I've been working on the Asian immigration update, and I've hit a bit of a snag. What opened the flow of Chinese migrants to the US in OTL was the Burlingame Treaty between China and the US in 1868, but this was mostly an amendment of the Treaty of Tientsin a decade earlier as part of the end to the Second Opium War. Now I haven't really decided much about Chinese history ITTL between the 1820s and the 1870s, but I think I decided there wasn't a First Opium War (at least not in the same circumstances as OTL) and without the Opium Wars, China probably wouldn't have reduced restrictions on trade and emigration. I could retroactively insert a war between a European or American great power and China in between then, but I'm not sure which country or when or what the other treaty conditions would be.
I would have expected that as France acquired Hainan (and sort of Korea) while Belgium obtained possessions in SE Asia, they would have continued to develop and, in the less populated areas, settle, though by this point it is a little late for settlement. The development of more powers in East Asia during the end of the 19th century would mean more players contesting Chinese gains, which could either go China's way or not depending upon a number of factors between each state. A lack of US intervention (i'm guessing since they'd be weaker and at any rate less mobile that far west) in the Pacific would take them out of that equation, but adding Belgium, the Netherlands, presumably Germany alongside France and Britain makes it complicated in there but likely to get some kind of something similar to what Burlinggame had going, if not earlier.
A non-opium war China is always appreciated by a Sinologist and any situation which lessens the intrusions into Chinese territory during the later half of the 19th century always are appreciated. In OTL, the 圆明园 "old summer palace" or Yuan Ming Yuan was destroyed by the French, who selected it for destruction over the still-extant Forbidden City... Keeping them out of the Capital would make a big difference on Chinese internal politics. Likewise, having more interaction with Western imperialists in the South while keeping the North less scathed would also make for interesting internal struggles from the 1850's on...
Well, your POD (Which if I recall correctly was the successful assassination of AJ) takes place after the British trade expedition of 1793. Chances are, unless the opium trade is butterflied away or modified so much that it is no longer a major concern to the Chinese, Britain will still be the one who punches China first over the Opium.
If, indeed, he opium issue is not at the forefront, then the French would be the most likely to come in. Afterall, they were the ones who had an interest in IndoChina, it makes little sense they wouldn't go up north to see hat other people have goods to trade (whether they want to on French terms or not).
This is doubly true with a French possession in Hainan and without a French presence in Indochina and on the Korean Peninsula. A French Hainan and puppet government in Korea, combined with the now significantly expanded presence of the Belgians in Vietnam and Borneo, make it likely that these two will be most impactful upon late 19th century China. Though British naval power would remain premier in the world, having given Belgium large holdings in Asia puts them in conflict with the French at Hainan, the British at Singapore and Hong Kong, and the Netherlands in Indonesia, complicating the picture in interesting ways by adding another power into the mix. Also interesting would be if Germany's command over the Eastern Indian Ocean gives it any further interest in East Asia, perhaps making its own version of Hong Kong/Singapore style city-states along the Chinese coast [I have my hopes set on my city of Xiamen just across the strait from Taiwan].
Also, Japan's Meij Restoration is a floating question in East Asia...
One last East Asian point regarding the Philippines. If California has been the recipient of a large Philippino imigrant population, it seems to me that given the Ibero connection that there is a probibility of successful Philipine business men, politicians, scholars, etc. in California going into the 1890's who would be in a position of greater wealth and privlidge to influence events in their homeland. Since California has expressed a limited colonial presence (taking over Sonora, annexing Hawai'i) that Phipines in California might be inclined to have California do the same in their country, giving the Philippines more autonomy than Spain or at least being a more benevolent and pliable force... not sure if this could work but i'd be interested in seeing a more Pacific California given its mixed population and their probable social mobility in a less anglo-dominated state.
I love both these ideas. Brooklyn and NYC as twin cities and a state of Long Island. With 7.5 million people in it today, it wouldn't even be considered a small state despite its size.
And also if I remember correctly Staten Island in part of New Jersey in TTL, so an NYC anti-wank happening in TTL is not far fetched.
IIRC, Wilcox had previously mentioned that the Consolidation of New York City wasn't going to happen, but maybe it will still be attempted.
If that's the case, it might be possible to see Brooklyn "rebel" so to speak against the state government's attempt to consolidate the region, and ultimately have Long Island become it's own state.
Another interesting possibility we might see resulting from this scenario though is Brooklyn annexing Queens while New York City annexes the Bronx/Yonkers or remains solely on Manhattan Island. Perhaps Brooklyn might even become the country's biggest city?
In any case, I would certainly love to see how NYC and Brooklyn would continue to develop as (perhaps even equal) twin cities.
I could actually see a New York situation where them not being united into the Five Burroughs benefits everyone, making each city stronger and more powerful though the rivalry, as competition for jobs and growth makes each more impressive. Manhattan would still be as impressive as before but with another city with industry and growth to compete would be very exciting.
