Sorry about the late reply. Real busy at work and haven't had much time to get on AlternateHistory.com
@metalinvader665, ah right. I may have underestimated population growth. How about having South America have 40% the population of Europe? How about with
@Lenwe's suggestion with a South American population double Europe's? Might South America perhaps become ripe for industrialization since they might have a high demand far excess of their population's ability to otherwise meet? I like the sound of that South America.
But if the Spanish and Portuguese are setting out to conquer them (which will look like early British expeditions in India more than the conquistadors), then they'd logically contact other European nations as a counterweight. Other European nations would logically do that by themselves, since one nation grabbing all that nice agricultural land (sugar, tobacco, coffee, etc.) and gold/silver mines wouldn't be good for them. India is a great example, with the French and British (among others) allying with Indian states. And there's other examples, like the Dutch attacking Spanish (and Portuguese, ruled under Spain at the time) colonies globally in the 17th century.
That sounds like an interesting situation. How badly would the European's collective resources be strained if North America and Central America had developed similarly, also with roughly 40% of Europe's population? Can the Empires of Europe still conquer the whole Americas? If they can't would they still try, in effect expanding their empires into oblivion?
So no slavery then. How long until the rebellions start? Like the idea of an "American Raj". Might such an entity escape the control of its founding nation and attempt to go it alone? Perhaps some Spaniard with delusions of grandeur and a large army of South American soldiers.
By similar tech levels I mean they have the same weapons tech as the Europeans. The POD is in the 1200's so by this point the butterflies have really stacked up. The timeline has taken a flying leap off the highway of familiarity. Most tech is invented outside Europe and the Europeans get tech the same way the South Americans do. It trickles in through trade. The premier European states are roughly parallel to the premier American state and the less developed South American states are equivalent to those in Europe. The entry points of the European tech flow goes through trade routes which means Spain, Portugal, South East Europe and Eastern Europe are entry points.
For it not to be ASB, the most likely scenario is that Mexico is such a hard nut to swallow that it takes decades to absorb it, and to then spread into the Maya and Southern territories, that by this time travellers and merchants have both spread disease, and brought commerce to the Incas. Disease will run its course without Spanish intervention, and there will be huge upheavals due to population loss but it will settle down, whilst technology increases as knowledge and examples are brought into the country and whatever successor regime is able to begin construction, as well as gaining literacy, as we would understand it, and the ability to employ foreign advisors.
So, by the time Spain faces off against them in the 1700s its similar to how the Europeans had to deal with a China or Japan in the mid to late 1800s.
@Grey Wolf, seems like a good scenario. How might that conflict play out? In my draft I had the culture that made first contact just not go for widespread invasion. They weren't to interested in conquest so far from their homeland at the time. Traders do frequent the region though and there are warships to protect their own merchant fleet during their travels. Even if this first contact culture doesn't go for invasion, don't know how plausible it is that the South Americans can go without an invasion from West Africa, which is now aware of their location. I suppose the West Africans have plenty of concerns in their own neighborhood such as protecting their own salt and gold mines or invasions from North Africa. They'd also have to attack the people this first culture is trading with when warships are present which might be a risky move.
Again I appreciate everyone's input. Thanks for contributing. Bit busy at work and couldn't check in lately.
@kasumigenx, alright so I guess the Spanish and Portuguese can lose quite some portions of their empire. Good for story plausibility.
@Legofan4, aye that will hurt their ability to fight but perhaps it would still leave a population that can be a pain to control? There might be a gap between what you can conquer and what you can hold reliably.
@Lenwe, that sounds pretty cool. A hugely populated South America. Experimenting with a concept. Let's say the tech advancement is boosted a globalized flow of information and trade as well as increased global population with the 1700's equivalent occurring in the 1480's and the period between the 1300's and 1480's being a compressed version of OTL's 1300's to 1700's? How would that affect the South American population? They'd certainly be less generations to repopulate the Americas. Could we still get a huge population?