South Tussenland
| South Tussenland | |
|---|---|
| Republic of South Tussenland | |
| Zuyd-Tussenlandt | |
 | |
 Location of South Tussenland | |
| Established | 1852 |
| Capital | Elegasthaven |
| Largest City |
|
| Population | 23 Million |
| Government Type | Republic |
| Languages |
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South Tussenland, officially the Republic of South Tussenland and formerly the Tussenland province of Elegastlandt is a country located in southern North American. South Tussenland borders the former Spanish colonies of Florida and Mexico to the east and west (respectively) and Opdamsland and Tussenland to the North. The country's capital and largest city is the historic port city of Elegasthaven.
Much of the nation's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. These contain a rich southern biota; typical examples include birds such as ibises and egrets. There are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish.
South Tussenland is also the birthplace of the African diaspora religion known as Zoekerism.
History
17th century
Before the arrival of Europeans, the region of what is now the country of South Tussenland was inhabited by Native Americans for many millenia. The first European explorers to visit South Tussenland came in 1528 when a Spanish expedition led by Pánfilo de Narváez located the mouth of the Mississippi River. Two decades later, an expedition by Hernando de Soto skirted the northern region of South Tussenland and followed the Mississippi River arriving at the Gulf of Mexico in 1543. Although they were the first to explore and chart the area, the Spanish lost colonial interest in the region over the next decades.
Opdam's Expedition (1674-1679)
In the late 16th century, Dutch explorer Cornelis Jacobszoon van Duvenvoorde Opdam was hired by the Dutch West India Company and led an expedition from the Dutch Tussenland Colony to find a route to the Pacific, following the Ohio River and then down the Mississippi River. He claimed the land around the river for the company and named it the Dutch Possessions on the Mississippi (Amerikaens: Nederlands Besittingen ter Misisibie) (although the country of Opdamsland formed in 1903 would be posthumously named after him). Along the journey halfway into present-day South Tussenland came an escort of Chitimacha Indians who Opdam had befriended. Opdam reached the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1679.
18th century
The territory of modern day South Tussenland was part of the charters given to the Dutch West India Company (in 1700) and then later the Royal Tussenland Company (in 1817). In the 17th century, the Southern Tussenland became one of the largest importers of African slaves, to work the sugarcane and cotton plantations.
19th century
The 19th century saw tensions increasing between the slaves and the Dutch minority.
Republic of Anahuac (1812-1817)
In 1812, Dutch filibusters started settling the regions west of the official boundaries of Southern Tussenland, in hopes that the Kingdom of the Netherlands would annex them. They established a short-lived republic called the Republic of Anahuac. This was in violation of the borders settled in Treaty of Vienna in 1755. However, the issue was settled in 1817 when Spain decided to sell the Anahuac strip to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Royal Tussenland Company Charter (1817)
The Royal Tussenland Company (established 1817) was the successor of the defunct Dutch West India Company, which was disbanded in 1815 after financial troubles during the French Revolutionary Wars. The scope of the Royal Tussenland Company was smaller in scope than the Dutch West India Company, focusing only on the North American territory. The Royal Tussenland Company took over the operation of plantations in the South, as well as constructed new plantations in the northern part of the region. The taking over of the RTC saw the importation of more slaves.
South Tussenland Revolution (1849) and Independence
Tensions between the slaves and the Dutch ruling minority was at an high in 1840. The Royal Tussenland Company practiced harsh treatment towards the slaves, causing a lot of slaves to either die, flee to the Spanish colonies, or hide in maroon communities. However, a huge majority of slaves suffered under the Royal Tussenland Company's rule. A unique Dutch creole culture had evolved in the region. In the midst of the 2nd Dutch-Spanish War, Tussenland saw a slave insurrection beginning to form in the south, spearheaded by a "prophet" who had claimed to be sent by God to liberate the slave-population of southern Tussenland. A religious movement soon formed in southern Tussenland, named the Church of the Second Ascension (also called Zoekerism; from Dutch: Zoek 'to seek'). To undermine the Dutch, Spain had supported this slave insurrection. The southern region declared independence officially as the United Gemeenten (religious communities) of South Tussenland (Dutch: Verenigde Gemeenten van Zuyd Tussenlandt), led by the ex-slave prophet Abayomi van Tussenlandt. Spain was the first nation to recognize this new nation.
The newly independent Southern Tussenland in 1850 supported the Spanish against the Dutch during the duration of the war.
The Plight of the Suyderlings
The white Dutch minority were dubbed by other Amerikaners as the Suyderlings (lit. Southerlings). During the Southern Tussenland revolution, a majority of Suyderlings fled to the Irokesenland Protectorate north of South Tussenland. However, there were Suyderlings who fled to the west, to the Anahuac strip (a haven for Suyderlings), confident that the Dutch would eventually retake the colony. However, in 1851, Southern Tussenland revolutionaries were able to take the city of Anahuac. On the eve of September 12, 1851, a group of fringe radical Zoekerists ambushed a caravan of Suyderlings who were trying to escape to Dutch controlled Tussenland in the north. A total of 48 adult Suyderlings and 12 radical Zoekerists were killed. Upon hearing of the tragedy, revolutionary leader Abayomi van Tussenland condemned the attacks and ordered the purging of the radical group. The Suyderling Memorial (built in 1998) in South Mizoerie, Tussenland, is dedicated to the memory of the killed Suyderlings and Afro-Amerikaners alike during that fateful day.
Most of the surviving Suyderlings ended up in the Irokesenland Province of the Federation of Tussenland, where they were given plots of lands by the Irokees government. However, slavery was outlawed so the Suyderlings had to rely on a system of sharecropping to run the plantations. In 1903, after Tussenland declared independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a majority of the surviving Suyderlings and their descendants migrated to the provinces of North Mizoerie and South Mizoerie, which was initially blocked by the Kingdom of the Netherlands from European settlement. A lot of indigenous groups in these two provinces were forcibly migrated to the newly formed country of Opdamsland (which was created as a buffer territory, and is essentially a puppet of the new government of Tussenland).
Post-Independence (1855-present)
Government and politics
Administrative divisions
Administratively, South Tussenland is divided into six departments (shown here). The departments are listed below, with the departmental capital cities in parentheses.
- Acola-Pisa (Vogels)
- Elegastlandt (Elegasthaven)
- Natchez (Ouispe)
- Oost-Taensa (Willemstadt)
- West-Taensa (Roosendaal)
- Zuyd Tussenlandt (Oosterhout)