OTL, the American revolution was the first time Britain lost a major colony, and it created a nation that went on to dominate the world after getting its regional matters sorted out. But before that, the American colonies were rather disparate, with economic interests but no major common identity. Canada, similarly, wasn't united until after the American rebellion- before that, it was multiple smaller colonies, from upper and lower Canada to Quebec to Newfoundland. So, what I want to know is, if we assume the Americans don't revolt (perhaps Britain doesn't issue the proclamation line or creates devolved parliaments for the tax matter) how would the decolonization wind up looking? we'll take the liberty that the south doesn't get funny ideas after around the 1830s.
some thoughts:
hell, does Mexico become the first independent country in the Americas ttl? or is spain able to salvage things?
some thoughts:
- we'd almost certainly see a country in otl's south, likely going from OTL's Virginia to Mississippi. weather the actual missisippi basin was acquired ttl obviously matters but I'm not sure any of it would wind up here.
- perhaps the British Caribbean winds up lumped with this colony? OTL, the brits had a bit of a habit of similar things, no?
- New England and Nova Scotia would likely be another such union since otl the latter was closely tied to the rebellious ones before the war-damaged relations
- I'm not sure about the middle colonies or the great lakes region. Perhaps the former wind up effectively unified with their border regions, and the latter its own thing (were the french colonists particularly expansionist? OTL London gave the region to Quebec, and the Quebec Act was a bit of a contention point)
- I could see the Mississippi basin as either split between the countries like otl with states or its own thing
this is part of his larger point that manifest desitny is not inevitable, and in TTL, i would argue its extremely unlikely, as the colonists are beholden to britsh foreign policy.Spain was actually administering the territory quite nicely, and actively looking to populate it with anglos (Daniel Boone was a land agent for Spain in Missouri). Development of the territory was slow, but picking up steam. Even at the late date of 1800, Spain could have held the region, and with just a little more oomph, made a real colony of it. But the whole Napoleon thing and the tearing apart of Spain kinda put a damper on things.
hell, does Mexico become the first independent country in the Americas ttl? or is spain able to salvage things?