What is this? A version of the South Lower South that broke free early and took some lands westward, and the US and much of Canada merged...
Sounds like either like PSGBHurricane's Southern-less USA, or my timeline (Jefferson's Anti-Slavery Crisis)
Just something I'm fiddling with at the moment.
The Civil War goes very differently, with several minor PoDs, such as as John Brown not carrying out the Raid at Harper's Ferry (he was unable to carry this out but during the war he led an anti-Confederate resistance movement in the Deep South), as well as that most of Virginia remains Union following the vote on April 4th, though southern and eastern Virginia secede to form South Virginia (a Confederate State that is not recognized by the U.S.). West Virginia is still formed for a multitude of reasons but West Virginia and Virginia remain part of the Union while portions of southern Virginia form Confederate South Virginia.
As a result of most of his state staying Union, Robert E. Lee becomes the General of the (Union) Army of Northern Virginia. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson is also a Union general though he does earn his nickname until 1863 repulsing a Confederate offensive towards Richmond.
Montgomery, Alabama remains the capital of the Confederacy with Jefferson Davis as the president.
The war drags on from 1861-1865 (it ends on November 24th, 1865 rather than May 13th, 1865. The extra six months sees the death toll be much higher. The War is roughly 850,000 dead, 500,000 Union compared 350,000 Confederate.
The Confederacy does survive as the Union grew weary of the war as it had become a attritional slog the last year of the war in which the Confederates fought to bleed the Union Army to the bone. Tennessee and Arkansas fell fully to Union forces in 1863 and 1864 respectively and chunks of most Southern states are taken but by November both sides want peace and send delegations to Europe to negotiate a peace, concluding in the Treaty of Brussels 1865. The Confederates were forced to take on the burden of the pre-war debt the C.S. States had held plus their new wartime debt, as well as accept that Arkansas, Tennessee and South Virginia would remain a part of the Union forever. South Virginia would be absorbed back into Virginia while Arkansas and Tennessee would undergo Reconstruction for 10 years a piece, with both re-admitted to the Union fully in 1875. Many pro-slave/pro-Confederate elements left these two States following the Treaty of Brussels and Reconstruction and were flooded in turn by Union supporters eager for business opportunities and available land, making these two states firmly Union.
So the Confederate States of America is diminished to:
-North Carolina
-South Carolina
-Georgia
-Florida
-Alabama
-Mississippi
-Louisiana
-Texas
The expansion into Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua and Baja California) came as a result of the Confederate-Mexican war in the 1880s. This came about for a variety of reasons, namely for port and rail access to the West Coast, the weakness of Mexico at the time, and instability in the Confederacy. The Confederate president at the time believed a short victorious war would unite the Confederate people, unite them into a Confederate identity and help take the attention of several financial and social issues. It worked.
The United States expansion into Canada came about as a result of the Anglo-American War, circa 1890-1892 which saw Canada fall to the U.S. due to sheer numbers while Britain fought a brutal war at sea that simply couldn't quite relieve the pressure off Canada. The U.S. won the land, the British won by sea and in the end the British had to accept the new American acquisitions. Occupation was harsh to those who did not accept American authority, with executions and imprisonment common. Tens of thousands of Canadians left Canada and moved to Australia, Britain or South Africa. By the early 1930s Ca
Quebec was made a puppet ally.
So by 1940 there is a Great War on the horizon, with lots of small wars leading up to and building up for the conflict between the United States, Germany, Britain, and their allies/puppets (Central Powers) against the French, Russians, Italians, and Confederates and their various allies/puppets (Entente).
After the Anglo-American War, U.S.-British tensions were really tense but things cooled down by the 1920s and now both consider each other fair allies.