Next update for the overview is done! We're finishing off North America. Be warned: casual racism ahead. Some of what I've written is almost verbatim from the old textbook I have.
I'll add some footnotes later.
The World in a New Century, Section II: Ibero North America
Published by the McNally Corporation in Chicago, 1901.
California:
The Republic of California lies west of the Rio Bravo and south of the Oregon Country. A fairly wealthy state, California has received much of its progress from the gold and silver found in the Sierra Nevada and other mountain ranges of the country. Because of this, large cities like San Diego, San Francisco, and the capital at Monterey have arisen along the coast. The cities around San Francisco Bay have grown to become some of the largest in California. The city of San Francisco itself has become the major port and commercial center in the country, and is often known as the "Valparaiso of North America". In the interior, the majority of the population of California lives in the fertile San Joaquin Valley or along the Sacramento River. However, there are some settlements in the far interior, particularly those of the Mormons around the Great Salt Lake.
California is one of the most diverse countries in all of the Americas. Like Cuba in the United States, the people are mainly Ibero and mestizo. California, however, has been a destination for much of the immigration of Asians to North America. In fact, the cities in California have the largest population of Mongolians in the entire continent. These immigrants primarily come from the Philippines and China, and are concentrated in the coastal cities. Many Mongolians also inhabit the portion of the Hawaiian archipelago that is owned by California. Further east, the Mormons are the dominant people and their church remains the dominant religion there. The more remote desert regions of the country are populated by Indian tribes and do not receive much attention from the local authorities so stick to their barbarous ways.
While California claims to be a republic, the actual practice of the government is rather bad. The people are given some representation, but often the President will go against the wishes of the people with few consequences. The Mormons have recently been barred from representation within the Californian Senate. The country has also been subject to many coups in the past decades as generals or political opponents of the ruling president can easily gather enough support to oust whoever is in power.
Mexican States:
South of California and the state of Tejas are several small countries. These countries used to be united as the country of Mexico. In the 1830s, the United States fought a war with Mexico to free the Republic of Texas, which later joined the United States. Mexico suffered further political instability and collapsed into a number of countries in the late 1850s. Since then, the countries have been led by warlords though they claim to be republics. This is partially due to the ignorance of the people after breeding with the local Indians for centuries, and partly due to the ease at which such governments have been overthrown.
Of the Mexican states, Veracruz, Chihuahua, and Rio Bravo are the most important to the United States. Veracruz is a thriving port city-state and is the main point of entry and exit for goods going between the United States and Mexico. Recently, the United States has been getting more involved in the Mexican states. Just in the last decade, the United States freed Chihuahua from Rio Bravo. The other countries in the region are Durango, Granidalgo, Tlaxcala, the Mexican Republic, Queretaro, and Jalisco. Tlaxcala is of particular interest because it is governed by a splinter group from the Catholic Church known as the Anti-Papacy.
Mesoamerican Union:
The Mesoamerican Union is a collection of formerly independent countries that formed a unified government only in the last two decades. The component republics of the Mesoamerican Union are Oaxaca, Guatemala, Yucatan, Honduras, Salvador, and Nicaragua. Each republic has its own government but is subservient to the federal Mesoamerican government, much like our own states. The federal government of Mesoamerica contains a unicameral legislature and is led by a president elected by the legislature. The Mesoamerican legislature is peculiar in that it not only includes seats for each constituent republic, but also for certain Indian tribes. No other republican government in the world has been so accommodating to the uncivilized races in its country.
The Mesoamerican Union is a very important trading partner to the United States. From here, we import many agricultural goods that are unable to be produced in the United States except perhaps in Cuba. The principal goods that the United States imports from Mesoamerica are rubber, sugar, and fruit. The United Fruit Company has many land holdings in Mesoamerica and thanks to the support of the Mesoamerican government, tariffs have been reduced between our two nations and have allowed for American companies to prosper in the region.
There is one other nation in the region that has a significant importance to the United States. This is the small nation of Costa Rica, which lies south of Mesoamerica. While Costa Rica is small, its significance lies in its location as a strategic transportation route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Here is where the plans have been drawn up for a canal to connect the two oceans. The canal is planned to be dug through the northern part of Costa Rica, from the Atlantic Ocean along the San Juan River up to Lake Cocibolca, then through the narrow isthmus on the other side of the lake to connect with the Pacific. The canal has the potential to greatly influence American trade and interests in the Pacific and throughout Ibero-America.
Aside from these independent nations, the colony of British Honduras is the last possession of the Europeans in Central America.
Caribbean:
Unlike the other areas discussed in this section, most of the Caribbean has failed to become independent of Europe and the majority of the islands remain colonies. The reason for this are geographical and cultural. The geographical reason is that the warm tropical climate causes people to become lazy as food and agriculture is so easily accessible in the islands of the Caribbean, the people are not compelled to work hard in order to better themselves. The cultural reason is that the abundance of uncivilized negroes and Indians as well as half breeds has prevented the islands from recognizing the benefits of independence.
The only independent nation in the Caribbean thus far is Haiti on the island of Hispanola. Haiti achieved its independence from the French almost a century ago after the negro slaves overthrew their French masters. Sixty years prior to the abolition of slavery in the United States, Haiti became the only country in the Americas to be led by negroes. However, the Haitians remained savages for the most part and their government has become very bad. Haiti is led by a brutal emperor who does not allow his people a voice in the affairs of government and punishes them for objecting to his rule.
The rest of the Caribbean is mostly governed by European colonies, with the exception being our own state of Cuba. These colonies produce much of the world's sugar and the sugar planters on the islands have become very rich. Great Britain has several colonies near Cuba such as the Bahamian Islands and the isle of Jamaica. France, Britain, and the Netherlands also possess a number of islands in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean. Between Haiti and the Lesser Antilles, Spain and Denmark also have minor colonies. After selling Cuba to the United States in 1848, the only Spanish possession in the Caribbean is now Porto Rico. The Danes also retain a small number of islands east of Porto Rico. All of the European colonies are mostly populated by negroes or Indians, and it will be a while before they can become civilized enough before they can be trusted to govern themselves.
