United States of America (Alternate)

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US), or America, is a country primarily located in North America, consisting of 49 States, and a federal district. Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland some 12,000 years ago, and European colonization began in the 16th Century. The United States emerged Independent from the original 13 British Colonies in North America, through the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), due to disputes through taxation and political representation. By the 18th Century, the United States was advancing into North America, often displacing or killing Native Americans, and by 1848, the United States spanned the North American continent. Slavery was legal in the Southern United States until the American Civil War (1861-1865), which abolished slavery altogether. The Spanish-American War and World War I established the United States as an power to be reckoned with, but this status was to be questioned with after the victory of World War II.

The United States is a federal republic and a representative democracy with three separate branches of government, including a bicameral legislature. It also ranks high in international measures of economic freedom, quality of life, and quality of higher education. Despite the high income disparity with difference between ethnicity and gender in comparison to some other Developed Nations, the United States ranks relatively high in economic performance. However, the United States is often criticized for it's immense military presence in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, and it's large prison population and continuous usage of Capital Punishment on convicts.

The United States maintains a modern and large military with the world's largest military budget, and is ranked as the most powerful military in 1946. During wartime, the military is able to call upon citizens to be conscripted into the war effort, as seen in World War II. American culture has spread as far as Japan, but with increasing diplomatic pressure from the USSR, the nation is facing a cultural crisis in countries where the United States maintains their military presence.