History Main / FallenStatesOfAmerica

->''Never? Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you think your own country will last? Forever?''

In a worse case scenario, it is even possible for the nation to cease to exist as we know it, either being swept into anarchy, broken up into new nation states, the area as a whole being replaced by a new power. If the term "The Former United States" is said, this most likely happened.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[DoctorWhoNSS4E11TurnLeft "Turn Left"]] suggests very strongly that this happens to the U.S. after the Adipose kill a large portion of its population. The fragmentation is used to end a HopeSpot, since the UK, beset by other alien invaders, was looking to America for much-needed aid.

A common way to create a CrapsackWorld setting is to have the United States fall so much that it becomes much like a third world nation, with a collapsed economy, decaying infrastructure, fallen or incredibly corrupt government, and so on. Perhaps a [[DividedStatesOfAmerica new civil war]] has left the nation battered and weak; only a shell of its former self, or possibly economic collapse due to poor management, lack of an important resource, such as [[PostPeakOil oil]], food, or water, and/or because of the rise of another foreign power has lead to a weak US. An [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion]] by a foreign power has either conquered part of or all of the United States, or weakened it severely. Or even a natural disaster of some sort has happened. In a worse case scenario, it is even possible for the nation to cease to exist as we know it, either being swept into anarchy, broken up into new nation states, the area as a whole being replaced by a new power. If the term "The Former United States" is said, this most likely happened.

* ''DeusExHumanRevolution'': Not as bad as the original game, but it is on its way there. News articles and books read mention that the economy for the United States has taken a turn for the worse, and secessionism, cities and states declaring or demanding more autonomous rule and internal fighting is starting to become a political issue.
* ''AssassinsCreed'': An email in the first game reads about a border conflict between Mexican soldiers and Americans trying to escape into Mexico.

-->-- '''''Catch22'''''

-->-- '''''{{Catch22}}'''''

->''Never? Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed.
All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you think your own country will last? Forever?''

'''Note''': In the case of a new nation(s) taking the United States' place, it must be recognizable as having descent from it, either with explicit shared cultural mores and practices, people who still remember the United States, and/or the successor nation actively trying to recapture the US, or directly referencing its influence. '''A new nation whose only connection to the US is that it occupies North America is not covered.'''

Also, the US becoming tyrannical is not enough to be an entry. '''It must also be weakened in some way.''' While the US losing democracy can occur, it is not always the case.

'''To prevent flame wars, limit RealLife examples to historical situations that most historians agree was a low point in American history, [[RuleofCautiousEditingJudgment this is not a place to showcase your dislike of certain cultural beliefs, recent politicians, political parties or political policies.]]'''

* ''{{VideoGame/DeusEx}}'': The United States is in a what is the worst economical state it has ever been in its history, as implied by a conversation between two French civilians. The Grey Death has hit the nation hard, the majority of civilians encountered are homeless, many citizens are in active revolt, parts of Texas have been [[MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack conquered by the Russo-Mexican alliance,]] and the backstory explains the United States has been in the gutter ever since a massive earthquake sank a good chunk of the West Coast twenty years before the game starts, which along with new gun control legislation about twelve years afterwards, led to a [[DividedStatesOfAmerica second civil war]]. News articles read show that politicians still act like the nation is a superpower, but this is no obviously longer the case, with that honor now taken by [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld China.]]

* The 80s action-inspired free game ''[[http://livresdelours.blogspot.com/p/in-english.html The Hard Way]]'' features an America much like the one from ''EscapeFromNewYork'', with MICOM[[hottip:*:'''M'''ilitary-'''I'''ndustrial '''COM'''plex]] and the Yuppies controlling everything, a major city being turned into prisons, political dissent being considered treason under the "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Freedom Act]]," HOMSEC goons blackbagging people at night and sending them to FEMA camps, Chinese-Americans being interned because of the current war against China, survivalists, death cults and racial supremacists thriving outside the big cities; and everyone with slave wages, potato chips and TV sets -- basically a corporate-fascist America nightmare. All this in the backdrop of a three-way conflict between the US, the Chinese and the Soviet Union for the last remaining natural resources, with the [[CrapsackWorld rest of the world not being much better than America]].

* The 80s action-inspired free game ''[[http://livresdelours.blogspot.com/search/label/Hard%20way The Hard Way]]'' features an America much like the one from ''EscapeFromNewYork'', with MICOM[[hottip:*:'''M'''ilitary-'''I'''ndustrial '''COM'''plex]] and the Yuppies controlling everything, a major city being turned into prisons, political dissent being considered treason under the "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Freedom Act]]," HOMSEC goons blackbagging people at night and sending them to FEMA camps, Chinese-Americans being interned because of the current war against China, survivalists, death cults and racial supremacists thriving outside the big cities; and everyone with slave wages, potato chips and TV sets -- basically a corporate-fascist America nightmare. All this in the backdrop of a three-way conflict between the US, the Chinese and the Soviet Union for the last remaining natural resources, with the [[CrapsackWorld rest of the world not being much better than America]].

* The 80s action-inspired free game ''[[http://livresdelours.blogspot.com/search/label/Hard%20way The Hard Way]]'' features an America much like the one from ''EscapeFromNewYork'', with MICOM and the Yuppies controlling everything, a major city being turned into prisons, political dissent being considered treason under the "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Freedom Act]]," HOMSEC goons blackbagging people at night and sending them to FEMA camps, Chinese-Americans being interned because of the current war against China, survivalists, death cults and racial supremacists thriving outside the big cities; and everyone with slave wages, potato chips and TV sets -- basically a corporate-fascist America nightmare. All this in the backdrop of a three-way conflict between the US, the Chinese and the Soviet Union for the last remaining natural resources, with the [[CrapsackWorld rest of the world not being much better than America]].

