04-14-2021, 11:59 AM
There have been plenty people posting internet forum threads over the years, along the lines of "What if the USA never existed?". This one is a bit different - in that the USA does still exist, but it's quite a lot smaller, at least in terms of its territory .
In this scenario, the Appalachians are much taller and much harder to break through - so, US territorial expansion is effectively stopped at the East Coast. There's also a similarly-impenetrable mountain range running north-west of that - so, there's effectively a massive Y-shaped mountain range to the east of the Mississippi:
In this scenario, the Thirteen Colonies still exist, and the number of states will probably increase to 15 when Vermont joins the Union, and Maine splits off from Massachusetts. It's also feasible that the USA could acquire Florida from Spain at some point, and perhaps Virginia still splits into two (although it's questionable whether West Virginia would even exist in this timeline ). However, that's about it for 'easy' expansion opportunities for the USA.
So, a few things to consider, on what might happen next:
What are your thoughts?
In this scenario, the Appalachians are much taller and much harder to break through - so, US territorial expansion is effectively stopped at the East Coast. There's also a similarly-impenetrable mountain range running north-west of that - so, there's effectively a massive Y-shaped mountain range to the east of the Mississippi:
In this scenario, the Thirteen Colonies still exist, and the number of states will probably increase to 15 when Vermont joins the Union, and Maine splits off from Massachusetts. It's also feasible that the USA could acquire Florida from Spain at some point, and perhaps Virginia still splits into two (although it's questionable whether West Virginia would even exist in this timeline ). However, that's about it for 'easy' expansion opportunities for the USA.
So, a few things to consider, on what might happen next:
- What happens with Canada? Regardless of whether they're French- or British-controlled, they can expand into the Great Lakes area; however, they have no access to the Mississippi (which likely has its source somewhere on the western side of my massive mountain range )
- What happens with the Spanish Empire? They're free to continue expanding northwards - but, how far do they get? And what happens to those territories once they become independent from Spain?
- What happens with Alaska? Does it stay Russian, or does somebody buy it off them eventually?
- What happens with the Native Americans? Do they still control any substantial areas of land in this timeline?
- Does the USA expand into any areas that didn't become US territory in OTL? (I'm thinking of the Caribbean here: perhaps the USA conquers Cuba from Spain - and it either becomes a US territory, or outright becomes a US state?)
- Will the USA ever manage to break through the Appalachians? I can see a railroad being built through them eventually (perhaps in the second half of the 19th century, when nitroglycerine becomes available). But, once they do that... what happens next? Do they just trade with their neighbours, or do they acquire land from them (either by purchasing it or by military conquest?)
What are your thoughts?
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