Colony of Flaadland (Settlers of the New World Map Game)

The Flaadland Colony was a Royal British Colony established in 1828 by a group of Covenanters who established Roberttown. In 1688, it was turned into the Grand Duchy of Flaadland. Almost enitrely Scottish, the colony was culturaly and religiously unique and independent.

Rebellious Colony (1628-1953)
In 1825, King Charles I realized that a group of Scottish Covenanters were causing problems in Scotland. The king decided to send them to the new world in order to both get rid of them and gain new lands. The expedition, which launched in 1827, was lead by a Scot loyal to the Crown, Sir Thomas MacEalar, who became the first governor of Flaadland.

The expedition landed in 1828 in a spot chosen by the Covenanters' leader, Elder Donald Woodwick, who also chose the name of Flaadland (after Alan fitz Flaad ). Quickly, Woodwick influence over the community clashed with the royal autority of MacEalar, as both men often had different ideas for the colony. The settlers usually refered to Woodwick instead of MacEalar when it came to decisions. Things got worst when explorer David Leary (a Covenanter) discovered the true extend of the river (which was named the Leary River) and the existence of the Sakawe Tribe, which was stiuated east of Roberttown. Against the orders of MacEalar, Woodwick and Leary launched a conflict, which resulted in the expulsion of the Sakawe from the northern bank of the Leary River and the establishment of Craigmouth on a former Sakawe village in 1632. In 1635, the arrival of English Anglicans caused massive tensions in the community, including protests from the Covenanters. After their church was burnt, the Anglicans abandoned Roberttown and established their own settlement, Longshank. When Charles I tried to force the Book of Common Prayer on the Presbyterians, MacEalar refused and rsigned in 1637, although he would stay in post until the arrival of his replacement in 1638.

The new Governor, the 3rd Baron of Endon, would prove far more agressive and anti-Covenanters. He would force the Book of Common Prayer on New Falkirk through threats, and would impose massive taxes on both the religious landowners and their workers to force them to accept the book. This led to unrest in Roberttown, and by 1639 Endon left Roberttown to a garrison and left to take residence in Longshank. The Bishop' War in England and Scotland had a profund impact on the colony., as the Covenanters supported their brothers in Scotland.

In 1640, a protest turned into a riot, and soldiers shot into the crowd. The following day, the Covenanters, led by Woodwick, took control of the city, which started the Woodwick Rebellion. Endon responded by playing the Sakae natives to harass the Covenanters so he could prepare. This caused a stalemate for the next 4 years, marked by Sakawe raids against Craigmouth and a short occupation of New Falkirk by Anglicans. After the defeat of the Sakawe in October 1644, David Leary and Woodwick linked together and then launched a siege of Longshank in January 1645. Although this ended with a victory and the expulsion of most Anglicans (including Endon and his troops), Woodwick was fataly shot during the fightings.

With Woodwick dead and Endon in flight, the colony felt in the control of David Leary. Leary found out rapidly that without any enemy to fight, his militiamen quickly deserted him, leaving him with only a few loyal men. The colony returned to peace, and volunteers from the Bishop's Wars returned home. This also marked the arrival of Royalist Presbyterians fleeing their defeat against the Parliementaries. This divided the Flaadlanders between Nomists Covenanters (those that opposed Charles and the royal administration of the colony) and the Royalist Covenanters (those that fought for Charles in the Second and Third English Civil Wars).

Parliamentary Colony (1652-1663)
In 1652, a new governor appointed by the Parliament of London arrived. George Sarton, an old puritan, arrived in Roberttown with troops, boats and settlers (English Presbyterians). Leary was forced to cede control of the colony to Sarton. Sarton quickly made allies of the religious landowners, who he helped grow their plantations, in good part thanks to the afflux of settlers brought from England. Most Nomists became appreciative of Sarton's work as governor.

However, many members of the militia were not happy with the change, as many of them were replaced in important offices by soldiers who followed Sarton. Leary in particular was beginning to regret ever giving up his place as governor. In an attempt to keep the militia distracted, Sarton ordered 80 militiamen, led by Neill Turey, to launch an raid aainst the royalist colony of Strafford Bay in late 1654. Although the raid was pushed back, Turey and his men caused many casualties to the royalists. By the 1655, Sarton began implementing puritan laws in the colony, forbiding most forms of entertainments. These changes convinced David Leary to hatch a conspiracy to overthrow Sarton and take back control of the colony. The coup was planed for 1658, but some of Leary's allies were captured and spilled out the plot. Leary and his allies were executed. This included Donald Woodwick II, the son of the late religious leader. This execution caused outrage among the population, leading to protests against Sarton's administration and mass disobediance to the laws.