* In Whitley Strieber's ''WardayAndTheJourneyOnward'', the US is hit by a nuclear attack and part of it ends up splitting off to form its own country, while what's left is poor and in shambles. (Literature. I forget the author, though.)

* ''WaradayAndTheJourneyOnward'' the US is hit by a nuclear attack and part of it ends up splitting off to form its own country, while what's left is poor and in shambles. (Literature. I forget the author, though.)

A common way to create a CrapsackWorld setting is to have the United States fall so much that it becomes much like a third world nation, with a collapsed economy, decaying infrastructure, fallen or incredibly corrupt government, and so on. Perhaps an [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion]] or a [[DividedStatesOfAmerica new civil war]] has left the nation battered and weak; only a shell of its former self, or possibly economic collapse due to poor management, lack of an important resource, such as [[PostPeakOil oil]], food, or water, and/or because of the rise of another foreign power has lead to a weak US. Or even a natural disaster of some sort has happened. In a worse case scenario, it is even possible for the nation to cease to exist as we know it, either being swept into anarchy, broken up into new nation states, the area as a whole being replaced by a new power. If the term "The Former United States" is said, this most likely happened.

* KimNewman and Brain Craig's Literature/DarkFuture novels for GamesWorkshop greatly expanded on the base concept of a crapsack US of A, piling economic collapse on top of a reduction in the President's status from Most Powerful Man In The World to somewhere around 138th Most Powerful Man In The World.

* ''{{Dystopia}}'': The United States in the backstory began a downward spiral as its currency collapsed as more and more nations switched over to other reserve currencies. By the time of the game, it no longer exists, now broken up into several different nations, the most powerful being the United Dominion of Canada.
* ''DeusEx'': The United States is in a what is the worst economical state it has ever been in its history, as implied by a conversation between two French civilians. The Grey Death has hit the nation hard, the majority of civilians encountered are homeless, many citizens are in active revolt, parts of Texas have been [[MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack conquered by the Russo-Mexican alliance,]] and the backstory explains the United States has been in the gutter ever since a massive earthquake sank a good chunk of the West Coast twenty years before the game starts, which along with new gun control legislation about twelve years afterwards, led to a [[DividedStatesOfAmerica second civil war]]. News articles read show that politicians still act like the nation is a superpower, but this is no obviously longer the case, with that honor now taken by [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld China.]]

A common way to create a CrapsackWorld setting is to have the United States fall so much that it becomes much like a third world nation, with a collapsed economy, decaying infrastructure, fallen or incredibly corrupt government, and so on. Perhaps an [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion]] or a [[DividedStatesOfAmerica new civil war]] has left the nation battered and weak; only a shell of it's former self, or possibly economic collapse due to poor management, lack of an important resource, such as [[PostPeakOil oil]], food, or water, and/or because of the rise of another foreign power has lead to a weak US. Or even a natural disaster of some sort has happened. In a worse case scenario, it is even possible for the nation to cease to exist as we know it, either being swept into anarchy, broken up into new nation states, the area as a whole being replaced by a new power. If the term "The Former United States" is said, this most likely happened.

* The setting of the BronzeAge MarvelComics version of ''{{Deathlok}}'' was a future Unied States where [[ANuclearError a limited nuclear war]] has left the country devastatedm with roaming gangs and independent groups vying for control with factions and remnants of the CIA and the military.

* In ''ParableOfTheSower'' the United States has collasped into a dystopia filled with gangs, prostitution and slavery. (It's set in a TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture California)

* This is basically the state of the UCAS (United Canadian and American States) in ''{{Shadowrun}}''. It's a standard {{Cyberpunk}} dystopia, with much of the original U.S. lost to the Native American nations, extensive MegaCorp influence and so on.

* ''DeusEx'': The United States is in a what is the worst economical state it has ever been in its history, as implied by a conversation two French civilians. The Grey Death has hit the nation hard, the majority of civilians encountered are homeless, many citizens are in active revolt, parts of Texas have been [[MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack conquered by the Russo-Mexican alliance,]] and the backstory explains the United States has been in the gutter ever since a massive earthquake sank a good chunk of the West Coast twenty years before the game starts, which along with new gun control legislation about twelve years afterwards, led to a [[DividedStatesOfAmerica second civil war]]. News articles read show that politicians still act like the nation is a superpower, but this is no obviously longer the case, with that honor now taken by [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld China.]]

* The AmericanCivilWar: Had the most American causalities of any war the US fought, and it was on ''US soil.'' There was so much bad blood caused by it that the negative effects can even be seen ''today''. In the South, it is still very much a sore topic.

* ''TheHandmaidsTale'': The Republic of Gilead that replaced the United States roughly a few decades before after an unknown disaster, a terrorist attack and military coup. For all extensive purposes, it is the United States, just under a totalitarian theocratic society.

* The CivilWar: Had the most American causalities of any war the US fought, and it was on ''US soil.'' There was so much bad blood caused by it that the negative effects can even be seen ''today''. In the South, it is still very much a sore topic.

* The Great Depression, especially after an economical golden age in the 1920s. People were losing jobs left and right, starving to death, and communism was starting to take hold in the minds of some people.
* The Civil War: Had the most American causalities of any war the US fought, and it was on ''US soil.'' There was so much bad blood caused by it that the negative effects can even be seen ''today''. In the South, it is still very much a sore topic.