Recent content by Nicomacheus

For the most part yes. Some exceptions, none of which are major: Why all the panhandles in the Great Plains? I'm mostly thinking about the states in OTL Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Iowa. Extending Arkansas west makes some sense. I can't think of any reason why ATL Iowa gets...

This is just awesome. Let me count the ways: 1) I have a much stronger feel for how having 5 confederations (as opposed to 13 - 50 states) is affecting *American attitudes about government. 1 Confederation is much more powerful than 1 state. Very cool. 2) Virginia manumits -- very...

So there will be an Ensemencement in New Frace? I would guess that the "seeding" might have an impact on the French population in the new world. Also, it's great to see the United Colonies of New England make an appearance. Such an underused curiosity of OTL.

On Clinton: on one hand, he hasn't had the worst of the Lewinsky debacle -- no Ken Starr, no "I did not have sex with that woman," no impeachment. However, despite avoiding the rancor, he also avoids being associated with the positive economic trends of the late 90s. The 2nd term followed up on...

1) GDP is a very interesting and compelling way to apportion seats. 2) So we have Liberals in charge of the UK parliament, but they support imperial preference and reform. And we have Liberals and Conservatives forming a unity government for the war, but without the Radicals and Labor. I...

Oh, now this is VERY interesting...the British are essentially declaring themselves against the aggressors, but only in terms of a naval blockade. That can't last long, if they actually plan to land the IEF in Belgium. If British Imperial troops end up being shot at by both the French and the...

A new EM timeline! With a Federal British Empire! Huzzah! Thoughts: 1) I'm a little hesitant about the speed with which Imperial Preference becomes full-on Imperial Reform - reorganizing the United Kingdom itself, thwarting the power of the House of Lords, etc. However, OTL had a lot of...

Well, there's a limit to the benefits of top-down leadership on efforts to consolidate the New Englanders: for example, Edmund Andros' ill-fated attempts to curbstomp the Dominion of New England into existance during the Restoration. After which the confederation lapsed into distant memory...

Great stuff. I notice that you're using "Saybrook" as both noun and adjective. One of the 12 residential colleges at modern Yale is called Saybrook; denizens of the college are typically referred to as "Saybrugians". That said, it's such a Latinate phrase, that it's hard to see TTL's...

I agree in principle. However, there are a lot of examples in colonial history of strong anti-catholic tendencies. For example, see New England captivity stories which chronicle colonists kidnapped in mourning wars by various native tribes. The colonists then tended to conflate these tribes...

They indicate which class the Senators belong to. This class determines when they are up for election: 1/3 of the Senate is elected to 6 year terms every two years. Hence, the composition of the body only changes slowly since the whole group is never up for election at once (unlike the House...

Canada's original flag wasn't the maple leaf; it was a red ensign with a coat of arms. See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Canada-1868-Red.svg. They changed the arms in 1921. And this flag wasn't a de jure national flag. The maple leaf was adopted in 1964, as the de jure...

If you're looking for a natural boundary line, I'd go with rivers: the Potomac to the Ohio to the Mississippi and then maybe to the Missouri/Osage. If you're interested in the historical, demographic, agricultural reasons, that these rivers make sense, then I think you've got that info in the...

Leibowitz does spring to mind, though it seems to a reference to the new Battlestar Galactica series. And very amusing at that.

This...is...hilarious [gasping for breath]. Write more, quickly, please! From a relative power projection standpoint, I understand why the US gets as much of the SW as they did. However, do they have real access to the territory? With Texas's greater NW holdings, the main passes over the...