What would life be like if there were a twenty-first-century style revolution and civil war in the United States? Titus Coppard and the revolutionists are fed up with government over regulation and encroachment into their private lives. An exodus to eighteen Western states by these like-minded people ensues, and these states secede from the Union in one block to form the new "Free States of America." A civil war develops when the old United States declares war on the new Free States. But, the US has a vulnerable spot. The Free States unleash their secret weapon, taking the old United States by surprise, putting them instantly into a pre-1900 lifestyle.