Challenge: Unitary America

You can't have provinces in a unitary state

New Zealand did for a while. Also - isn't there an argument in Canda that it's federalism is a top down construct (a splitting of a unitary State into federalised provinces) rather than the USA/Australian upwards construction (colonies coming together to create a federation)?

Agree that there is no reasonable POD that would get a unitary North America.
 
Well, if you avoid the revolutionary war, the simple economic and political prospects of the time will still compel greater centralization. Perhaps the Crown might insist upon a single unitary Continental Government as a prerequisite for greater autonomy, with the various colonies becoming creatures of the central government, like counties and municipalities are to the states today.
 
I thought that Britain was just one of the nations that were establishing colonies in N America? As such, the crown couldn't have tried to make them one from the beginning.

As far as something that could...

The only thing I can think of as a possibility (NOT a probability), would have been if the Indian tribes had attempted to wipe the colonies out. A common enemy may succeed in providing a common ground.
 

elder.wyrm

Banned
The only thing I can think of as a possibility (NOT a probability), would have been if the Indian tribes had attempted to wipe the colonies out. A common enemy may succeed in providing a common ground.

They did, regularly. The furthest anyway was willing to push unity was still only confederation.
 
The obvious POD to me would be to somehow get James II's horribly unpopular Dominion of New England to work.

You can't have provinces in a unitary state

Of course you can. The point of a unitary system is that local/regional government is not on a co-equal footing, or anywhere near a co-equal footing, to the political centre, not that it doesn't exist entirely.
 
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While it may be possible with a PoD to start it out Unitary over time it will end up becoming a Federation.

Unitary states just don't really work unless you have a small country (the Netherlands), homogenous country (Japan) or an undemocratic and/or authoritarian state (Iran), and a United States* that grows to be as large or nearly as large as OTL is going to have to adopt a Federal system, heck even if it does'nt grow alot the Colonials are'nt going to be really homogenous, it will be large territorially and population won't be evenly spaced out, so even then it would end up adopting one.

*cough cough* ... France... *cough*
 
*cough cough* ... France... *cough*

And, certainly historically-speaking, Britain for that matter.

But then it was a pretty ridiculous generalisation.

In related news, I can't see any possible reason why America is somehow 'destined' to become a federal state as some people are arguing. Likely, perhaps you would say, but inevitable? Lord no.
 

Thande

Donor
James II did once try to set up a united body of all the northern colonies as the "Dominion of New England" (which also included New York) but it was massively unpopular and soon thrown out with the Glorious Revolution.

I don't think this is practical: when you look at how it went in OTL it seems quite unlikely that the US held together even as a federation considering the divergent interests of the colonies.
 

mowque

Banned
I don't think this is practical: when you look at how it went in OTL it seems quite unlikely that the US held together even as a federation considering the divergent interests of the colonies.

During the Constitutional Convention, only one delegation (Delaware, I think) advocated getting rid of the states and going with one government.
 

Thande

Donor
During the Constitutional Convention, only one delegation (Delaware, I think) advocated getting rid of the states and going with one government.

Which makes sense, as Delaware was one of the few states that had no prospect of westward expansion and so would have a stronger position as part of a unitary state.
 
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