Native States

[Tynnin]

I’ve been trying to think of a scenario that would allow for the development of independent or semi-independent Native American countries. Your average European conqueror wasn’t interested in treating natives of any land as equals but merely saw the world in terms of exploiting resources and trade goods.

However, off the top of my head and for shits and giggles let’s put England into some prolonged war during the 16th or 17th century. This keeps them from properly supplying their colonies in the New World. England doesn’t want to loose her overseas Empire so instead she starts fostering local support by allowing for a certain amount of home rule to those native tribes that support the English crown.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Any takers?

 

[Diamond]

Some thoughts:

England starts fostering support among the Iroquois, Cherokee, etc.

-The white settlers begin to get a little ticked off at this seeming 'preferential' treatment (unless they're getting wined & dined too).

-France, with many times less the settlers in their New World possessions, realizes the real danger England's tactic might prove. After all, it was traditionally the French that befriended the tribes to use against the English. Now England's trying to turn it around.

-France redoubles its efforts to make native allies, also begins to increase settlement in Acadia.

-Indian culture is preserved to a certain degree, but the lifes of the tribes become warped into constantly being in a state of readiness - against each other, as they take sides with the English and French.

-Obviously, most of these tribes didn't get along with each other especially well before, but now they're blatantly being used as chess pieces by the white kingdoms.

-If someone like Tecumseh can ally enough tribes, they MIGHT be able to dictate terms of independence to the Europeans, assuming Eng./France are weakened enough from fighting each other. OR, the overall level of visibility of native culture and its perceived value might rise enough so that when the 13 colonies revolt, many indian tribes/nations ally with them and perhaps become additional states when all is said and done...

 

[Count Dearborn]

The Iroquios side with the Colonists instead of the British. They sent representatives to the Continental Congress, and after much wrangling, they are recognized as a state of the US. The Cherokee buy their lands in the South Carolina, and petition to join the Union. They are eventually successful.

 

[Melvin Loh]

would you now somehow with the smaller no. of British colonists in NA have a racial social sitn more akin to Latin America's Spanish-ruled MESTIZO pop or with the METIs in French Canada, with the white settlers intermarrying into native tribes like the Iroquois, Cherokee, Susquehanna, Mohegan, Catawba and othewr friendly allied tribes, so's that there'd be larger-scale and more prevalent versions of such mixed-blood groups as OTL's Lumbees and black Seminole ?

 

[Tynnin]

My father and I used to toss the ATL history ball around and wonder if Africans had come to the States like any other emigrant would there have been nearly as much social conflict. You could make the same argument here about the mingling of the “races”. If you forgo a lot of the Indian wars and bring the natives in as allies (and more or less equals) against the continued loss of European control in the New World I could certainly see intermarrying becoming far more prevalent. The question is though that even with it being prevalent would it be acceptable – with more “mixing” would you also see a backlash from racial fanatics trying to keep the races pure. What could this mean for the newly independent colonies? Fracture into separate countries instead of one nation? Sooner civil war?