A brief history of North America
A brief history of North America -
In 1775 the Continental Congress convened with delegates from disgruntled British Colonies all along the Eastern Seaboard. There were even representatives from the small Maritimes colonies, mostly comprised of disaffected Scottish Highlanders who had an upsurge in immigration to the Maritimes in the 1760s. The history and course of the American Revolutionary War is well known, from Washington's crossing of the Delaware to Benedict Arnold's liberation of the Maritimes to the adventures of 'Light Horse' Henry Lee in the South. In the treaty ending the war, the United States would be ceded all the states of the Eastern seaboard and all the lands Southeast of the Saint Laurence, South of the Great Lakes, and East of the Mississippi.
Quebec and Ottawa, sans the territory ceded to the USA, continued to grow West slowly over this period. Also growing was the Russian presence in the far Northwest of the Continent, possibly spurred on by the defeat of Britain by her colonies. In 1801, the Louisiana territory was sold back to Napoleonic France. Shortly thereafter, Jefferson sent a former governor of New Brunswick as his negotiator to Paris to see if the sale of New Orleans and the surrounding Louisiana territory east of the Mississippi was possible. After some initial difficulties, the sale of Louisiana east of the Mississippi was accomplished. As a condition, the USA signed a treaty with France recognizing the Mississippi in its entirety as the fixed boundary between the United States and Louisiana.
The second war between the USA and the British took place in the early 1810s, and would likely have resulted in a draw if it weren't for the secession of the New England and Maritime States after the Hartford Convention, both of whom wanted nothing to do with the war. The rest of the United States of America launched a campaign against the breakaway states, which fatally allowed the British to occupy a significant portion of the Northwest Territory (which due to Congressional disputes had not yet been organized and admitted to the Union as states). They also subsequently interfered in the short civil war between the secessionist North and the Union in the South of the USA. The final settlement of the war saw the USA forced to recognized the independence of the Republic of New England and the Maritimes (even early on this was commonly elipsed to 'Republic of New England' and would be recognized eventually as the official name of the nation in the late 19th Century, though some more jocular Maritimers would even into the 21st Century put up signs in place of official ones proclaiming the 'Republic of the Maritimes') and the loss of the Northwest Territory to the British. The new Northern Republic did not escape unscathed, as the Western half of New York was kept by the United States along the ceasefire line of the Hudson (both sides had pierced the other here and there along the Hudson River, but it was agreed during the ceasefire period by the Union and Rebel Generals to withdraw their forces to either side of the River to prevent the incensed troops of either side from re-igniting the conflict). Much of this portion formerly of New York would be rewarded to Pennsylvania in compensation for the Northwest corner of the state clipped off by the British occupation and claimed by them as part of the 'Northwest Territory'.
With the conclusion of the war, the former 'Northwest Territory of the Ohio' came to be called by the British simply 'Ohio'. Although substantial numbers of loyal British subjects flocked into the territory in the early days, the former American inhabitants of the region were a constant source of trouble. Eventually, they would settle into an uneasy peace with the British, though the Ohioans would always maintain a distinct identity from the rest of British North America and would be among the first of the Commonwealth to agitate for Dominion status and in the 20th Century would break from the British altogether.
As the war with the Americans settled down, the British turned towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars and Louisiana. Penetrations of the Louisiana territory sometimes reached as far as the Missouri, and after the death of Napoleon, the British would claim up to the entire Missouri as British. Disgusted with the mother country, Louisiana declared her independence. The USA reaffirmed their agreement with the now independent Louisianans as to the Mississippi being the border between their nations. Attempts to attract French settlers were only partially successful and Louisiana was never a populace land. Despite this they actively discouraged English speaking settlers and even those from Quebec, fearing their influence on the small French and Indian population.
Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars the Spanish Empire began to break away. Spanish Florida was sold to the USA within only a few years. New Spain fought for and won her independence and became known as Mexico, stretching from Central America (who had initially declared their own independence but were rapidly assimilated into the greater Mexican Republic. Mexico was not as discerning as the Louisianans in terms of immigration, and many settlers from the United States entered the Tejas region, and others entered the California region (a more diverse lot from nearly all over North America). Within decades, the predominantly American Texans declared their independence from Mexico, and set their boundaries as North of the Rio Grande and South of the Arkansas. The Louisianans of course bitterly opposed this as they claimed Louisiana started North of the Red River in that region. The Northern border between the Louisianans and the Texans would remain an area of constant dispute, but neither had the population to make a definitive claim to it, and often used it as a dumping ground for hostile Native American tribes from either nation, with the Texans driving them North and the Louisianans driving them South. Even the Americans got into the habit of removing undesired Native Americans to this no man's land between the rivers.
