The Founding of New Van Buren

On August 24, 2081 A.D, The Commonwealth of New Van Buren was created, in the remnants of Van Buren, Indiana, in The Midwestern Commonwealth. The Midwestern Commonwealth was in what scientists could gather a joined group of "States" that consisted of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Other states banded together to form 12 other Commonwealths in 1969, at the request of The United States Government to help create legislation broad enough to benefit those states with common regional concerns, but narrow enough that not to affect those states with dissimilar interests or political cultures, which would help the nation better meet the challenges posed by the Communist threat to their U.S democracy. But in reality, it created even more political strife in the U.S Government, as Commonwealths typically did everything they could to promote their own interest at the expense of the other Commonwealths. This along with The Resource Wars, and The Sino-American War, all led up to The Great War in 2077, which only lasted for 2-3 hours, but was completely devastating. All of the countries and oceans were severely destroyed during it, all due to the excessive amount of nuclear arms used. This is where we come into play.

The original founders of N.V.B were originally born before The Great War; they survived by being admitted into Vault 49, near Indianapolis. But most Vaults made in The U.S were only just experiments to help the chances of the remaining U.S government of surviving. The same is said for Vault 49, as the experiment was to test the basic human nature by seeing how they'd change in a world with no recreational activities at all.

Most life inside the Vault was just as expected at first. The people (Us) did their duties and worked with just the spirit of surviving the war stuck in their minds. This lasted a week until it went away and the hopes of a new life. With work came the desires of relaxation and entertainment. But the lack of no recreational equipment brought upon the basic human feeling of boredom. All activities brought in by the dwellers were confiscated and burned. This caused many questions but at the time most of the people were just happy to have survived.

By 2078, unrest began to rise high in the Vault. People were suffering from the ban on recreational activities and it was not long after the suicides began. 4 of the dwellers had already taken their lives from constant stress and depression. Many then started to protest the overseer. The overseer officially announced martial law and militarized the security force. Due to the risks of this sort of situation, the armory was given more weaponry to control the population. rebellion finally began when an angry citizen attacked a security officer, who was threatening to arrest his neighbor for resisting to work. A mob of dwellers followed the man and began to rise against security forces.

The overseer ordered his men to open fire against anyone who resisted them. But as soon as this was said, the security personnel began to question this. Morale was low on both sides of the civil war and for all the same reason: boredom. Finally, in February of 2079, security finally led a mutiny against the overseer along with the rebellion. The overseer, officially mad with power, ordered his remaining 10 guards to gun everyone down. he then locked himself into his office and fled through his personal tunnel. He reached the reactor core and attempted to purge the Vault. Fortunately, he failed. Meanwhile, the last of his security joined the mutiny and overridden the door controls, finding the tunnel and pursuing the overseer. Unfortunately, the overseer was able to escape ahead and opened the Vault door. The Vault had been saved, open, and now finally free.

What was left of us decided to stay within the Vault for only a while longer, until 2081, when most levels of radiation were either gone or very low in the region. Horrified by the events that took place not long ago and the lack of recreation haunting them, they decided to leave. The largest group of us left with large numbers of technology, weapons, and resources to establish a new settlement down south of Indianapolis. Attempts to contact the group in 2096 have been successful. The group created a settlement called New Evansville, in Evansville. The second group to leave left with more resources to find a pre-war monastery and build a religious settlement west of Indianapolis. They were also found during 2096. They adopted the name "Meinrad" and resided near the Crossroads of The Wasteland. A few decades later, the settlement's leader decided to become annexed by us to be more protected by the wave of raiders at the time, but the southern part seceded from the northern to be part of the New Evansville territory. The third group that left (Us) left with resources and many books and holotapes to preserve the past and create a new settlement up north of Indianapolis. We left and traveled north and settled in Van Buren. The travel is known as "The 26 Hour Walk". The last and smallest group traveled west to find the overseer. No contact with the group was later made, as they kept their plans secret. It is theorized that they were either successful with their mission, and traveled South-West to find new settlements, or were killed by the mile-high twisters rampant during the following years after the great war. During this time, New Van Buren has grown and was finally recognized as a nation in 2186. and we will certainly keep on growing.