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C HAPTER 37: REPUBLIC OF GILEAD

This chapter will be addressing the

cause and rise of the Republic of Gilead,
and what led to the enslavement of women
as Handmaids and Marthas under the
Eyes of the fascist theocracy.

STIRRINGS OF CONFLICT
The 1970’s had begun with a bang, in
terms of women’s rights advancements. In
view of the rise of female workers after the
Second World War and growing
discontentment with being a humble
housewife, women began to protest for
their rights more and more. This was
referred to as the Feminist movement, and
it was met by disgruntlement from the war-
focused veteran men that believed a
woman’s place was in the home.
The protests began to spark
controversial ways of promoting
“nationalism” by not raising a fuss about
human rights. On one particular protest in
New York City, on August 26, 1970, women
protesting for equality in the workplace
were met by the National Guard and
brutally disbanded. This action polarized
the country even more on the issue of
women’s rights, despite being met by the
defense of the President that it was to
“sustain peace in a time of great di culty”
(I.e. the Cold War).
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Artistic rendering of a Commander’s uniform
discovered in what was Knoxville, Tennessee.
Origin Unknown.
FEMINIST EXPLOSION
After the rst show of violence
towards the Feminists, con ict began to
break out across the more liberal areas of
America. The San Francisco Massacre
took place after 17 years of increasing
tensions between the two sides, when a
protest against domestic violence took a
bloody turn. The National Guard was
instructed to open re, resulting in 325
deaths and an estimated 1200 injuries.
The Massacre marked a shift where
the act of protest became punishable.
President Ronald Reagan put a “domestic
wartime” act in place that allowed
protesters of any social movements to be
jailed and tried for third degree treasonous
activities. However, this did not deter many
of the women. It became a very common

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practice to have mass Feminist
communities jailed for their actions,
growing paranoia alongside the Cold War
fears of communist spies. This act of mass
incarceration served to silence the women
and stripped them of their rights as
prisoners, giving them the upper hand
against the movement.
Alongside the tensions, due to the
revolutionary science of birth control and
women choosing not to have children, birth
rates became to decline at a terrifying pace.
It became a public health concern quickly
as population estimates became bleak,
raising the discontentment the public faced
with the Feminists.
REGIME INSTALLED
This inward war came to a head on
February 17, 1992: the President’s Day
Massacre. Right wing extremists that
believed the American government had not
done enough to quell the Feminist query
stormed the Capitol building and the White
House in a planned terrorist attack. They
overtook the government o cials and killed
most of them. Including the US President.
Quickly after, they organized an
entirely new government and declared the
Republic of Gilead sovereignty in a coup de
tat on the following February 19. The
process of taking and declaring land for the
Republic came soon after it’s
announcement as a theocracy bent on
“uniting the One True Religion”.
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After consuming about two thirds of
the former United States, the surrounding
land areas coalesced into a loose group of
allied denominations of many di erent
religions (mainly Christian and secular)
and declared war. On March 12 of 1992, the
war between the Republic of Gilead and the
Federation of God began to wage.
Graphic showing the social hierarchy of the Gilead
Republic
R E G I M E D I S S O LV E D
As the war raged on, the Federation
began the “Mayday” team: a group of spies
set in to dismantle the republic from the
inside. After the initial rise of the Republic,
in the early 2000’s it became clear that the
Mayday operation had spread throughout.
In the waning months of 2005, the “Boston
Incident” became a series of revealed spy
networks creating an escape plan for the
enslaved Handmaids code named “the
Underground Femaleroad”, named after
the most notable incident taking place in
what was formerly Boston, Massachusetts.
A total of 43 spies had been revealed and
extracted from the Harvard Precinct, most
famously the “Ofglen” Handmaid and the
“Nicholas” Eye. These two spies became

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gureheads for Mayday and symbols of

hope for the sex slaves of Gilead, inspiring
many of them to rise up against their
homes and take arms against their
Commanders.

Riots became increasing throughout

Gilead, giving the Federation the instability
needed to launch an invasion. Battles on
the front lines that had stood still for
decades began to move against Gilead, and
slowly, precincts began to be liberated and
freed.

After the surrender of the UTC

Precinct, Gilead Head Commander Joshua
Robertson committed suicide in his o ce.
The Fedartion ghters took this as a sign of
unconditional surrender from Gilead, and
thus, the Republic was formally dissolved
by the Federation of God on April 17, 2011.

The recorded history of these

precincts are far and few between because
of the vile grip Gilead had on it’s citizens,
but still, a few historical documents have
survived and helped tell the inward story of
what happened in Gilead.
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Makeshift map of the Harvard Precinct, Origin Unknown

“...[I was] sent back to [my room]- I don’t think of it as my room, though; I think I would lose the last of
my...hope if I did that. The [indiscernible audio] night, I...can’t describe how much I hate it. I hate him. I
[expletive] hate every inch of this [expletive] room.”
Excerpt from tapes recovered in Bangor, Massachusetts. These later inspired the historical
retelling novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

“...I hope to hear good news of the front lines, sir. The wife and the Handmaids have been restless for it. I think
it has affected their performances to me. If we get those pretty little heads up, I think they’ll start doing just ne
for me again...”
Excerpt from letters written by Commander John Friegemann, of the Atlanta Precinct.

“[Commander Alfred Jonson] was a good man at heart, and a good father...He was kind to his women, simply
a product of his time. He was an outlier among his Commander peers that he did not verbally abuse his Wife,
or even beat the Marthas... Nobody would ever lay a hand of a Handmaid, however, They were sacred.”
Excerpt from biography of Alfred Jonson, Commander’s Daughter by Alissa Jonson.

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Key Terms:

Handmaiden- a servant to the Commander whose job is to bear his children

Martha- rank higher than a handmaiden, servant/maid rather than a sex slave

Commander- head of a household

Eyes- the secret police of the Republic

Gilead- the totalitarian and theocratic regime/republic in which the Gilead Hierarchy
originates

Aunts- ran the Red Centers, teach potential Handmaidens and work as a sort of prison guards

Angels- guards or soldiers

Boston incident- November-December, rise of Ofglen revolution regurehead

San Francisco Massacre- women’s protest met with 325 casuallties and ~1200 injuries by the
National Guard

President’s Day Massacre- domestic terrorist attack by extremists in which they killed the
President, beginning the Republic of Gilead

Denomination war- war around the world between differing religions

Underground Femaleroad- abolitionists of the Republic who worked to free people from
Gilead

Mayday- underground revolution force of the Federation who wanted to bring an end to the
republic

Red Center- the indoctrination center for potential handmaidens

Sumptuary laws- regulations of everything in the republic, clothes, clothing style, food, drink

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