April 1856
The Mormon exodus from the eastern United States led them to one place in particular the territory of Utah. The great Brigham Young had led thousands of his followers west into the territory, and though their numbers were small they formed communities there. The government of the United States was relieved at first since it took away the tension that had existed in Illinois and Missouri and let them shelve the "Mormon Problam". As the Mexican American war broke out the United States made vast territorial acquisitions, leading to the direct governence of the barren but Mormon filled territory of Utah.
The problams broke out immediatly as armed Mormon militias fired upon US calvery detachments and the US 8th infantry set fire to a Mormon settlement. A simmering civil conflict seemed inevitable in the region, indeed street battles broke out inside the tiny Salt Lake City as nearly 100 people were killed.
In Washington as the Pierce administration grappled with the problam an idea was thrown out, why not just let them have their state? Vice President King stated "Afterall there are scant resources in the area and barely 50,000 people with no incentive for settlers, why not just cut this problam off and give them a state?" The issue was debated back and forth, at the end Pierce despite the few dissents decided to allow a popular vote in the territory to allow for soveriegnty. There was considerable backlash in the country but not as much as had been expected, with the vast territorial gains of the west on their minds, who cared about a few thousand Mormons and their country?
The result was expected and on April 1st 1856 the Mormon Republic of Deseret was born. It had less than 50,000 citizens, but the people didnt seem to care as they hastily formed the Mormon Peoples Party and established their ruling government. Not wanting a potentially destitute and destablized nation on it's borders the United States agreed to offer an annuel stipend of $1,000,000 (2,000 in game terms) to the fledgling republic to be reduced to $500,000 (1,000 in game terms) in 5 years and finally to be reduced to $100,000 (500 in game terms) for another 15 years.
The young republic looked towards it's future one of the first acts of the Mormon Peoples Part was to establish free voting rights for all citizens and to look towards expanding their fledgling population. The zealots from the new wing of the Mormons desired the creation of a new Nauvoo Legion disbanded after the exodus from Illinois, but with the tiny population it was impossible even to spare a 1,000 people for the task. But the future lay open to them and who knew what lay down the road, especially as trouble seemed to brewing with their neighbors to the north, south, east, and west... the United States.
So my goal is to create a viable Mormon state of Deseret, my chances for expansion will be tied to my alliance with the United States and the establishment of Mormon colonies in Mexico or Canada (which did happen they just didnt annex the territories for obvious reasons) as well as potentially purchasing some territory or capturing some ex confederate land with the approval of the United States. I'm trying to figure out how to get some more immigrants, I have a super liberal republic, I've begun improving my RGO's, and I've decided to build a factory to see if it attracts workers.
And I'm always open to feedback and advice.