How many states could an alternate US have?

Deleted member 100251

With a POD of 1935, how many states could an alternate United States achieve and what would they be? As of then, the 48 contiguous states had all been admitted with the OTL states of Alaska and Hawaii still left to go.

Some ideas:
  • Absaroka goes big? It had a decentish following but it died nearly as quickly as it got started.
  • Puerto Rico - the most obvious one, they've had 4 referendums since 1967. If the 1998 one had gone the otherway (in favor of statehood), could we have seen the US State of Puerto Rico
  • The US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Marianas, and American Samoa - all also long time populated American territories, the only issue would be population, given all have one less than 200k
  • Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau - all former territories of the United States, and now in free association with it. Instead of plebisicites for independence, could we see plebiscites for statehood or a statehood movement?
  • The Phillippines - probably the most absurd one, but it definitely could've made up at least 3 or 4 states. The likelihood of this ever happening was extremely low though
 

DougM

As was discussed in other threads not that long ago. The US is not letting non English speaking states into the Union. Just not happening. Period. No way no how. At least not in 1935-2000.
And it is just about as unlikely that the US is admitting states that have majority populations of non Europeans.
So I doubt you see any additional states. But the Virgin Island, And Puerto Rico are probably the two most likely due to how close they are.
 
Mr_Fanboy

Mr_Fanboy

DougM said:
As was discussed in other threads not that long ago. The US is not letting non English speaking states into the Union. Just not happening. Period. No way no how. At least not in 1935-2000.
And it is just about as unlikely that the US is admitting states that have majority populations of non Europeans.
So I doubt you see any additional states. But the Virgin Island, And Puerto Rico are probably the two most likely due to how close they are.
Click to expand...

I mean, it is not entirely inconceivable for the Philippines to hang on as a United States commonwealth longer. Perhaps an aggressive, racist Empire of Japan sweeps through the European colonies in the area, but an isolationist United States President seeks to avoid war with the Axis at all costs, so there is no direct confrontation between Tokyo and Washington. Filipinos decide that they would rather be safe than sorry and keep putting off formal independence, lest they become Japan’s next target. A few decades down the line, perhaps admitting the islands as a handful of states becomes conceivable, especially if (depending on the political alignment) the Democrats or Republicans decide that doing so will bolster their own position.

I do not think that this scenario is especially plausible, but it is not inconceivable.

Now, admitting states from territory that was not part of the United States is even trickier. Canada seems the likeliest option, but even that is not very likely at all.
 

Deleted member 109224

John Nance Garner was an advocate for chopping up Texas (to paraphrase, he said that if New England can get 12 Senators why shouldn't Texas get as many?). For some reaosn, he decides to really really get into the issue of Texlahoma, because it'd be a roundabout way of achieving a goal that he's had for a while.

Upon the success of Texlahoma, the Absaroka and Jefferson statehood movements prove to be successful. Jefferson was going to get a hearing in Congress OTL on December 8th 1941, but something seemed to have come up the prior day.

In February 1939 the French under Daladier offered to cede all of their Caribbean and Pacific Possessions along with a lump sum payment of 10 million Frances in exchange for the unlimited right to buy American aircraft on credit. Ultimately a different deal was struck. The US could have ended up with Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Barthelemy, Saint Martin, French Polynesia, Clipperton Island, Wallis et Futuna, New Caledonia, and maybe partial ownership of Vanuatu (Vanuatu was a British-French Condominium). If the US were to play hardball, I would think that St Pierre et Miquelon and French Guiana could also end up American. Later on the US cuts a deal to get the Dutch side of Saint Martin.

Newfoundland and Labrador had a pretty mainstream movement for forming some kind of union with the United States following WWII. The Economic Union Party's goal was to reject Confederation so that Newfoundland and Labrador could get responsible government. From there, they'd proceed to push for a union of sorts with the Americans. So, just have that succeed.

The Americans tried to purchase Greenland after WWII, but that was shot down by Denmark. Have the Danes swing the other way or have the US play hardball with Marshall Plan money.

The Trust Territories of the Pacific that the US got from Japan after WWII could feasibly have remained Americans. As things stand today, there's already something of a desire to become Americans due to greater economic opportunity and the US pretty much running their foreign policy anyway.

There are fairly frequent rumblings that Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho come together to form a State of Lincoln.

Puerto Rico ought to be a state.

The Slattery Plan results in the establishment of a separate Commonwealth of Baranof and eventually the State of Baranof. Though it starts out as primarily a Jewish settlement, it gradually diversifies and becomes a haven for companies to incorporate similar to Delaware. Furthermore, it keeps low personal taxes which results in many wealthy folks in the pacific northwest establishing residence in the commonwealth. They also put money into developing their airports, turning the commonwealth into a big center for layovers on flights from asia to the east coast.

