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Okay people, here's an idea that's been brewing in the back of my brain for a while. Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VIII of England. Thomas lost the position and latter his life because he refused to swear allegiance to the first Act of Succession because of the anti-papal reference in the act. What if instead of killing Thomas, Henry VIII decided to exile Thomas from England by founding a colony in North America?

The PoD for this actually goes back about forty years to John Cabot. Instead of just discovering Newfoundland, John goes further south to Manhattan. His motivations for this aren't important, but for simplicity's sake one can imagine gold lust or the desire to find exotic spices. Mostly N. America stays same in terms of Indian/European interactions with our timeline. However, the Hudson river is now the Cabot river and England knows that there is good land for settlement across the sea.

Henry VIII knows about Spain's colonial empire and is mildly resentful of it. Of course, there's nothing he can really do about because most people in England aren't about to pull up and go across the sea. He also knows that More is a good leader. Thus, at More's trial Henry shows his benficience by "pardoning" More, bestowing the peerage of Duke of Avalon, and telling More that he's got one year to get a colony convoy ready to sail for Manhattan or he's going to be locked up in the tower.

Lord More knows that he's been handed an almost impossible task, but he devises a plan. His time as Lord Chancellor allowed him to get to know many of his new peers. By going to the various lords, Lord More is able to gain the capital he needs to get his colonial fleet. In exchange, he had to promise land in the new Duchy of Avalon for the younger sons of the lords. By spring of 1536, Lord More has everything ready. He, his family, ten of the most addventurous of the nobles, and about 500 commoners set sail for Manhattan.
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