AHC/WI: 13 Colonies decide not to unite after successful ARW

Suppose that, for whatever reason, the Americans win the revolutionary war but decide not to join into a single unified nation.

There would need to be some changes to establish exactly how the union dissolves. In the first place, they probably need British Canada to be less threatening than they were IOTL, and in the second it requires that uniting influences be weakened.


In any case, after winning their independence, how might history proceed? Would we see Connecticut and Massachusetts competing with Virginia in settling their own western claims, or would they just end up boxed in by France, Britain, and Mexico? Would Napoleon still rise in France, or might the whole revolution be butterflied away? Would Mexico finally have its time in the sun?

Please discuss :)
 
Well, Spain still controls their American colonies, and the POD may butterfly Napoleon (or at least his invasion of Spain).
 
The thirteen colonies were already united by the time they won their independance, and almost certainly would not have won if they hadnt been.

So, never uniting is almost impossible.

Splitting up thereafter? Now, thats possible.

The Articles of Confederation were simply unmanageable, requiring unanimous consent for any changes. OTL, the US did an end run around this by creating the Constitution, which essentially set up a new nation with the same name as the old, and eventually had the same members.

If that end run fails, I cant see the US surviving.
 
how does a fragmented US prevent Napoleon's rise?

The revolution gave a face to rights of man. If the states fail to unite afterward, that doesn't change much. I'm assuming we're talking a failed federal union not a failed revolution. France is still going to get fed up with the royals, they're still going to revolt. They're still going to proceed pretty much as OTL, which is what led to the rise of Nappy. at this point, the US is a pimple on a frogs ass in regards to influencing world opinion/direction.

The decline of Spain, while certainly decayed prior, comes about after hitching it's wagon to Napoleonic France. Their hold on possesions in the new world have nothing to do with whatever the US states do, at that time. They lost that hold due from within 20-30 years later. A century later, yeah, the US boots Spain around, but not during the time of Napoleon.

The north american continent is vastly, vastly different, and this influences world affairs a bunch of decades later. Don't think it really affects Europe much unless the Europeans start fighting over new world possesions/desires, for at least a century.
 
Dathi,

the states united for the revolution. it wasn't a sure thing that they were going to stay united. I don't think it was so impossible that they failed to unify. In many, many way, the US formation beat the odds. It took a perfect storm of circumstances for things to go so well.
 
Assuming Napoleon as OTL,then after the Napoleonic wars Britain will just take Louisiana. Texas becomes and stays an independent country. Probably Britain also takes the Oregon Territory. Its Californis thats interesting, without a USA won't it just remain part of Mexico? Or when Gold is discovered break away and become a country in its own right?
 
The States United so they could form military alliances with other countries, so while the war was ongoing they would remain united, which was 7 years after the DoI. This is probably long enough to make unity an accepted norm among Americans, especially considering the multi-colony Congresses that preceded the ARW.
 
The States United so they could form military alliances with other countries, so while the war was ongoing they would remain united, which was 7 years after the DoI. This is probably long enough to make unity an accepted norm among Americans, especially considering the multi-colony Congresses that preceded the ARW.

Might a much shorter ARW do the trick?

Either the Continental Army could perform much better in Fall 1776 (stalemating the British Army on Long Island, preventing the loss of New York and the surrounding area), or the 1774 elections could have returned a much smaller majority for Lord North (making him vulnerable to a No Confidence vote from the Whigs, who generally sympathized with the Americans, much earlier in the war), or a combination of the two. The end result being that Britain would acquiesce to American independence by early 1777.

That way, the ARW would be a short, sharp conflict, ending in a political settlement. The Continental Congress would only have been in operation for little more than two years, and the Continental Army less than one. The Articles of Confederation had yet to be drafted, so . No foreign alliances would have been formed, and trade with Britain would have been disrupted only briefly. War debts would be relatively light. If the peace settlement was seen as reasonable by the Americans and the British were perceived as keeping faith with it, there would probably be little need seen for a central government, and the Continental Congress would probably be seen as either a temporary institution for handling an emergency that had now passed, or as a UN-like forum for diplomacy between sovereign states.
 
The States United so they could form military alliances with other countries, so while the war was ongoing they would remain united, which was 7 years after the DoI. This is probably long enough to make unity an accepted norm among Americans, especially considering the multi-colony Congresses that preceded the ARW.

Gran Colombia fell apart 9 years after founding, in 1830. Central America disintegrated 24 years after founding, in 1845.

So, how could USA disintegrate after 1787? First move is obvious. Massachusetts, Virginia or New York vote down ratification of Constitution, with the result that neither the Constitution nor the Articles are working. But next? How will the US Congress disintegrate for good?

There is an earlier scenario, too. 1783. The Continental Army mutiny goes ahead - but states resist, as they did to British Army in 1775. The Continental Army, however, is not crushed - some states yield, others secede and cannot be subdued.

If USA were split by Continental Army mutiny in 1783, what would the pieces be?
 
If George Washington died after the ARW but before becoming president you would remove a lynchpin to stability. Whatever their differences the colony/state representives at the Constitutional Convention all agreed on Washington being President. You would probably end up with 3 or 4 smaller unions of colonies with shared interests. Those bordering Canada may form a military alliance to defend the border, Virginia & New York may go on their own with border disputes in the west, Georgia and Carolina have share interest in crops and slavery.
 
hmm

Keeping the states apart isn't very difficult really as many of those previously have said; in fact its surprising that the 13 stayed together inspite of several trends against a federal structure.
 
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