alternatehistory.com

I'm writing a story which is complicated to describe but the elevator pitch would be the various forms of marriage in Heinlein's 'Moon is a Harsh Mistress' dropped into pre-statehood Montana in a sort of 'Deadwood' setting. It wasn't intended to be AH, but as I wrote more, it became clear that the events I was describing would have much wider implications if the Deseret Wars and the US attitude to Mormon polygamy were anything to go on. So if things are to pan out the way I was intending, then I need to find some way to reduce the impact of the Federal Government and allow a secular society to develop with much more open attitudes to sexual matters than 19th and 20th century USA.

So, was there ever at any time a realistic prospect of US Territories deciding not to become States but plumping for independence instead? I've seen references to Cascadia, and to Jefferson speculating about a Republic of the Pacific, but nothing substantial. I'm a bit hazy about the transition into becoming a US Territory, but I'm guessing that once Territorial status was confirmed the chances of it not proceeding to Statehood, at least in the Continental US, were remote.
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