So I was sitting in my class on the American Revolution and early national period tonight, and we were discussing how the British refused to vacate their forts in the Northwest Territory (Ohio region), essentially hoping to buy time until the American states fell apart and the british could swoop back in and reclaim at least some of the territory.
As what happens many times in my various history classes, that got me thinking about a broader question:
As what points pre-1900 (and really, I guess post 1900 as well), could the United States realistically be conquered by an outside power...as in troops come in, the national government is disbanded, and America is integrated (or perhaps reintegrated) into some empire or another from Europe?
And related, what would happen to the budding American identity of the time? Obviously if this happened in 1812...Americans still more readily identified with their local state rather than as Americans...this lasts really until after the Civil War.
What would "American" culture look like if America is occupied for a long time (or permanently), somewhere during the period from 1785-1900?
As what happens many times in my various history classes, that got me thinking about a broader question:
As what points pre-1900 (and really, I guess post 1900 as well), could the United States realistically be conquered by an outside power...as in troops come in, the national government is disbanded, and America is integrated (or perhaps reintegrated) into some empire or another from Europe?
And related, what would happen to the budding American identity of the time? Obviously if this happened in 1812...Americans still more readily identified with their local state rather than as Americans...this lasts really until after the Civil War.
What would "American" culture look like if America is occupied for a long time (or permanently), somewhere during the period from 1785-1900?