WIP map questions:
I have some questions about a map that I'm working on. The POD is simply the French winning the 7 years war (wow shocker, how original, though to be fair, the only finished TL I know of with this premise is Disaster at Leuthen), to be specific, there are 3: British loss at the planes of Abraham and in the Carnatic wars as well as a longer lived empress Elizabeth of Russia (pretty standard stuff, I just want to make a few maps). This map is more or less North America in the modern day, though since I'm far from fully figuring out the earlier parts of the TL, if it can be called that, if I continue to add to it, the map might change. As for info pertinent to my questions, the Spanish empire survives longer, I was thinking up to the Carlist wars, though those may or may not happen so maybe some other major war in Spain or another big European war. The Russians, while during the war allied with the French grow increasingly dissatisfied with their ability to expand in Europe and drift towards the British over time, which is why they are allowed to go so deep into North America (though I intend to add some former British colony somewhere in there).
I have 2 major questions (finally, I get to the point):
- Should the British colonize roughly what was the OTL Oregon Country and how would it make the most sense for that to go?:
- They colonize it but only up to about the 53rd parallel, that is to say they do not connect it to Rupert's Land
- They colonize it and connect it to Rupert's Land (then I think they would end up being one country, centered in Oregon/BC
- They don't colonize it at all and the west coast stays as it is currently on the map (in my opinion the most unlikely)
- How does New Spain break up? Particularly, I'm concerned about the north of what is currently labelled as Mexico. It's important to note that the north of Mexico (what the US ended up getting along with areas along the current OTL border was generally more opposed to centralization. This may still happen ITTL simply due to the area's harshness and lack of government investment creating an independent, free, and self-sustaining spirit among the local population, though it may be easier to maintain control due to decreased Anglophone settlement (While I don't doubt some Anglo farmers would settle northern Mexico, getting there through largely hostile land is very hard. I would imagine more settlement just east of the Appalachians in Louisiana resulting in Anglophone rebellions and British attempts to seize these areas in some wars) resulting in an overall more cohesive mexico.
- Northern Mexico is divided between a number of smaller states. I'd imagine there would be a Texas (much smaller and more Hispanic than OTL Texas) and a state around the Rio Grande. Possibly also an independent California and/or an independent Sonora. Maybe Yucatan would take this opportunity to split off.
- A sort of "Antifederal League" that eventually develops into a "Confederation of Colorado" or Aztlan or whatever. Basically all of the same Northern Mexican breakaway states coalesce into a less centralized *Mexican country. Something like what southern apologists like to frame the confederacy as, just Hispanophone.
- Big Mex Big Mex.
- Should there be that many *American countries? I was thinking that when unrest begins, the British, not wanting to lose their land, grant the colonies limited local parliaments and allow each to send a representative to the parliament in Britain. The desire to split off would generally be weaker anyway ITTL, because the French remain a threat, so the majority of Americans continue to see British protection as necessary. Within this framework, I see the British coalescing the colonies into "Commonwealths" (collections of many colonies, more federal) and "Free states" (more unitary, typically smaller states). What do you think?
- Is what I have ok?
- Should there be more big states with a North-South-Middle divide? IE. New Wales and New York unite. (I'm afraid that this is visually too similar to "Another America")
- Should there just be a North-South divide? (I worry that this would be too much like "Disaster at Leuthen")
- Should they all just be one country?
The map's visual style borrows heavily from "
Another America", which was an important inspiration for this, though I'm not going for a similar TL. I want to be at least a bit more realistic rather than focusing on the rule of cool and obviously have only 1 (or I guess 3) PODs as opposed to throwing in as many as are needed to make a super diverse America (not that I have anything against that style, I love Another America, I just don't want to copy it, that would be dumb).
Congratulations, you made it to the end! Thanks in advance to anyone who answers these questions.
[edit: not all of the flags are OC. IIRC, NY and Alyeska are someone else's, and New England is an edit of someone else's flag. The others are either mine or based off OTL flags]
