Republics of North America

Glen

Moderator
This timeline starts in the thread, Southern America Act of 1774.

The 1830s saw rebellions break in all of the neighbors of the United States of America. In the British Colonies, the spark was the Slavery Abolition Act of 1834. While the British had been moving incrementally towards restrictions of slavery for decades, the act was still jarring for the Southern Colonies of British North America. The linchpin of their whole economy was based on slavery in the form of the cotton trade. While the colonies had pled with Parliament to exempt them from the act and preserve their 'peculiar institution', they failed. Thus did rebellion spark anew in North America.

The heart of the rebellion was South Carolina, the only province of the Southern Colonies that had been forced to remain in the British Empire. However, the cry for revolution spread far and wide, and soon all the Southern Colonies were in armed revolt.

While slavery was a non-issue in Upper and Lower Canada, there were many grievances against the mishandling of colonial rule by the British government, and with the South rising, a militant minority was inspired to take up arms as well, first in Lower Canada but quickly spreading to Upper Canada.

Coincidentally, only a year later in 1835, a series of rebellions broke out in the United States of Mexico, especially in Texas. Texas had a disproportionate amount of English speaking settlers from the United States and the British Southern Colonies, and when several other states of Mexico rose up in protest to the Federalization of Mexico being forced from the government in Mexico City, they too joined the fray.

The decline of the British presence in North America has been attributed to several factors, including the vehemence of Southern opposition to the abolition in the Empire, the entry of the United States into the conflict, and lastly the abominable timing of the Workingman Crisis in Great Britain (over the lack of inclusion of the working class in expansion of the franchise, which soon became intertwined with the anti-war movement against the fight in North America). Had any one of these elements been missing, it is far more likely that at least Canada, and possible all of North America would have remained under British sovereignty. However, as it was, the British Empire was fortunate to hold on to the Maritimes, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Rupert's Land. By the end of the conflict, it was no longer palatable to either side to continue the policy of joint administration, and the 49th parallel was continued past the Continental Divide to the Columbia River, which it then followed to the Sea. While many in the United States pushed for more of the Northern Pacific Coast, the British were in no mood for further concessions and this preserved the vital land route from the Hudson Bay for the fur industry.

Lower Canada gained full independence as the Republic of Quebec.

Upper Canada, whose rebellion largely succeeded due to American intervention, was unsurprisingly annexed to the United States of America after a short lived existence as the Republic of Canada (and whose name is still preserved in the US state of Canada).

The Six British Colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, West Florida, East Florida, and Bahamas became the founding states of the Federation of Southern America.

In the meantime, in Mexico the Texians won a decisive victory against the forces of the Central Government and were granted their independence. Immediately a debate began as to whether to remain independent, join the United States of America, or the newborn Federation of Southern America. The last group was a minority, however, and the balance of the argument was between the Independence and United States parties, with those favoring the Federation of Southern America eventually throwing their support behind independence in return for support of legalizing slavery.

And thus was the Republic of Texas formed.
 
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Interesting, but I think I'll keep most of my comments in the original parent thread.

This one is a tad too similar to the outcome of many of the "What if the Constitutional Convention had Failed?" timelines that pop up on the boards.

Benjamin
 

Glen

Moderator
This timeline starts in the thread, Southern America Act of 1774.



The decline of the British presence in North America has been attributed to several factors, including the vehemence of Southern opposition to the abolition in the Empire, the entry of the United States into the conflict, and lastly the abominable timing of the Workingman Crisis in Great Britain (over the lack of inclusion of the working class in expansion of the franchise, which soon became intertwined with the anti-war movement against the fight in North America). Had any one of these elements been missing, it is far more likely that at least Canada, and possible all of North America would have remained under British sovereignty. However, as it was, the British Empire was fortunate to hold on to the Maritimes, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Rupert's Land. By the end of the conflict, it was no longer palatable to either side to continue the policy of joint administration, and the 49th parallel was continued past the Continental Divide to the Columbia River, which it then followed to the Sea. While many in the United States pushed for more of the Northern Pacific Coast, the British were in no mood for further concessions and this preserved the vital land route from the Hudson Bay for the fur industry.

