Jack of Harts

The Republic of California was born in rebellion and anarchy during the Second Great Depression. The big cities were drowning beneath the weight of homelessness, rampant diseases, and drugs wars that shattered the minds and bodies of their residents. City and State budgets alike completely collapsed, and the inland rural sections of the State simply walked away. When city or State forces tried to bring them into line, they got shot. Or they turned. Some of the cities managed to maintain order, but the majority of them fragmented and millions of people were displaced in the economic chaos that followed. A combination of inland counties and major Indian Tribes worked together to promote law and order. They had little coastal presence, as they didn’t consider the Left Coasties to be rational enough to live with by then. Though they were happy to accept the various military bases around San Diego in their little alliance of order that eventually formed the Republic of California that Jack grew up with.