The relations between Louisiana and Texas were of course never to be good after the lightning attack the Texans pulled early in their history to wrest from Louisiana all their land in the Southeast between the border of the United States and Texas. The forced annexation was instigated by Texans wishing to eventually unite with the United States of America, but the plan backfired as the USA refused to repudiate their word to the Louisianans (it is commonly believed that most of this resistance was from the Northern states of the USA who were reluctant to admit more slave holding territory to the USA, which was already dominated by the slave states, and played successfully on the Southern States belief in honor to block the annexation which otherwise many of them so desired).
Meanwhile, efforts were being made in the North to unite the British provinces. The result of these negotiations was the formation of the Confederation of Vesperia. While some attempts were made to integrate Ohio into the Confederation, no one was particularly surprised by their resistance to the idea and it eventually was abandoned.
In the meantime, the Russian territory of Alyeska was growing further and further into the Northwest corner of the Continent, often intruding on claims of the British and Mexicans. With the discovery of gold in the region this boomed, though now many of the pioneers would come from North America and not only Russia. A short lived war broke out between the Russians and the British over the area, but the Russians were able to hold onto their gains (some have said that the Russians were simply better fighters in that cold climate, others site the nearness of Vladivostock as a decisive factor, while a few feel that the British had simply grown overconfident after their victory against the USA). Shortly after the Russian victory, Mexico settled their border in the Oregon Country with Russia, Britain, and Louisiana, setting the Columbia and the Snake as the border.
However, the settlement of the Northern border of Mexico with her fellow nations did not save her from internal dispute. Once again settlers led revolt, this time in the Californias. Some believe the discovery of gold in the territory was the final straw that led to the Californian revolt. It was surprisingly successful considering the foreshadowing Mexico should have had from their experience with Texas, however many scholars site the ongoing successful effort by the Mexicans to put down a Central American insurgency as destracting the Mexicans from their Western possessions long enough to lead to the break away of the Californias.
Louisiana in the meantime was growing more and more concerned about their situation. With a hostile Texas and slaver USA to their south and east, the British to their north and north east, and completely landlocked (at least inasmuch as the Texans and Americans could at will cut them off from entering the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi, the Louisianans had nowhere to turn but west. Negotiations were entered into with the Californians and in a surprise move a Federation between the Californias and Louisiana was declared. While both regions would retain very distinctive characteristics, the synergy between the two blocks proved a good one and they have become a strong nation on the continent.
Near the close of the 19th century, Alyeska finally went the way of so many other colonies of the old world in the new and declared her independence from Russia. Nearly all the North American states and Britain moved to recognize the new Republic, none wishing to have the Russian juggernaut to keep such a strong presence in North America. Both Russian and English were recognized as languages of the new Republic, but with the complete cut off of relations with Russia soon English speaking immigrants swamped the old guard Russians.
By the end of the century, slavery in the USA and Texas had been abandoned, and attempts were made between the West American Federation and the Republic of Texas to improve relations. The sore point of course was the Indian Country between the rivers that had been disputed for so long between the two countries. Finally it was decided to create from this region a Native American predominant buffer nation, the Union of Indian Nations (this would later be changed to the more politically correct Union of Native American Nations). At first struggling with rampant poverty and other social and governmental problems, the discovery of oil in the West and diamonds in the East did much to improve conditions in this nation.
In the early 20th Century, the Confederation of Vesperia became the Commonweath of Vesperia and Ohio gained her full independence from Britain.
By the mid 20th Century, the Age of Colonialism was finally dead and the European powers had granted independence to all the islands of the Caribbean. Despite their many differences, these new Caribbean nations banded together into a loose Confederacy, the Caribbean Confederation. Known for tourism and liberal banking laws, this is the latest addition to the family of North American nations.