What if the Scotch-Irish that populate the Appalachians go all native? What could cause them to do this? I've been thanking about an American Boer-style-trek and the two ideas combined could lead to something very interesting, I think.
In such a scenario would it be possible for British troops to be used to halt colonial expansion west into say, French or Spanish lands?ARW is averted (taxation with representation?), so Britain maintains control of the thirteen colonies, possibly administrating them jointly with their other North American colonial possessions. Irish/Scottish migrate en mass to the Western side of the Appalachians and the mountains themselves, settling along the river valleys from the Great Lakes down to the Gulf.
Eventually they form a spattering of republics based upon Enlightenment-era ideals mixed with Scottish/Irish memories of British Imperialism. As the British-Americans drive the natives westwards out of their home-lands, the Scots/Irish Republics welcome and absorb them, forming a new culture throughout the area.
Just a random idea.
EDIT: Could get very interesting if the Republics successful check *American expansion westward, balkanizing the North American continent.
The thing is colonization were very different in Latin America. First of all more tribes had agriculture than in North, your examples: Mexico and Peru even had well developed civilizations that were conquered. The Spanish were more conquerors than settlers, ruling over Natives, and many of the Spanish settlers were single guys, who thus married native women, allowing the cultures to easily merge. North American colonization was dominated by whole families migrating, starting own agriculture on land that had belonged to hunter/ gatherers.
What you need is some kind of strong Native civilization in North America, like the Aztec Empire or the Incas, since that would change the face of North American colonization.
Make it non-english, and cut amount of women arriving in colonies by 90%.How can we get a United States analogue with cultural influence from the native tribes, in a similar vein as to Mexico or Peru.
Perhaps one of the Great Awakenings causes successful large scale native conversion to Christianity?