Sarton was forced to find an ally among the religious leaders to help him. He found one in Robert Drusberry (1616-1666) a powerful landlord in Craigmouth. Drusberry became more and more implied in the colonial government, especially after Sarton became sick in late 1858 and then died the following year. Captain John Levingford, officer of the English troops in Flaadland, took the job of Acting Governor for the next 3 years and a half. However, everything outside of the troops was managed by Drusberry

Restauration (1662-1688)
In 1662, the monarchy was restaured in the British Isles and Charles II became king. William Wentworth, the son of Thomas Wentworth, was made Governor of Flaadland by Charles as a reward for his family's loyalty during the Interregnum. During his time as governor, he rellied heavily on the advises of Drusberry. It was during the governorship of Wentworth that Neill Turey finally turned to piracy, forcing Wentworth to put a massive bounty on his head. The town of Longshank was also renamed Clarendon during that time. When Wentworth was replaced in 1665, Drusberry had become the most powerful men in the colony.

In 1665, Charles II started persecuting the Covenanters, which led many of them to migrate to Flaadland, founding towns north of the New Falkirk and Leven. The new Governor of Flaadland, James Clerence, was convinced that the colony would only improve economically thanks to slavery, and so brought more slave than ever seen before. This had the effect of weakening the Woodwick System, as former peasants lost control of their homes due to losing their jobs to slaves. Drusberry was killed by one of his new slaves in 1666, ending his control over the colonies. However, Clarence also began developping woodcutting and shipbuilding industries, the former in the north and the later in Clarendon. Clerence also helped the Strafford Bay Colony in their war with the Nunsee natives, which led to a gain of lands in the north, lands that were occupied by Flaadland, by populated by Nunsees.

Clerence was replaced in 1674 by the Anglo-Irish John Canavan, who had orders of establishing episcopacy in the colony. He tried to use promises and gifts to convince the Flaalanders to accept the change, but hurt himself to James MacRoy and the "Woodwick Covenant", a meeting in 1671 that formalized the religious traditions in the colony. Fourteen months after his arrival, Canavan gave his resignation to London, claiming that it was impossible to instore episcopacy in the colony. This victory of the Covenanters made James MacRoy extremely popular and influent in the colony, some beginning to see him as the second Donald Woodwick.

The next governor was Sir Roger Wotton, a longtime member of the Royal Navy and a one time peer of the House of Commons. Wotton quickly made himself popular among the Flaadlanders due to his anti-Catholic feelings. During his time as governor, Wotton greatly helped the development of the shipbuilding industry in the colony. He also encouraged the dispossessed peasants to move in the newly gained territories, where they founded multiple settlements, including Wottontown. Archibald Neivy, a veteran of the Nunsee War, organized the Longmen, a militia in the north focused on hunting and killing the natives that lived on the northern territories.

By 1678, anti-Catholicism was rampant in the colony, in great part due to MacRoy and Wotton. So when in 1680 the Scottish Covenanters once again entered in a war with the Crown, many Flaadlanders chose to join the fight as volunteers on the side of the Covenanters, as they did in 1639. When Charles is assassinated in 1683, Wotton refuse to recognize the catholic James II&VII as his rightful king. The following actions of Wotton allienate him from his allies in London, and in November 1683 is removed by an expedition and brought back to London for trial.

The new Governor is the Catholic William Copinger. Copinger made the grave mistake of trying to push catholicism in the colony. He made many laws against the burning of catholic icons (which had become frequent in the colony), tried to replace the Longmen with regular soldiers and even vacated a church to give it to a catholic priest. For all those reasons, Copinger was assassinated on 23 May 1684, seven months after his arrival. The Flaadlander Malcom Bexley the assumed the role of Acting Governor of Flaadland, has the scholar landlord is seen as a far safer alternative than the extremists MacRoy and Neivy.

