I've been doing some reading about the history of slavery in the United States and the debate that it generated, and one thing that gets mentioned a lot but is never gone into in depth is the desire of many white Americans from the slave states, and some from the free states as well, to acquire...
This is a very broad question - apologies if it's too broad - but do people here think that it's plausible, or even at all possible, for societies to go through an industrial revolution without experiencing radical changes in politics, social structure, and intellectual outlook? For example...
How plausible would it be to have an alternate World War II with Germany, the Soviet Union, and Japan united against the western powers? Suppose that instead of Hitler, an ultranationalist gains power in Germany whose main concern is revenge against Britain and France, rather than expanding...
In the War of the Spanish Succession, the Bourbons of France and the Habsburgs of Austria vied to put their candidates on the Spanish throne. Ultimately, it was the Bourbons who succeeded, but the Spanish Bourbon line became separate from the French one.
Is there any possibility that both...
Suppose that the USA broke apart sometime in the 10 or 20 years after winning independence, and one of the independent nations that emerged was an independent New England. I mean only the territory that was or later became the 6 New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island...
What would human activity in space have been like if there had been no Cold War? Supposing that history is the same until the end of WWII, but that no Cold War tensions develop between the USA and the Soviet Union, when would the first satellites have been launched? When would the first humans...
One of the first books on the subject of AH that I ever read was Invasion, by Kenneth Macksey. The book basically describes that most reviled of all AH scenarios - a successful Operation Sealion. The basic idea was that the invasion was actually launched early - in late July, right after the...
In OTL, there was never a significant chance of the German-Soviet friendly neutrality of 1939-41 turning into an outright alliance, because Hitler's #1 goal was ultimately the invasion and conquest of at least the European part of the Soviet Union.
However, what if Germany had been controlled...
How could you get a USA that is larger but less centralized and less aggressive than in OTL? Here is the start of one possible timeline -
1775 - Beginning of the American Revolution. British forces bottled up in Boston, colonial forces invade Canada and succeed in capturing both Montreal...
In 1790, Thomas Jefferson proposed a new decimal-based system of measurements of his own design to become the official system of measurements of the United States. This system used traditional English names for units of measurement, but made the basic units multiples of 10 instead of the wide...
There were many compromises and proposals in the making of the United States Constitution. What if certain key features had been different? Here's some possibilities that I don't think receive much attention -
- What if the Constitutional Convention stuck to their original role of trying...
This is an old timeline I dredged up and modified a little bit. Any comments, criticisms, etc, would be much appreciated. :)
1775 - Beginning of American War of Independence
1776 - Continental Congress issues Declaration of Independence
1781 - Decisive victory of Americans and French...
What if Eisenhower decided to support the UK, France, and Israel during the Suez crisis in 1956? How might this affect the Middle East, the Cold War, and the politics of Britain, France, Egypt, the US, Israel, etc.?
Every few months I seem to pull out this timeline and revise it. This is my latest version, the first 110 years or so:
1775 Beginning of American War of Independence
1776 Continental Congress issues Declaration of Independence
1781 Decisive victory of Americans and French Allies over...
Suppose there is no American Revolution, or the American Revolution fails. Lots of people have suggested this, but I'm curious about the long-term implications.
Well, chances are that most or all of what is now the United States and Canada will be British territory. Unless the British...
What if China had been ruled by a dynasty of native origin in the 19th century when it started to face major European encroachment? Would a native dynasty have been more effective in rallying resistance to European encroachments or in enacting reforms? In OTL, the Qing dynasty that ruled China...
This may not be very likely, but what if the US adopted a different approach in its relation to so-called "third world" countries during the Cold War? Suppose that as the Cold War begins, US strategists believe that American intervention against communist or other left-leaning regimes will only...
I'm back after a long period away from the board, so I offer the beginning of a basic timeline based on a theme I've explored before - the fragmentation of the United States after the American Revolution. I'll admit I have a slight obsession with this theme for timelines.
1783 – Treaty of...
This is roughly the first 60% of a timeline that I'm putting together as background to my story "Dark times for New England" (which I will get back to writing one of these days ... :o )
1775-83 – American Revolution as in OTL
1781 – Articles of Confederation giving the US a loose central...
(This is a modified version of a timeline I posted ages ago - well over a year. I've changed some things and this time I might even finish it)
Part I - E Unus Pluribum
1775 – 1783 – American Revolution goes as in OTL.
1781 – Articles of Confederation forming a loose national...