Lost Lands

In this article, the focus is on understanding the various countries that used to exist in the area that now comprises the United States, why they were created, and why they eventually ceased to exist. My aim is to cover the history of at least 12 to 13 countries that existed in the territory of the present-day United States. These countries included states that were incorporated into the United States, as well as those that were destroyed. Some were created by native nations, while others were established by colonizers. Some were serious attempts at establishing sovereign nations, while others were short-lived, lasting only a few months due to historic events.

By listing out the temporary countries that used to exist in the present-day territory of the United States, which include the Vermont Republic, Deseret, the State of Muskogee, the Republics of East Florida, West Florida, and the Floridas, the Iroquois Confederacy, the Cherokee Nation, the Republic of the Indian Stream, the Republic of Texas, the California Republic, the Great Republic of the Rough and Ready, and the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The Vermont Republic existed between 1777 and 1791 and was founded when delegates from 28 towns declared independence from the jurisdictions and land claims of the British colonies of Quebec, New Hampshire, and New York due to dissatisfaction with British rule. Although the state was never recognized by any other nation, it had its own currency, the Vermont copper, which was initially known as the Republic of New Connecticut or the Republic of the Green Mountains. The United States did not recognize their independence either, due to territorial disputes with New York. Later, the Vermont Republic attempted to join Quebec, but as the British began to lose the fight against the US in the American Revolutionary War, they ended negotiations with the British and joined the United States in 1791 as the state of Vermont, with the constitution and laws of the independent state continuing in effect after admission.

Deseret, on the other hand, briefly existed as a country from 1849 to 1850. However, its creators did not intend it to be a country but rather a state recognized by the United States. When Mormon pioneers settled in the area in 1847, it was a part of Mexico, and the local church leader intended to apply for status as a territory or state. The proposal encompassed nearly all of present-day Utah and Nevada, large portions of California and Arizona, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon, although the actual area of control of Deseret did not include all of these regions. Although the US did not really agree to the creation of the state as the Mormons intended, they compromised by creating the Utah Territory. The idea of creating a state based on Mormonism began to fade away after the coming of the railroad, which opened the territory to many non-Mormon settlers.

The Iroquois Confederacy was believed to have been founded by the Great Peacemaker at an unknown date estimated between 1450 and 1660, bringing together five distinct nations in the southern Great Lakes area. There wasn't a main national identity as each territory had its own language, but they shared a common native identity, essentially forming a confederation of five tribes that joined each other into somewhat of a country. From east to west, the league was composed of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations. In 1722, the Tuscarora also joined, and the confederacy became known as the Six Nations. French, Dutch, and English colonists recognized a need to gain favor with the Iroquois people who occupied a significant portion of land west of the colonial settlements. The Iroquois remained a large, politically united native American country until the American Revolution. At this time, they became divided, with two of the nations, the Oneeda and the Tuscarora, choosing to side with the Americans while the other nations, including the Mohawk, fought with the British. After the US won, the British ceded Iroquois territory without consulting them, and many Iroquois had to abandon their lands and relocate to Canada, effectively destroying the country with its land becoming a part of the newly independent United States.

Another native country was the Cherokee Nation, a legal recognized autonomous tribal government in North America from 1794 to 1907. It was disbanded after its land rights had been extinguished prior to the admission of Oklahoma as a state. Congress passed the Dawes Act in the late 19th century, intended to promote assimilation and extinguish Indian governments and land claims in preparation for the admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907.

The Republic of the Indian Stream was an unrecognized republic in North America that existed from 1832 to 1835 along the section of the border that divides the current Canadian province of Quebec from the US state of New Hampshire. Its establishment as an independent nation was essentially the result of the ambiguous boundary between the United States and British Lower Canada as defined in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. The treaty didn't specify what the boundary was, and so the area was not definitely under the jurisdiction of either the United States or Canada. The people who lived there became saturated and tired of the uncertainty and at one point decided to rule themselves until the issue was resolved. Eventually, it was annexed by New Hampshire, and as far as is known, there was no flag as there was no national identity to represent, and independence was just a temporary need by the locals.

Texas was independent from 1836 to 1846, much longer than most on this list, save the native ones. Just before its independence, Texas was still a part of Mexico; however, the people that lived there were mostly American settlers, outnumbering the Mexicans by many. Tensions began to rise as talk of secession was. The leader of a company who had served under Taylor in the war of 1832 named a town after him. In 1850, the town declared its secession from the Union as the Great Republic of Rough and Ready, primarily to avoid mining taxes. However, the town voted to rejoin the Union less than three months later. Their flag was not unique, just a dark blue field with the town's name written on it.

The Kingdom of Hawaii, also known as the Hawaiian Kingdom, was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian archipelago. It was formed in 1795 when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great of the independent island of Hawaii conquered the surrounding independent islands. The kingdom won recognition from the major European powers and used the British and American flags as inspiration for their national flag, which is now the state flag of Hawaii.

The Kingdom was overthrown in 1893, mainly at the hands of the Committee of Safety, a group that included residents of American, British, and German descent. Hawaii was briefly an independent republic until the U.S. annexed it in 1898. About a hundred years later, in 1993, the U.S. apologized to the Hawaiian people and acknowledged that the overthrow of the kingdom had been done with the active participation of American agents. The U.S. admitted that the Hawaiian people had never directly relinquished their sovereignty to them through any votes. However, the independence of the islands is no longer possible, and there is no movement to regain independence.

As for other countries that existed in this territory but were destroyed and therefore no longer exist, the article does not mention any. Readers are encouraged to leave comments with additional information, corrections, or their general opinions.