In 1685, Charles FitzRoy (the bastard son of Charles II) arrived in Flaadland after a failed coup against his uncle. At first surprised by the young man, he quickly became popular by his personal admiration for Wotton, the former governor. Bexley decided to leave the colony to FitzRoy in February 1686, hoping that this would allow more autonomy for the colony. This decision would not be recognized by London, however, and the new governor was never officially appointed to the office. FitzRoy was helped by his most thrusted advisor, William Plair, although even Plair was unable to stop FitzRoy from being manipulated by acclaiming crowds. In May 1687 Bexley was reinstated in the colonial government. After convincing FitzRoy, Bexley transformed the Colony of Flaadland into the Grand Duchy of Flaadland on November the 21st, 1688.

Economy
Flaadland's economy is based on small scale plantations runned under what is called the Woodwick System, called after Donald Woodwick, who was the first to apply it. Under the Woodwick System, religious leaders also act as the major landowners, building their congregation in the middle of their lands. Their followers, who are owners of their homes, work the farms of the religious leader. Because the religious leaders are the one paying their workers, they have both a spiritual and material control over their communities. With the mass arrival of slave labours as of 1665, the peasants began losing their jobs and homes. They were then rented their home by the religious landlords, passing from proprietary to tenants, which increased the poverty among the lower classes.

A few towns, like Woodwick and Argyll, also started developping not as land owning communities but as fishing villages, although this industry is insignificant compared to the plantations of the Woodwick System.

Religion
The people of Flaadland follow Presbyterian beliefs, and also follow the ideas of the Covenanters, a Scottish movement they identify with. Unlike in most colonies, Flaadlandlers are not keen to other religions, and Presbyterianism is concidered the de facto stae religion of the colony. They reject any form of episcopaly and accept the idea that "every man is his own priest". However, most positions as religious leaders tend to be hereditary, just like the lands owned by those leaders.

In 1671, a meeting of Flaadland's religious leaders was organized in the town of Woodwick. The Woodwick Covenant would see the Covenanters of Flaadland agree on the basic of Presbyterian religion in the colony. They chose to reject episcopacy, the cult of the saints and all religious ritual "that was not necessary for the good of the soul". From that point on, the religion practiced in Flaadland would slowly become distinct from the Scottish Presbyterianism and would eventually gained the name of Covenantism.

Politic
The colony is ruled by a Governor, who is appointed by the King (or the Parliament during the Interregnum). He has full control over the colony and takes the decisions alone, without any need for a representative council. More often then not, the positions in the administration are filled by soldiers brought from England to keep the colony in order.

However, many religious leaders are far more influencal with the population on a local level, as they are both their spiritual guides and their employers. The first and most famous of those was Donald Woodwick, who was so influencal he could challenge the power of then Governor Sir Thomas MacEalar. Another example appeared in the 1670's, when James MacRoy led the Woodwick Covenant, and then successfully opposed the attempt of Governor John Canavan to instaure the episcopacy in the colony.

Towns and Settlements

 * Roberttown: Established in 1628 by the first settlers. Currently the biggest city in the colony. Named after King Robert II of Scotland
 * Craigmouth: Established in 1632. Built on the ruins of a Sakawe village following the "Victory of the White Day", which marked the end of the first conflict between the settlers and the Sakawe tribe. Named after Scottish minister John Craig.
 * New Falkirk: Established in 1635. Named after the Battle of Falkirk in 1298.
 * Clarendon: Established in 1637 by Anglican Englishmen because they felt unwelcomed in Roberttown. Named after King Edward I "Longshank". Renamed Clarendon in 1664 to show reconciliation with the restaured English monarchy.
 * Woodwick: Established in 1646 by Flaadlanders who had voluntered during the Bishops' War and the First English Civil War. Named after Donald Woodwick.
 * Argyll: Established in 1651 by Covenanters who fled Scotland during the Third Civil War. Named after Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll.
 * Leven: Established in 1652 by Covenanters who fled from Scotland, fearing persecutions after the Third Civil War. Named after Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven.
 * New Glasgow: Established in 1665 by Presbyterians refusing the episcopacy in Scotland.
 * New Stirling: Established in 1665 by Presbyterians refusing the episcopacy in Scotland.
 * Melrosetown: Established in 1665 by Presbyterians refusing the episcopacy in Scotland.
 * Northern Settlements: Many small settlements established between 1675 and 1680 in the territories gained during the Nunsee War.
 * Wottontown: Established in 1676, it is the biggest of the Northern Settlements. Named after Sir Roger Wotton, Governor of Flaadland at the time.
 * FitzRoy: Established in 1686 by Archibald Neivy. Named after the Governor Charles FitzRoy.

List of Governors
 