Plantaginea

Plantaginea
State of Plantaginea
Flag
Country	United States
Ventian Colony	1558
British Conquest	1796
Statehood	December 15, 1894
Capital	Punta Grasso
Government
• Governor	Mark Lavigna
• Premier	Peter Tramontozzi
Time zone	UTC-5:00 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4:00 (EDT)

Plantaginea officially the State of Plantaginea is a U.S. state located in the southern Florida peninsula and TBD islands. The state is bordered to the north by East Florida, to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the south by the Straits of Florida, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and to the southeast by TBD. The capital is located in Punta Grasso while the largest city is Miami.

Originally inhabited by Indigenous peoples including the Calusa, the Republic of Venice began colonization of the area in 1558, primarily in the western part of the state. In 1796, France invaded Venice and took control of the Republic. To prevent the French from seizing the colony, British forces bombarded the colony and took control. The colony remained a British possession until 1895 when it voted to join the United States as a state.

Plantaginea has a strong ethnic Italian community both descended from original settlers and Italian-Americans who have moved to the state. As such, it is the only state where Italian is an official language alongside English and French. The state also has a sizeable Cuban population mainly in the Miami metropolitan area.

Etymology

History

People, known as Paleo-Indians, entered Plantaginea at least 14,000 years ago. By the 16th, the Calusa were the dominant group of people in the region. The Calusa inhabited the regions of western Plantaginea along the Gulf of Mexico. However, their political control expanded across modern-day Plantaginea and into regions of southern East Florida.

European discovery

The Floridian Peninsula was the first region in the modern-day mainland United States to be discovered by Europeans. The Spanish Conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the region on April 2, 1513. He named the region La Florida due to the verdant landscape and because it was the Easter season, known in Iberia as Pascua Florida. Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of moern-day Plantaginea, but came on shore north of the region in Tampa Bay. By the mid-1500s, the Spanish begun colonizing the northern Floridian Peninsula, but never attempted to establish a permanent settlement in the southwestern region.

In 1557, two years following the discovery of Siculia, the Venetian explorer Tristano Patania left Venice to explore North America. He first landed along the Atlantic coast of Plantaginea near modern-day Bocca Di Topo. Patania sailed south, along the Plantaginea Keys stopping at the delta of the Fiume della Pace (Peace River). From there, he named the land Plantaginea meaning [tbd]. Pantania eventually returned to Venice, where the Republic sought to build settlements around the Fiume della Pace delta. The first settlement in Plantaginea, Punta Grasso was founded in 1563.

Venetian control

The Venetians initially came into conflict with the Calusa, but were able to strike an uneasy peace with their Chief, Caluus in 1566. Tesauro Agosta, the first resident Governor of Plantaginea married Caluus' sister, who took the baptismal name Signora Antonia at conversion. Hostilities resumed in 1574, and the Venetians were able to secure much of the area around Punta Grasso. Iberia and Venice initially came into a minor conflict regarding the settlement in 1569, but hostilities ended in 1570 due to their alliance in the Ottoman-Venetian War. Venice slowly began to expand the colony southward, establishing the settlement of Montebelluna in 1602. To achieve this goal, they often fought the Calusa, while the Calusa also began to retreat southeastward into the Everglades.

The center of political control in Venetian Plantaginea often resided in the western side of the colony. The lack of natural harbors and large-scale marshland often prevented the Venetians from establishing large-scale settlements in eastern Plantaginea. The population of the colony consistently remained less than 2,000 people, but generally grew overtime. Wars between the Calusa and neighboring Iberian-aligned tribes in East Florida caused the Venetian military to intervene in 1614. In retaliation, the Iberians captured Montebelluna, effectively surrounding Punta Grasso. Following the capture, the Venetians agreed to remain outside the war, understanding they could not militarily defeat the Iberians. The conflict ultimately caused the Calusa to retreat further southwestward, allowing the Venetians to establish more settlements along the Gulf Coast.

