Usual suspects, mainly Britain. The US may be mad, but cotton is her main source for hard currency.dathi
Interesting developments in the US and sound pretty likely. A few questions.
a) Who's buying all this cotton the south is producting? Historically I think Britain was the overwhelming market but the US might be less willing to trade so freely with their greatest rival, although they don't really have much choice.
Oh yes. The US starts the i/n/t/e/r/ post-war period with high tariffs for revenue, which she needs desperately to pay off debt and build infrastructure, and that helps build northern (NY and PA mostly, now) industries. However, as you say, the southern planters aren't going to be happy once its purpose is to protect those industries instead of generate income.Latter on when the US started building their own textile industry behind tariff walls this was mainly in New England. [Which had the technical base and finances, plus a suitable climate with some water power]. Could be a source of future conflict that will be more significant this time around when the northern industrialists want tariffs to protect their infant industries as the south will have more influence this time around.
Comfortable? no! but they don't have that many nations in the area that want to be friends. They have friendly relations with Argentina, say, and a few other Latin American nations, but most of them don't want to annoy Britain or New England, both of whom are more USEFUL to them than the US is. At the moment.b) Is Haiti, a black republic/dictatorship [depending on how things are going], based around a successful slave rebellion that comfortable an ally to the US?
I don't have dates on the railway stuff! Experiments are run all over the place in the late 20s, early 30s. Pace in England, most of Europe, is just like OTL. The US is a bit slower, due to financial problems (restricted British credit, higher costs, etc, competition for funding with canals). The pace in Canada is MUCH faster. And in strange places. The earliest line is built around Montreal (of course). But connecting the headwaters of the Thames with the Grand River with Lake Ontario is probably next. Looking at a map of Ontario, think Woodstock-Paris-Hamilton.c) What sort of time period is the summary going up to? I was a bit surprised to see railways start to appear as that sounds like the mid-late 30's at least I would have thought? Also, presuming that the relations with Britain aren't too icy I would have thought that Britain is still willing to invest in US railways. Although probably at an higher interest rate and also it might be that the US is unwilling to allow too much British economic influence.
Then the next rail might be portages between say the Maumee and the Wabash and then rail inland from FtLiverpool (northern suburbs of Terre Haute IN) east to the forts along that border, and then south and west from there to those forts. Also a line running east from St. Louis to contact the line from Liverpool.
Then minor lines around York/Toronto. Then minor lines around Detroit. Then Chicago-Detroit (to cut the LONG trip around Michigan) and a line from Montreal to Halifax.
I still have some working out of things to do here. When I initially wrote the post with all those lines, I'd forgotten how, relatively, late even the Manchester Liverpool line was in England.
But stuff that can't be supplied by river and is near the border... Really wants rail.
Good point. Latin America sounds good. India seems at the time to be a SOURCE of money, not a sink. But, you know, a few rail lines there wouldn't be amiss either...If Britain has a lesser role in the development of the US economy this don't just mean that is smaller. It presumably also means that the funds are going elsewhere. Some at least will go into a larger Canada but might be greater investment in other areas. Probably mostly Latin America and India perhaps?
I think you will need to consider the butterflies in Europe as they will be fairly substantial. It's still overwhelmingly the most important centre of power, finance and knowledge in the world so events there will affect everywhere, including N America. If by no other way than the effects on Britain as, barring a full scale US attack on Canada/Louisiana, events in Europe will take up much more attention in London than those in N America.
Thanks again for the update.
Steve