United States of America (Ascension)

The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A. or simply the States) was a federeal republic composed of 50 states, the federal district of Washington, D.C., five major territories, and various possessions.

At 9,833,517 sqkm, the United States was the 3rd largest country in the world before the Unification. Its government was one of the three founding members of the Federation.

History
Indigenous peoples, probably of Asian descent, have inhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands of years. This Native American population was greatly reduced after European contact by disease and warfare. The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determination and their establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. It emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower before the Unification.

Governance and politics
The United States was the world's oldest surviving federation and the base for the world government. It was a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. For 2014, the U.S. ranked 19th on the Democracy Index  and 17th on theCorruption Perceptions Index.

In the American federalist system, citizens are usually subject to three levels of government: federal, state, and local. The local government's duties are commonly split between county and municipal governments. In almost all cases, executive and legislative officials are elected by a plurality vote of citizens by district. There is noproportional representation at the federal level, and it is rare at lower levels.[271]

The federal government is composed of three branches: The Statue of Liberty in New York City is a symbol of both the U.S. and the ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity.
 * Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, made federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power ofimpeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.
 * Executive: The President was the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law (subject to Congressional override), and appoints the members of the Cabinet (subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
 * Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges were appointed by the President with Senate approval, interpreted laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.

Economy
The United States had a capitalist mixed economy which is fueled by abundant natural resources and high productivity. According to theInternational Monetary Fund, the U.S. GDP of $16.8 trillion constituted 24% of the gross world product at market exchange rates and over 19% of the gross world product at purchasing power parity (PPP).[388]

The US's nominal GDP was estimated to be $17.528 trillion as of 2014.From 1983 to 2008, U.S. real compounded annual GDP growth had been 3.3%, compared to a 2.3% weighted average for the rest of the G7. The country ranked ninth in the world in nominal GDP per capita and sixth in GDP per capita at PPP. The U.S. dollar was the world's primary reserve currency and was the base of the World Credit.

During the war
The U.S. quickly mobilized against the impending alien threat, and was prepared to order a full-scale aerian attack of the Xi'Eya ship positioned above American cities, however before this decision can be enacted, the US' major cities are ravaged by alien forces, killing millions of civilians. The US government then declared the situation as a state of emergency and ordered the evacuation of surviving civilians to Cairo, one of the last two remaining major cities.

Following the destruction, the US government met with all other world governmental officials in Rio de Janeiro, where the course of the war was planned. Following the destruction of Rio de Janeiro, the POTUS and other surviving American governmental officials met in Cairo with the surviving governments of Romania, India, Malaysia and South Korea, signing the Treaty of Unification, thus becoming one of the founding members of the UFE.

Following the establishment of the UFE, Hillary Clinton became President of the provisional world government. After the conclusion of the war, Clinton was officially elected as President of the UFE, and later Imperator of the UEE.