That Manhattan Commune picture isn't that misleading. I freed Columbia from British Oppression (buggers declared war on me when I was beating the crap out of Mexico), and within twenty years, they had a huge army, well over 150 thousand standing soldiers + 60 possible mobilized. They were a power house, having an industrial complex that went into space, with an industrial score of 1893, and factories within the state that were on their 25th level of expansion (there were over 11,000 unemployed Clerks and 12,000 unemployed Craftsmen), a literary rate of 91.3%, every tech finished by 1924. For a OSM secondary power, they could have easily taken the standing British by themselves.