I'll just get straight to the point; in the alternate history of For Want of a Nail, Mexico becomes a safe haven for Patriots, republicans and other anti-Monarchists after the American Revolution fails, essentially co-opting the place of OTL's USA. The thing is, a Mexico like that of OTL wouldn't really be anything like the USA in terms of culture or language. For that to happen, there needs to be a POD well before the Revolutionary period.
With that in mind, how would one go about creating a more "Americanise-able" Mexico? That is, widespread use of the English language, an interest in Enlightenment-era republican philosophy by the 18th. Century and demographics more closely resembling that of the USA? The following stipulations are in effect;
1) The POD can be any point before the Seven Year's War. I know it'll probably be difficult to make this happen, since going too far back makes a recognizable AH tougher and tougher to make work, but not going back far enough results in an insufficiently changed Mexico.
2) While immigration from the 13 Colonies and Europe should probably still happen to the same extent & for the same reasons as OTL, there's no denying that Mexico was far more populated than the area the 13 Colonies sprung up around. Therefore, a large percentage of natives, mestizos and other mixed-ethnicities can still happen (although a "Eduardo Rodriguez" in OTL would be "Edward Rogers" here), given the larger Native population.
3) It doesn't have to be called Mexico necessarily, just that the territory it makes up until roughly 1900 has to be part of this alternate-USA.
4) Spanish doesn't have to be done away as a living language, but English must AT LEAST be co-equal with it in the timeframe discussed.
5) The alt-Mexico must break away from Britain, and be a stable republic. The reasons for breaking away don't have to be the same as OTL, however.
So what's the consensus, ASB? Plausible but not likely, or doable?
With that in mind, how would one go about creating a more "Americanise-able" Mexico? That is, widespread use of the English language, an interest in Enlightenment-era republican philosophy by the 18th. Century and demographics more closely resembling that of the USA? The following stipulations are in effect;
1) The POD can be any point before the Seven Year's War. I know it'll probably be difficult to make this happen, since going too far back makes a recognizable AH tougher and tougher to make work, but not going back far enough results in an insufficiently changed Mexico.
2) While immigration from the 13 Colonies and Europe should probably still happen to the same extent & for the same reasons as OTL, there's no denying that Mexico was far more populated than the area the 13 Colonies sprung up around. Therefore, a large percentage of natives, mestizos and other mixed-ethnicities can still happen (although a "Eduardo Rodriguez" in OTL would be "Edward Rogers" here), given the larger Native population.
3) It doesn't have to be called Mexico necessarily, just that the territory it makes up until roughly 1900 has to be part of this alternate-USA.
4) Spanish doesn't have to be done away as a living language, but English must AT LEAST be co-equal with it in the timeframe discussed.
5) The alt-Mexico must break away from Britain, and be a stable republic. The reasons for breaking away don't have to be the same as OTL, however.
So what's the consensus, ASB? Plausible but not likely, or doable?