I was looking up some old threads and found a couple about the territorial conflicts between the thirteen colonies, and I think it warrants a new thread. I've also been working on a map of such a scenario.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=139427
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=127276&highlight=balkanized
Also a TL by IchBinDieKaiser:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=148793
As I understand it, the claims and conflicts were thus:
1. New York and New Hampshire both claimed Vermont. New York claimed the southern half of the Northwest Territory as well as a swathe through Kentucky and Tennessee.
2. Virginia had Kentucky and claimed the entire (!) Northwest Territory.
3. Pennsylvania didn't have any claims, but bought the Erie Triangle from New York.
4. Massachusetts and Connecticut claimed areas to their west, past New York and Pennsylvania, in the Northwest Territory. Massachusetts also disputed part of Northern Maine with Britain.
5. North Carolina claimed Tennessee, and South Carolina a narrow strip just beneath it.
6. Georgia claimed all of Mississippi and Alabama, some of which was also claimed by Spain.
Of course, in OTL the United States government essentially got the states to set western borders and give up their claims, making new states of them.
Let's say that the United States remains simply a revolutionary alliance, and the Thirteen Colonies revert once again to independent states. A working PoD for this could be an early victory in the revolution. The Articles are drafted and used as a de facto constitution, but never officially adopted by all the colonies, which go their separate ways. No attempt to create a true federal government succeeds.
Clearly, the biggest conflict is for the Northwest Territory. Virginia and New York divide their competing claims at the Connecticut line? Britain goes back on the treaty and tries to take it back?
Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey seem ripe to be divided at the Green Mountains, Connecticut River, and the old Colonial divider, respectively. New England seems likely to federate in the face of a unitary and powerful New York.
Might Pennsylvania revive the idea of the US, to include Maryland, Delaware, and New/West Jersey? They will also want some coastline on Lake Erie.
Down South, The Carolinas could federate, with OTL Tennessee becoming West Carolina, including the bits claimed by South Carolina and/or New York.
My understanding is that Georgia was relatively weak at this time. What are the chances of the Cherokee claiming a sovereign state of their own?