A civil war broke out not long after the new president was sworn in. State founded militia troops popped up all over th country. Civil and individual rights had been whittled away by frivolous laws for years. The government had it's hand in everyones personal lives. Delegation of morals and ethics it saw fit to rule and reign. The sleeping rebellion was awakened and flared up quickly after long smoldering, in turn it was a long burn.
In this time also, the church arose, retaking it's place in society. It's members took in orphans and widows. They fed the hungry and clothed the naked. The country had divided into various groups took hold, but in the end two factions remained. There were the 'United People' and the 'Governmentals.' All else fled or remained in hiding.
The revolution seemed inevitable to some, after the long war that had been going on for the last decade or so.
The lines between rich and poor were abolished, middle class was now non-existent. Education was also reformed, public school was reserved for the lower tax brackets, yet even so, education was not entirely free to it's attendance. Some rich families, rather than sending their children to the new private schools, chose to hire governesses for their children, others home schooled. Now and then a well established family would undertake to be a benefactor to a lower class child whom showed some potential in a given area. Private school standards were high, rules were more strict, and uniforms required. Some private schools were supported by a given religion, some were not. There were chain schools, like state universities, that were associated with one another, yet were still independent of each other in many ways.
Many previously government run and funded programs were eliminated. Some laws were altered considerably, others rendered extinct. Anything that even seemed like a socialist program was shut down and alternatives were brought back from the past or new ideas were proposed, yet everything was done by the cooperation of the people and voluntarily.
People were expected to think for themselves, and take responsibility for their actions. Frivolous law suites were dismissed out of hand. Only five appeals were allowed by convicted felons who were sentenced for corporal punishment, this now was considered a fair punishment nationally for certain crimes.
Many rich began to sponsor families from foreign country to immigrate to the states. The new residents were given work in lower class positions, usually farmers, servants, and child care providers for the rich.
The government reverted back to it's original state, capitalism reigned over all. Repeat criminals face more server punishments. All peoples still had equal rights, no matter what race, creed, or religion. Taxes were only to support the military, otherwise were funded in other ways or gone. Sales taxes were gone. Roads and construction were paid for by those who chose to use the new toll ways. Public transportation was altered to privately owned companies, fleets of buses and taxi's still made their routes and calls.
Our children attended a private school called the Wesleyan Academy of Classic Education or WACE. It offered everything we could ask. There was a deaf program for Charlotte, this was what brought us to it from the beginning. This school also taught, as it's regular curriculum, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, etiquette and finishing courses for both boys and girls, and a wide array of extra curricular activities. Class sizes were small, parent involvement was high, and every teacher was well qualified and certified for their position. Preschool through grade twelve was offered, and nothing seemed lacking. I chose to home school our biological daughter through the third grade, but Charlotte began preschool as soon as she was old enough and a spot was opened.
The school mascot was a lion, their colors bright green, gray, red, and yellow. The school store provided everything from books and book bags to wardrobe from head to toe for every occasion the school offered. Everything was of the highest quality, nothing was over looked.
WACE was also a boarding school, it rendered it's boarding services to fifty per cent of it's enrolled students. Because there had not been much time since the reform, not enough private schools had been built to accommodate the number of children who had previously been educated in the public forums. As a result many upper class parents were forced to put their children in a boarding school, even if their children could come home for weekends and holidays. There wee also a number of children hosted by other parents of enrollees, kind of like foreign exchange students. The students parents paid for the tuition, clothing, travel, and spending money, but the host parents covered room and board. Will and I took in the twin sons of some friends of ours, after our own daughters were in junior high school.
Boys and girls wore their respective uniforms. Boys could wear pants or shorts, girls could wear a variety of skirts, jumpers, and skorts, but on Fridays they were allowed to wear pants or shorts if they chose. There was a vast array of cuts and styles for both genders to chose from, though the variety lessened for their physical education uniforms, outer and foot wear. The only distinguishing marks for any attendant to this school was the number of combinations they could come up with for their individual daily outfits from week to week. Some alternated between two or three sets of clothes, others seemed like they never wore the same combination twice in a month.
Our girls owned one of everything, in each color that the school store had to offer in their size, this made larger but less frequent loads of laundry, and shopping was a snap. The girls never wore the same sizes, being five years apart in age, there was no issue with knowing what items belonged to whom.
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