Aaaaaah, it's back! Poor Hudsonians and Westmorelanders. At least they've got room in Maine. Hopefully New England and Britain can come to peaceful resolutions.
Whooooops. Thanks for the catch!I think you may have confused the Duke of Orleans with the Duke of Artois. Orleans was famously a reformer, Artois was the notorious reactionary.
@Umbric Man : The way most settlers got to Southern Indiana and Illinois was via the Ohio River. See the geographic comments on my previous post. No matter what the settlers north of the Ohio are going to need protection from the Indians, and given the geography, getting troops from the USA to settlements north of the Ohio to protect them, and supplying those troops that are there (lots of stuff like powder, shot, etc needs to come from back east for some time to come) is way more difficult for the USA than Fredon. No matter where they come from, the settlers are going to be more interested in belonging to the entity that can best protect them, their families, and their farms rather than what flag is flying over the local fort. This is also why the Old Northwest north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi is not going to break off from Fredon - early on they can't protect themselves, by the time they might be able to protect themselves they will be tightly bound economically and politically. Sure, some really bad policies might piss them off, but given the Fredon military will be there...
I am afraid your arguements are flawed sloreck. By 1790 there are already more than 100K+ settlers from from the tidewater regions Virginia/MD beyond the Appalachians in the western counties and the KY counties in the central portion of the Ohio valley. They are already there on the south shore. KY militia were the ones charged with repelling Amerindian raids from north of the river. It requires assent from Richmond of course.
The Potomac/Shenandoah and the New/Kanawha valleys give as much access to the Ohio as the Susquehanna/Allegheny. It is as easily accessable from both the tidewater and populated areas of Eastern PA. Actually I'm not certain why KY didn't access already. They have been putting motions before the Confederation Congress since 1784. In 1788 they put motions forward with Richmond's assent. But for ratification of the Constitution, then in progress they would have done so under the Articles. I presume though that it would have needed 9 States to approve,but I am not sure though. They did so again in 1789. The will of the settlers was obviously there and Richmond was by now willing so it should at least have occured when the rump US decided it's own version of constitutional reform. What actually constitutes 2/3:for ratification? Until the Northern states withdrawal is recognized by the US which probably includes terms of withdrawal. They are still part of the union. The new constitution would only be provisional until those terms are set such that what constitutes 2/3 for ratification can actually be determined. Honestly I don't see MD or Delaware actually ratifying until the status of these territories. West of the Appalachians is settled. They will be fervent supporters of of retaining the NW. MD refused to ratify the articles for this very reason. They were the last to do so I think, or one of the very last.
OTL the northern border of Maine was under dispute until 1842, when the treaty more or less split the difference between the maximal Biritsh claim and the maximal US claim. The area ITTL is still pretty unsettled, you might see more "Yankees" settling in this empty area if they feel less inclined to go west in to Fredonian territory. If the NEC and the UK are on friendly terms and more commercially entwined the British, given the facts of more Yankees on the ground would br more than happy to give up some empty land that might be "Quebec/French" might settle the border further north of OTL.
I would expect that at some point as it becomes more populous and perhaps less "Puritan" than Massachusetts, Maine would become another state like OTL.
Why is the Ohio river the "logical border". The southern territories were not the ones in dispute, and would be resolved subsequent to this entire affair in piecemeal fashion with the individual states involved without overlapping claims.The USA and Fredon are both involved in maritime trade, while not as much as New England it would be more than OTL since the New England maritime assets won't be as desirable as "local" bottoms for trade. This means the UK is impressing US and Fredonian sailors. While this hurts the US and Fredon less than New England, the US and Fredon have another bone with the UK which is the presence of British forces in the Old Northwest and their support of the Indians. While the USA and Fredon have their differences over who owns what, they are both agreed that it does not belong to the UK and they need to withdraw per treaty obligations. Also supporting red savages to kill innocent Fredon/Union women and children is a big no-no. While the USA, Fredon, and New England won't rejoin, they could get together to deal with the UK.
Stop impressment, stop supporting the Indians and leave the Old Northwest, and (maybe) settle the Maine/Canada border based on population on the ground could be the goals of the coalition. This might also be an incentive for the USA and Fredon to sit down and divide the Old Northwest amicably - the Ohio River to the junction with the Mississippi being a reasonable dividing line. For the USA, this gets them plenty of land (and much more suitable for slave plantations) and also removes a friction point between them and the UK/Indians - let Fredon deal with that mess. The USA has to deal with Spain, so why not get rid of one foreign power you are dickering with.
All three countries are "settler societies", although New England much less than Fredon and USA now. I can see how Fredon might not want Yankees near the Fredon-NE border, but having them in the Ohio country under Fredon authority helps support Fredon claims, and NE can't use them to seize territory like they might near the border (IMHO a non-event). It appears to me the the Fredon democracy is closer to New England than the USA with lifetime appointments, higher requirements for franchise etc and also slavery in Fredon is already on the way out for economic reasons if no others, which is more in line with the general abolitionist attitude of Yankees.
While this tl ever continue because i am really liking it so far.