Suppose George Washington gets shot in the head by a disgruntled loyalist at the end of the American Indelendence War, and the newborn american state (or states) finds itself without a proper unifying figure. Or some similar PoD. The Constitution is never written, and the states remain still divided.
So, the big question is: what now?
-Do the states break up violently, with series of interlocking alliances and rivalries taking hold of the former colonies? In such a scenario, how does the future of each former state play out? May one of these states become more powerful within time and eventually manage to come out on top of the others, unifying the eastern coast at least partially?
-Or, do the Articles of Confederation still manage to keep the states at least a bit together for enough in the future, like the Swiss Confederate Tagsatzung?
-How does each state's Manifest Destiny or expansion to the west play out in such scenarios?
 
I would imagine they will hold together loosely until the first external crisis.

Lets say you get a war of 1812 analogue, the new england states will stay out of the war and go independent as a British protectorate the rest will lock together more for common defense.

A differing first external crisis would see things split differently and hold together differently.
 
Would the divided Anglo-American states even have the economic capacity to buy the whole land?
I don't know, maybe they could band together and pull out a joint purchase, unless that's unlikely. Early America's "settler" culture helped their expansion, i wonder if it could keep expansionist momentum despite some national disunity.
France's control over the whole of Louisiana was already pretty damn weak. they would, in time, sell it to someone.
 
If we imagine New England as a substantial coalition with closer ties to the United Kingdom, Napoleon might not even want to sell to them.
 
If we imagine New England as a substantial coalition with closer ties to the United Kingdom, Napoleon might not even want to sell to them.
Who's to say New England would remain united?

New England mostly consists of Massachusetts and colonies founded by people who were kicked out of or running away from Massachusetts. While there's shared culture and background, there's not a lot of love.

I can see New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and maybe Delaware and very maybe Maryland hanging together though.
 
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