How do we get a demographically, culturally, and politically significant Spanish-speaking population in the United States, significant in the same sense as the French-speaking population is in Canada? (For example in this alternate U.S., I would envision Albuquerque as an entirely Spanish-speaking metropolis in the same vein as French-speaking Quebec City, while Los Angeles would be half Spanish and half English, more in the mold of Montreal) This would probably involve a POD around the time of the Mexican War but what would that POD be exactly? A larger Mexican cession? Less American settlement? Later POD's could be a successful annexation of the Dominican Republic by the Grant Administration and U.S. annexation of Cuba.
And what would be the cultural and political ramifications of a large Spanish segment of the American population, in terms of the development of an American national identity and in terms of the place of the Spanish population within that national identity? Where would this larger Hispanic community fit in the context of the larger racial dynamics of American history? Would English-speaking Protestant America view them with prejudice and animosity? Would they as a community be more inclined to side with African-Americans in TTL's Civil Rights movement? Or would the Spanish-speaking states in a bid for more autonomy, find common cause with the Southern states in seeking greater States Rights? Would the US eventually adopt a policy of Bilingualism like Canada did?
Could this TL see strong nationalist or even separatist tendencies in the Spanish-speaking areas, along the lines of OTL Quebecois nationalism? How would having Mexico as a neighbor affect the situation? And this being America, would these fissures of language and culture manifest themselves through armed conflicts and civil wars rather than referendums and constitutional accords (like in Canada)? What would such a United States look like by today?
And what would be the cultural and political ramifications of a large Spanish segment of the American population, in terms of the development of an American national identity and in terms of the place of the Spanish population within that national identity? Where would this larger Hispanic community fit in the context of the larger racial dynamics of American history? Would English-speaking Protestant America view them with prejudice and animosity? Would they as a community be more inclined to side with African-Americans in TTL's Civil Rights movement? Or would the Spanish-speaking states in a bid for more autonomy, find common cause with the Southern states in seeking greater States Rights? Would the US eventually adopt a policy of Bilingualism like Canada did?
Could this TL see strong nationalist or even separatist tendencies in the Spanish-speaking areas, along the lines of OTL Quebecois nationalism? How would having Mexico as a neighbor affect the situation? And this being America, would these fissures of language and culture manifest themselves through armed conflicts and civil wars rather than referendums and constitutional accords (like in Canada)? What would such a United States look like by today?