The British took control of East Florida in 1763, and agreed to demarcate the border between East Florida and Plantaginea along the Fiume della Pace. As the Venetian merchant fleet began to shrink in the 18th century, Plantaginea largely began to govern itself and developed a small military to protect against Native American Raids and foreign incursions.

Revolutionary period

Main articles: Second Republic of Venice and Plantaginean Revolution

As France began an offensive against Venice, Plantaginea was largely unaffected. On March 17, 1797, Jacobins, largely influenced by the American Revolution sought greater or near-full autonomy for Plantaginea and rose in Porto Santa Lucia. By April 2, 1797, they were able to control the town, which was the main settlement in eastern Plantaginea. Control of Porto Santa Lucia remained relatively weak, but the French expressed support for the rebels in Plantaginea. French support worried the British, who were principally concerned about a revolt in Plantaginea spread across Carolina and the rest of the United States. On April 13, Punta Grasso officials gave approval to the military to attack the rebels in Porto Santa Lucia. The same day, British military from East Florida crossed into Plantaginea. The Venetian army was successfully able to take back control of Porto Santa Lucia, largely with help from Pro-Venetian citizens. The British fleet arrived two days following the recapture of Porto Santa Lucia and remained off the coast of the city.

Following the abdication of the Doge on May 12, 1797, British troops began to expand their control over Plantaginea, taking military control of Punta Grasso, Montebelluna, and Capo Corallo. Nevertheless, the Venetian colonial government continued to exist and political affairs remained relatively stable in the interim. On May 29, 678 Venetians arrived in Punta Grasso, largely those who served in the Venetian government. Within the next year, 1,948 more Venetians made the journey to Plantaginea, hoping to avoid persecution in Austria.

On May 31, the Second Republic of Venice was declared in Punta Grasso. The Second Republic considered itself an extension of the previous republic. As such, the republic also kept the aristocratic traditions of the former Venetian republic. Adalrico Celestino was named the new Doge of Venice, and a new Great Council was established. Notably, the government only included those who had immigrated to Plantaginea from Venice proper. This caused distain for the new government among those who already lived in Plantaginea.

Local councils, unrecognized by the government of the new Plantaginean government and mainly consisting of Plantaginean-born Venetians, continued operating in spite of the new government. On October 17, 1797, the Great Council issued a decree to cease activity in the local councils, hoping to consolidate power in Punta Grasso. The local councils continued operating in defiance of the new government, with the Punta Grasso council being the strongest. On December 3, supporters of the new Venetian government burned down the meeting place of the Punta Grasso council, causing outrage among Plantagineans. Council members fled to Montebelluna, then to Capo Corallo, where they gathered for the months of January and February. Inspired by the American Revolution, they called the new joint council the Plantaginean Congress, named after the United States Continental Congress. The Fifteen Demands, a document demanding a more representative Plantaginean government, was produced and sent to the Grand Council. The council disregarded the demands and instead sent a militia to Capo Corallo to arrest the Congress as traitors to the new government. A traveller on the primary highway between Punta Grasso and Capo Corallo saw the militia, and alerted the Congress before the militia was able to arrive. They crossed the Caloosahatchee River at night fleeing to Nuovo Cittadella. When the militia arrived in Capo Corallo, they assumed the Congress had fled to East Florida. When news reached Porto Santa Lucia, Jacobin rebels took arms against the local government, once against sieging the city. Porto Santa Lucia fell on March 1, 1798 and the Republic of Santa Lucia was declared.

Following the declaration of the Republic of Santa Lucia, Jacobin rebels and their Plantaginean allies in Montebelluna took control of the city. With the main militia in Capo Corallo, rebels in Punta Grasso were also successful, capturing the Grand Council building. A special session of the Grand Council was called on April 24, and voted in favor of adopting the Fifteen Demands. The council then dissolved itself initiating the first elections in the Venetian Second Republic.