Washington DC somehow gets Statehood.



---------------------

  1. Texalohoma
  2. Absaroka
  3. Jefferson
  4. Guadeloupe and Martinique
  5. Leeward Islands (US Virgin Islands, St Barthelemy, and St Martin)
  6. Cayenne
  7. Newfoundland (including Labrador, St Pierre et Miquelon, and Greenland)
  8. Puerto Rico
  9. New Caledonia (including Vanuatu)
  10. Micronesia (Guam, Northern Marianas, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Phoenix Islands, Line Islands)
  11. South Polynesia (American Samoa, Wallis et Futuna, French Polynesia)
  12. Lincoln
  13. Columbia (Washington DC minus the Federal Triangle)
  14. Baranof
 

Deleted member 109224

  • 15. Panama Canal Zone (State of Roosevelt? State of Theodore?)

Jackson Lennock said:
John Nance Garner was an advocate for chopping up Texas (to paraphrase, he said that if New England can get 12 Senators why shouldn't Texas get as many?). For some reaosn, he decides to really really get into the issue of Texlahoma, because it'd be a roundabout way of achieving a goal that he's had for a while.

Upon the success of Texlahoma, the Absaroka and Jefferson statehood movements prove to be successful. Jefferson was going to get a hearing in Congress OTL on December 8th 1941, but something seemed to have come up the prior day.

In February 1939 the French under Daladier offered to cede all of their Caribbean and Pacific Possessions along with a lump sum payment of 10 million Frances in exchange for the unlimited right to buy American aircraft on credit. Ultimately a different deal was struck. The US could have ended up with Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Barthelemy, Saint Martin, French Polynesia, Clipperton Island, Wallis et Futuna, New Caledonia, and maybe partial ownership of Vanuatu (Vanuatu was a British-French Condominium). If the US were to play hardball, I would think that St Pierre et Miquelon and French Guiana could also end up American. Later on the US cuts a deal to get the Dutch side of Saint Martin.

Newfoundland and Labrador had a pretty mainstream movement for forming some kind of union with the United States following WWII. The Economic Union Party's goal was to reject Confederation so that Newfoundland and Labrador could get responsible government. From there, they'd proceed to push for a union of sorts with the Americans. So, just have that succeed.

The Americans tried to purchase Greenland after WWII, but that was shot down by Denmark. Have the Danes swing the other way or have the US play hardball with Marshall Plan money.

The Trust Territories of the Pacific that the US got from Japan after WWII could feasibly have remained Americans. As things stand today, there's already something of a desire to become Americans due to greater economic opportunity and the US pretty much running their foreign policy anyway.

There are fairly frequent rumblings that Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho come together to form a State of Lincoln.

Puerto Rico ought to be a state.

The Slattery Plan results in the establishment of a separate Commonwealth of Baranof and eventually the State of Baranof. Though it starts out as primarily a Jewish settlement, it gradually diversifies and becomes a haven for companies to incorporate similar to Delaware. Furthermore, it keeps low personal taxes which results in many wealthy folks in the pacific northwest establishing residence in the commonwealth. They also put money into developing their airports, turning the commonwealth into a big center for layovers on flights from asia to the east coast.

Washington DC somehow gets Statehood.



---------------------

  1. Texalohoma
  2. Absaroka
  3. Jefferson
  4. Guadeloupe and Martinique
  5. Leeward Islands (US Virgin Islands, St Barthelemy, and St Martin)
  6. Cayenne
  7. Newfoundland (including Labrador, St Pierre et Miquelon, and Greenland)
  8. Puerto Rico
  9. New Caledonia (including Vanuatu)
  10. Micronesia (Guam, Northern Marianas, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Phoenix Islands, Line Islands)
  11. South Polynesia (American Samoa, Wallis et Futuna, French Polynesia)
  12. Lincoln
  13. Columbia (Washington DC minus the Federal Triangle)
  14. Baranof
Click to expand...
 

Colonel Zoidberg

DougM said:
As was discussed in other threads not that long ago. The US is not letting non English speaking states into the Union. Just not happening. Period. No way no how. At least not in 1935-2000.
And it is just about as unlikely that the US is admitting states that have majority populations of non Europeans.
So I doubt you see any additional states. But the Virgin Island, And Puerto Rico are probably the two most likely due to how close they are.
Click to expand...

Also any potential territory that would cause big problems with existing representation. The Philippines would have been the largest state in America.

A rump State in the Philippines is theoretically possible, like a Northern Ireland or an American Samoa.
 
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