Some background stuff for the Unfiltered setting, Part 3.

Part 4 and the whole thing will be on Patreon later. Gotta give the paying customers a taste, too…

Article V, Constitution of the United States
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress…

In 2083, Lewis’s Dynamicists controlled two hundred and sixty-two seats in the House of Representatives, sixty-one seats in the Senate, and full control of twenty-seven state governments: easily enough of a majority for legislation, but not enough to pass new Amendments. The annexation of Central America added forty-eight states (while being promised statehood, Canada’s status had still not been resolved, due to the excuse of the ongoing civil war/rebellion). The annexation law of 2084 would thus add ninety-six Senators and forty-eight Representatives to Congress, to be elected in the 2084 elections; a full slate of new Representatives would take place in 2092, after the 2090 Census established the new population. That same legislation also doubled the size of the House of Representatives to an even thousand, starting in 2093. It was assumed that this would give the new states plenty of time to integrate themselves into the existing system.

Instead, the new state legislatures – as well as the Dynamist-controlled states – promptly called for a new Article V Constitutional Convention.

Political scientists from Jefferson Colony would later not so much allege the process had been corrupted as they simply assumed it, but it was all legal enough to allow Lewis to thoroughly ‘reform’ the Constitution. The resulting document created a government run by an imperial Presidency with a thoroughly weakened legislature, and a judiciary dependent on the executive. The District of Columbia was made a state and drastically reduced in size, effectively giving the President immense power over who would be its Senators and Representative. The amendments were particularly hard-hit, with the 9th, 10th, 17th, and 22nd being repealed entirely, most of the others being revised at least slightly, and the Twenty-Fifth revised into something entirely different (although it at least was conceded to be an improvement on the original).

But everything in the revised Constitution was overshadowed by its two most controversial provisions. First there was the capping of so-called ‘Original’ State populations for the purposes of determining representation at ten million citizens. Then there was the admission of additional states at a lower representational level. Under the new system, the so-called ‘Extended’ States would have only one Senator, and two-thirds the Members of Congress of an Original State of the same population. Any state that voluntarily split off from an Original State prior to 2085 would be able to claim Original State status; any made afterward would be deemed an Extended State.

It seemed inconceivable that the new state legislatures would sign off on this plan. But they did, joining the Dynamicist-controlled states to effectively ratify a new Constitution. With it came a new name: in 2085 Trevor Castaigne Lewis was the last President of the United States of America – and the first President of the United States of North America. It was a position that he would hold until his death of old age in 2102.