AHC: Plymouth, the fourteenth colony

Ah, very true! I will admit to it being a personal quibble then - English and American Plymouth shall never be much a factor in each other's existence, but my own mapmaking and Civilization playing suffers from repeating so many exact-same names. :D;)

And that's including the fact that there were many towns in the Colony by the time it was merged with Massachusetts Bay - the state would likely be called Plymouth, but the capital would likely not be Plymouth. With the exception of Massachusetts (which has its capital in Boston), every capital of the 13 colonies was located in the interior of the colony or on a sheltered bay (and technically, Boston is shielded in that way). Plymouth could be the largest city, or it could not be, but Plymouth as a town would not be the capital.
 
How about Wareham it's in alittle bay just off fo the inland end of Buzzards bay just about where the Cape starts. How far north and west will the state extend?
 
How far north and west will the state extend?

A map of the Plymouth Colony prior to the merge (I assume it will keep these borders if not merged):
Plymouth_Colony_map.svg
 
In order to balance out free and slave states, couldn't they just keep Maine as part of Massachusetts?
Or Vermont divided between New Hampshire and New York.

Of the original colonies with Plymouth as a state, the slave-free line-up would go like this:

Free (total 8):
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Plymouth
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania

Slave (total 6)
Virginia
Maryland
Delaware
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia

With the slave states outnumbered 16 - 12 in the Senate from the start, and the free states also holding the House, I don't think it will matter that Vermont and Maine don't become states - and it might happen anyway. Remember that Maine only become a state because Missouri wanted to be a state - but ITTL Northerners will have an easier time passing pro-Northern legislation.
 
However, with Plymouth giving the Free states and advantage from the start, I see a possibly subdued South and a lesser ACW, and most likely less balance conflicts in Congress. The House will be messed up as normal, but the Senate (unless some wayward Northern senators screw it up) will be (by a small margin) anti-slavery, and I don't see the Northerners giving up that advantage anytime soon.
Except there almost always were some Northern senators voting with the South, on just about every important motion. Yes, the Senate will be more Northern - but you can't say they'll have a practical majority; I think it'd be more like the South losing their OTL practical majority.

In order to balance out free and slave states, couldn't they just keep Maine as part of Massachusetts?
If the Senate wants to initiate a balance...
 
I think Maine wanted to be its own state anyway.

While there were some secessionist movements to separate Maine from Massachsuetts, they were mostly provoked by the War of 1812 in which Massachusetts refused to protect Maine. You'd have to get as similar war into the timeline to get Maine enough support, if Congress'll let it through anyway.
 
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