from God that he and his followers should leave New Netherland, so after sending out dozens of scouts to many different locations the Church decided upon the Spanish domain of Costa Rica in Central America to start their new society. In 1815 they founded the city of Voorhaven and over the next few years started to immigrate in mass to Costa Rica, frequently called Boschlandt by the settlers. Initially settlement was focused in the Atlantic lowlands but after much trouble in the first few years of the majority of settlers migrated into the Talamanca highlands. Four waves of settlement from New Netherland and other Amerikaener states occurred until 1865, mostly spurred by religious persecution and economic hardship.

The failed apocalypse and millennial schism

A core tenant of Redemptionist beliefs was the immediate 2nd coming of Jesus Christ whom Jeb Teuling, using dates and numbers from the bible predicted would come in 1844. Amongst the early Redemptionists, it was up to the Church and it's members to build a heaven on earth at this time to serve as a beacon for Christ and to receive salvation. By the approach of 1844, Teuling was 83 years old, feeble of mind and blind after suffering a series of diseases in the initial Redemptionist settlement of Voorhaven. On March 4th, Teuling died in his sleep- leading to widespread mourning and the belief that his death was a potential sign of the imminent 2nd coming.

By the end of the year, widespread discontent within the Redemptionist settlers occurred with several factions forming to make sense of the failed prophecy. This was inflamed by the lack of a clear successor to Teuling as leader of the Church. Jans Abraham Haller who had been defacto running the Church for several years led a faction that believed that Jeb Teuling simply miscalculated the year of the rapture and that the Church should continue on as normal and engage in further study to find the corrected date. Opposed to this faction were several factions of Redemptionists who believed that Teuling's prophecy was correct and that something had occurred just in a different manor from what was expected. The largest of these factions were the Millennialists led by Teuling's eldest surviving daughter Mary Abspoel and her husband Kip Abspoel. Mary & Kip spread an idea that the 1844 prophecy referred to the start of the millennial referenced in the book of Revelation and that Jesus Christ is reigning in Heaven over Earth waiting for a time in which the Church builds a metaphorical heaven on earth to then return in the flesh.

This new gospel was incredibly controversial especially among the old Church hierarchy- from the period of 1845 to 1851 there was frequent debates and even civil disobedience within the settler communities- sometimes referred to as 'the bloodless war' or 'the millennial schism' . In January of 1851 Mary (Kip died the previous year) was finally able to muster enough support to elect her eldest son Ezekiel to the head of the Church and issued the New Codex Proclamation solidifying the Churches new post-millennial eschatology as well as canonizing Jeb Teuling as a messianic figure second only to Christ. Redemptionists opposed to this edict and the rule of Ezekiel left the Church and formed a splinter organization known as 'The Church of Christ the Advent'.

Oprichting (1865-1871)

Over the next decades more and more Redemptionists immigrated to Boschland, while local missionaries engaged in a campaign of heavy proselytizing of the already existing hispanophone and indigenous Costa Rican population who were mostly ignored by the Spanish crown and institutions of the Catholic Church. In the aftermath the Latin American Spring of Nations and Colombian Independence the Spanish crown started to build strong relations with Redemptionists in Costa Rica who they viewed favorably for developing the land and serving as a bulwark between the rebellious Colombians and the rich New Spanish colony. This culminated in 1871 when the King of Spain separated Boschland from New Spain at the behest of local Redemptionist into the directly governed captaincy general of Costa Rica.

Costa Rican period (1871-1881)

First Republic (1881-1936)

Government and Politics

Administrative divisions

Boschland contains 19 provinces, each with limited administrative autonomy. These are;

  • Meerzijde, San Jose, Los Volcanes, Coronado, Huevelland, De Heiligen, Voorhaven, Niew Wiltwyck, Spaanse Vallei, Nicoja, Barqueta, Leiden, Niew Oudelandt, Rivas, Stierenmond, Zuid Chiriqui, Chiriqui, Puntarenas, Noorden Boschland

Demographics

Ethnicity

Batavian Boschlanders

In the 19th century, around 120,000 Amerikaeners emigrated to Boschland and now make up around two fifths of the population. The majority (roughly 75%) adhere to the Church of Christ the Redeemer. Most Batavian Boschlanders speak Amerikaens and Boschaens, with a significant minority understanding Spanish.

Mestizos and mulattoes

Mestizo Boschlanders make up the plurality of the population and are of predominately Iberian, Dutch, and indigenous origin. 1 in 20 Boschlanders are mulattoes, who are descendants of freed African slaves who married white and mestizo settlers. Most speak Spanish, Boschaens, and are Roman Catholics.

Indigenous peoples

Making up two percent of the country, the most prominent indigenous ethnicities are the Hootar of the north, the Djoroteck of Nicoja, and the Bri-bri of the southern Talamanca region. Indigenous languages and Spanish prevail in their communities.

Immigrants from Asia and Europe

Thousands of Cantonese-speaking Chinese immigrants began arriving in Costa Rica after the Canton War, looking for work. With the construction of the Panama Canal shortly after, the Chinese population reached its peak of 10,000 in 1890. A migration wave from Soenda spanned the 1920s and 1930s. Mainly consisting of Javanese and Minhasa people, 1 in 7 Boschlanders have some form of Southeast Asian heritage.

Similarly, many Genoese and Tuscan businessmen and workers settled in the country. Counting 31,000 people (including descendants) by 1922, they are collectively known as the Italliaenvollk.

Language

Boschaens Creole

Also known as Boschlander Creole, it developed as a vernacular language between Spanish and Amerikaner speakers in the 19th century. It formed into a proper Spanish-based Dutch creole language by 1900. It is spoken by the majority of the Boschlander population as a lingua franca.

Culture

Religion

Redemptionism

At the turn of the 19th century the Amerikaener religious revival movement kicked off amongst religiously disillusioned Amerikaeners. Amerikaeners started to resent the Reformed Church that pandered to plutocrats and dynasts. Thousands began to gather in rural revivalist meetings, slowly forming a new religious movement. These beliefs eventually started to consolidate into new churches and faith-based associations. One of the earliest of these churches were the Venerationists, a sect which believed in a Christocentric form of Christianity popular amongst the Boertrekkers.

See also