What if Spain got a much bigger "Florida" from the 1783 Treaty of Paris?

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Monthly Donor
The reclaimed Spanish Florida extends up to the 25th parallel (Mississippi-Tennessee border) or up to a river line, either the Tennessee, Cumberland or Ohio.

The east border border is north of the Florida peninsula is either the Chattahoochee river or the line of the Ocmulgee and Altamaha rivers.
 
basically, you're saying WI Spain actually got what it claimed: more or less the OTL states of Mississippi, Alabama, and maybe western Georgia.
They weren't really disabused of that claim for a decade or so, although the US also claimed most of that region. Natchez was the only portion of it with any real European presence, and Spain occupied it at the end of the AR, but couldn't hold on to it for too long. The rest was largely Indian country. Since Spain really didn't do much OTL with what they had, all this POD changes is that Spain turns over a little more territory to France in 1800, and France sells a little more territory to the US.
 
American settlers would probably come through the Cumberland Gap and eventually settle in the northern half of that territory but settlement would be slower than OTL, and the purchase of Florida would occur later or possibly be a series of purchases going further south each time.
 
I have to eat a bit of crow. I lumped in the region with the Louisiana portion of New Spain. The OP includes it in with Florida. Doesn't do anything regarding Spain's doing anything with it, but it does affect when and how the US gets it.

the most realistic boundary is the Tennessee river. south and west of it is what Spain claimed, OTL. Can't see them getting, or the US accepting, anything north or east of it. I don't really see all that territory being lumped in with Florida, but that's the OP.

This means that IF the US still buys LA, and they're still going to want New Orleans, the connection would be through Illinois. This would give them an opportunity to squeeze Spanish Florida from two sides. Nap may also force Spain to give up all but OTL florida in 1800, which brings us back to my original post.

IF no LA purchase, that's a game changer. Otherwise, it's just a matter of when the US takes what is OTL southeast US.
 

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Monthly Donor
American settlers would probably come through the Cumberland Gap and eventually settle in the northern half of that territory but settlement would be slower than OTL, and the purchase of Florida would occur later or possibly be a series of purchases going further south each time.

I would think this would slow down the admission of at least Alabama and Mississippi as states, and delay the Trail of Tears at least for tribes in those areas. Could have a knock-on delaying the admission of Florida for a few years too. Maybe on Arkansas and Louisiana.

Assuming Vermont, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois are all admitted to the Union on schedule, what does this do to the slave state/free state balance in the Senate?

Or is the expectation of a Slave State/Free State balance never established? When did said balance become a significant concern for northern and southern sectional interests anyway? 1820? Or long before?
 

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Monthly Donor
And for a variation, what if the land north and west of the line from the mouth of the Perdido River northeast to West Point Lake and the northeastern bend of the Chattahoochee river was designated as part of Louisiana (as it was pre-1763) and is retroceded to France, with Florida consisting of the lands south and east of there (as was also the case, pre-1763).
 
Top