Also, this would make the sports situation fantastic by around 1900 you'd have two-three cities with a million plus right next to each other, each with 1-2 sports teams in all the major sports vying for titles. In terms of the sports world, this would be to the disadvantage of pretty much every other town except probably the planned megapolis centred in Chickasaw, particularly those in the West.
I really enjoy the format used as like a text-book but it might be fun to see some other books employed more toward the urban-planning direction that has really been an exciting possibility for this TL, something like the 'great men' but for other fields like urban planning or like with sports and the like.
Just out of curiosity, is the island of Alcatraz famous for anything in this timeline or is it just a Californian naval base?
I thought Wilcox had set a particular US military presence up in the San Francisco Bay Area but i'm hoping that its presence would have been more limited as time progressed and the combination of gold, industry, and immigration strengthened California politically, economically, and militarily.
Also in the Bay Area, Wilcox noted that OTL Treasure Island is Zhenbao Island 珍宝岛 and had been a mixture of Chinatown and Angel or Ellis Island.
One interesting possibility would be for the California Government in Monterrey to have ceded some land, maybe Angel Island, Alcatraz, or the north end of the Bay to the US Navy while keeping the Presidio, Alameda, Hunters' Point, or some combination for their own military/naval purposes.
A couple more things. First, the 10 most populous cities in the United States from the 1880 census.
Code:
Top Ten Cities, 1880 Census
1. New York, NY 1,365,290
2. Philadelphia, PA 954,711
3. Brooklyn, NY 730,144
4. Saint Louis, MO 602,100
5. Baltimore, MD 577,336
6. Chicago, IL 572,181
7. New Orleans, LA 424,550
8. Havana, CU 377,691
9. Boston, MA 342,715
10. Indianapolis, IN 284,154
I'd be very excited to see one of these for California, given all of the differences in cities, immigration, demographics, and economics that have taken place there vs. OTL. From
this census bureau source, we find that the largest cities OTL in the west in 1890 were:
8 San Francisco city, CA............. 298,997
(26 Denver city, CO.................... 106,713)
57 Los Angeles city, CA............... 50,395
60 Oakland city, CA................... 48,682
61 Portland city, OR.................. 46,385
63 Salt Lake City city, UT............ 44,843
(70 Seattle city, WA................... 42,837)
(84 Tacoma city, WA.................... 36,006)
? San Diego .............................35-40,000
[source]
So in addition to those, we'd obviously expect to see the Capital at Monterrey be made very large... could it get to 100k? OTL SF already had done, while OTL the US had 29 cities above 100k in 1890 and 58 above 50k; I would expect it to be above 75k if not in the 100k range. Zhenbao Island would presumably be pretty large (30-35K?), and California state capitals such as Trinidad, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Humboldt, and Isabella could all be rather large in the 20-30k range?
In 1890, OTL San Francisco had nearly 300K, and depending upon the immigration situation with China, Korea, Japan, and (perhaps especially) the Philippines it could potentially be larger. However, California may have more entry points on the West than did OTL US meaning there might be a more even distribution.
I'd posit that with the mixed population- we're talking about a lot of Italian immigration to California, as well as Asian and Ibero- and issues of climate and where the best locations are for cities, California is likely to be more Urban than was the West OTL.
Also not to forget how fertile the land in the California Central Valley is and how likely that is to draw farmers, along with the Southland and its oranges.
The 1886 were set to coincide with the International Colonial Exposition in London. Along with colonial pavilions by the British East India Company and other British colonies, athletes from several British colonies competed in the Olympics. Some of the new countries with athletes competing for the first time in the Olympics in 1886 included Argentina, Canada, the Netherlands, British India, and Australia.
Some of the highlights of the Second Olympiad came from the new events that premiered in 1886. One of the most popular new competitions of the London Olympics was in cricket, which had grown in popularity in Great Britain and her colonies.
Football also saw its Olympic debut in London as Great Britain, Belgium, and the United States sent teams to compete.
Gamboa devised a set of rules for what he called Poktapok after the closest Mayan term for the pre-Columbian version and played the game... The Liga Nacional de Poktapok first had six teams, each representing the capitals of the country's six provinces.
The first seasons were played in outdoor fields with temporarily set up end hoops, but starting in 1905 permanent courts were built. The league expanded to ten teams by 1910, and poktapok spread to Costa Rica and the southern Mexican states during the 1910s and 1920s. Poktapok became one of the most popular sports in Central America and today there is a minor following of the sport in Cuba and other areas with large Mesoamerican immigrant populations.
Was there any participation by California in any of the Olympic sports? As for Poktapok, was there any growth of that sport into California or the United States?
I was finally wondering about OTL College Football (gridiron, handegg, rugby) in the US or California. In the late 1800's it was growing and was played at most colleges, not just ivies. I would be excited to see this sport or something akin to it, particularly in the West, where OTL it was growing to most campuses by the 1880's.
As you can see i'm all about this TL and really think it's the best non-China TL out there! No america wanking is good and lots of imagination here.