Lower Canada gained full independence as the Republic of Quebec.

Upper Canada, whose rebellion largely succeeded due to American intervention, was unsurprisingly annexed to the United States of America after a short lived existence as the Republic of Canada (and whose name is still preserved in the US state of Canada).

The Six British Colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, West Florida, East Florida, and Bahamas became the founding states of the Federation of Southern America.

In the meantime, in Mexico the Texians won a decisive victory against the forces of the Central Government and were granted their independence. Immediately a debate began as to whether to remain independent, join the United States of America, or the newborn Federation of Southern America. The last group was a minority, however, and the balance of the argument was between the Independence and United States parties, with those favoring the Federation of Southern America eventually throwing their support behind independence in return for support of legalizing slavery.

And thus was the Republic of Texas formed.

Other break-away Republics found their inspiration in the successes of the more Northern rebellions in Quebec, Canada, Southern America, and Texas. Directly south of Texas, the Republic of the Rio Grande was formed. Even further south, the Republic of Yucatan was declared. Both the USA and the newly formed Federation of Southern America, lent support and recognition to these new Republics. The United States of America had embraced a policy of supporting a community of small republics in North America, leaving the USA as the largest and most prominent nation in the hemisphere. The Federation of Southern America also supported more republics, some in sympathy, others in hopes that they would have more allies who kept slavery legal in this region of the world (though this hope was mostly forlorn).
 

Glen

Moderator
I think it'd be cool to see an independent, wanked British Columbia. :D

I wonder if this could play a role in a wanked British Columbia. Probably more so here where the route is still completely intact....

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Glen

Moderator
Other break-away Republics found their inspiration in the successes of the more Northern rebellions in Quebec, Canada, Southern America, and Texas. Directly south of Texas, the Republic of the Rio Grande was formed. Even further south, the Republic of Yucatan was declared. Both the USA and the newly formed Federation of Southern America, lent support and recognition to these new Republics. The United States of America had embraced a policy of supporting a community of small republics in North America, leaving the USA as the largest and most prominent nation in the hemisphere. The Federation of Southern America also supported more republics, some in sympathy, others in hopes that they would have more allies who kept slavery legal in this region of the world (though this hope was mostly forlorn).

The Republic of the Rio Grande was supported by the Abolitionist faction in the USA and seen as a counterbalance to the pro-slavery Republic of Texas. This was a point of tension between Texas and America, but the Texians relied as much on American support (and was somewhat surrounded by them) as they did Federation support. Thus was the US able to broker a permanent border agreement between Rio Grande and Texas setting the border at the Neuces River to it's source, then a line from there to the juncture of the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers, and from there continuing along the Rio Grande for Texas. While there had been an attempt on the part of Rio Grande to get the Pecos recognized as the border, and thus claim New Mexico, the failure of the Republic of Rio Grande to secure their other claims in Mexico to their south led to a lack of confidence in the US delegation in the ability of Rio Grande to protect such a claim, an assertion the Republic of Rio Grande had to reluctantly concede. In return the cash strapped Rio Grande received financial aid from America. Texas also sold their claimed territory above 36-30 to the United States, both to relieve their debt and to smooth the way for any potential annexation by the Federation of Southern America, though it seemed doubtful to most observers that the USA would allow the slave-holding FSA to have borders to both the East and West of Louisiana and the vital Mississippi waterway to the Gulf.
 

Glen

Moderator
In the 1850s, to better protect their fragile remaining possessions on the Northeast coast of North America, the British brokered an agreement for the confederation of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador as the Maritime Dominion.
 
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Glen

Moderator
The 1860s saw the beginnings of nationalistic stirrings in the Red River Region. For many decades the French-Indian Metis had had a relatively easy relation with the Hudson Bay Company. However, with encouragement from the Republic of Quebec to the East and the United States to the South, there grew talk of formation of an independent Metis nation in the region.
 
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