I love the TL but I think I missed something, when did England become Great Britain?
Where Hearts Were Entertaining June: An English Brazil
- Thread starter Witch0Winter
- Start date
Cool, I like the Strong Stuarts in this TL, thats a route too rarely explored.
And PlatoonSgt, I think you're my favourite author on the site, this and Heart of Dixie could not interest me more. Keep up the fantastic work!
And PlatoonSgt, I think you're my favourite author on the site, this and Heart of Dixie could not interest me more. Keep up the fantastic work!
It's the old colonist name for Boston. Back before all the land reclamation, there were three small mountains around the area. Only trances remain today, but here things can be a bit different.
Funnily enough once it was renamed Boston the name 'Trimountaine' was put to a street name and lived on, if modernized, as 'Tremont.' I would say use that spelling for simplicity.
This is an utterly amazing timeline, BTW.
Witch0Winter
Banned
I love me some strong Stuarts, especially since there was so much potential with an early, united Great Britain. It's fun to air them out a bit in this TL. And thank you for the compliment, it really means a lot to hear it.
WEll the way I see it, like how Boston was first called Trimountaine, ITTL they can use that name at first, but then shorten it to Tremont later.
katchen
Banned
Yes, and South Africa took as long as it did (1652) to be settled by Europeans because it looked a lot crappier than it turned out to be. The Cape of Good Hope is covered with a chapparal like scrub called fymbos. Because it didn't have trees (lack of lumber is an issue when it comes to settlement) the Cape appeared to be almost a semi-desert. So the Portuguese never settled it. It took the shipwreck of a VOC Indiaman in 1652 and the castaway crew and passengers making the most of it and surviving by growing vegetables before the Dutch (at least the VOC realized that yes, the Cape of Good Hope did get enough rain in a year to grow European crops and that the Cape would be a strategic location for a colony. Until then, (at least according to James A. Michener "The Covenant") the only thing Europeans used Table Bay for was as a place for ships to take on water (and maybe the occasional game animal) before daring the Cape or the long voyage home and as a letter drop.As always, you ask so many questions that I can't answer because spoilers. Actually, mostly because I don't know yet because I'm still planning out what to do about New Spain.
Witch0Winter
Banned
Where Hearts Were Entertaining June
Laying the Foundation: Part 2 - New France
Laying the Foundation: Part 2 - New France
New France, in contrast to the colonies to the south, could best be described as sparse. On a few hundred people lived within the colony for the first years, despite the colony covering massive amounts of territory compared to New Netherland or Roanocco. One of the “towns”, Montreal, contained a scant two dozen people even ten years after being founded. Any dreams of massive profits gained were quickly dashed as few enough traders settled the colony, and those that did were withered down by disease, harsh winters, and the unfriendly Iroquois. Something had to be done, or the colony would not survive.
King Louis XIII, though hesitant about colonies at first, saw the success of Brazil and began to grow jealous. These jealous feelings turned into ideas about how to improve New France. To start, Louis XIII decreed that New France would become a royal province, thus giving it all the benefits of royal rule such as money and establishment. Samuel de Champlain was installed to run the colony from Quebec in Canada. A royal company, the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France (Company of New France) was begun by both King Louis XIII and Champlain to help sponsor settlers moving to the colony and organize trade in and out of Canada.
In those early years, the Catholic Church attempted to assert its rule over King Louis XIII and New France, but lacked coherent leadership in France to do so, as the appointed Cardinals continuously argued with the church. Jesuit missions were set up in the colonies, and a few priests arrived in Quebec, but otherwise the colony remained wild. This attitude continued after the death of Louis XIII and rise of his son, Louis XIV.
Young and ambitious, Louis XIV ascended to lead France just as the country grew more powerful with the end of the Twenty Years’ War. Long suspected for a being a Protestant himself, he sought to solve the population problem and Huguenot problem all in one. By royal decree, all Huguenots willing to swear an oath to the crown to not establish a church were allowed tracts of land in New France. The idea was pitched as a way to make France safe for Catholics, despite outcry from the church. As said, modern scholars speculate that Louis XIV himself was Protestant or at least friendly toward them, and allowed the passage as a way to create a safe haven outside France for the Huguenots.
Hundreds of new settlers poured into New France, and were only followed by more and more. With the swelling of the population came the swelling of profits. The fur trade rapidly increased, as too did the timber industry, and whatever else the settlers could scrounge from Canada. A short war with the French bolstered by new numbers ended in peace with the Iroquois, allowing further settlement down the St. Lawrence River. By 1700, Montreal had close to 500 settlers, counting all people living on the farms outside the town.
With the swelling of numbers came the expansion of New France’s territory. More and more arriving settlers were there not for religion, but for the wealth promised to them in the New World. They settled south of the St. Lawrence, on the edge of the Great Lakes. Over the water, they traded mostly agricultural products, but still kept up the healthy fur trade. The weather along the Great Lakes also proved more mild compared to further north, and so attracted an increasing amount of settlers on both sides.
As New Netherland expanded, French and Dutch began to meet more frequently. At first, the meetings incurred some level of hostility, but trade quickly broke down cultural and political barriers in the colonies. Using the system of rivers that spread out from the Great Lakes, goods could be transported from Quebec to New Amsterdam quickly and efficiently compared to shipping it out of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, especially in the winter.
King Louis XIV also encouraged further settlement to the south of Canada, toward the other Great Lakes and the Messipia River. The spreading population came into more contact with Native American tribes, and could trade for far more goods that would end up on ships in New Amsterdam, bound for France. However, the prosperity was not without its dangers.
Food stores were a constant worry in the colony, and more and more land had to be cleared of forest to feed the growing colony. This caused severe trouble with the natives. Until that point, the French had gotten along much better with the Native Americans than any other group, as their low population generally left the various tribes alone. With the swelling of numbers (close to 15,000 in 1700 and growing rapidly), came more and more land claimed by the French for only the French.
Relations strained with native tribes, then began to break. Raids on villages increased, and one, Mobile, was burned to the ground, leaving behind 40 dead men, women, and children. The French military was called, and combined with local militias to seek out unfriendly tribes. Combined with disease spread by the colonists, many of the natives, including the Iroquois near the St. Lawrence, were wiped out or lived under the French rule.
At the turn of the century, New France was in an upswing. Money poured in and out of the colony, and brought settlers from all over Europe. Towns and villages sprung up across the countryside, and the territory expanded every day. It was as great a time as any to be France. It was unfortunate that it would not last.
Looks like French fortunes in the New World are on a more-or-less up and down swing. I figure they might get more territory elsewhere with time; then again, they own OTL New England and Canada as part of New France so maybe not. Anyway, nice update!
So, just some further thoughts on the update. It's interesting how New France isn't so friendly towards the Native Nations ITTL due to more colonization, would New Netherlands and/or Roanocco be on friendlier terms with them by comparison, or not so much? Also, I eagerly await the update on New Spain and/or the other Spanish colonies, I figure the butterflies would start to kick in before too long as a result of the different colonies being set up. Also, anything new with the Mughals as of late, or not so much? As usual, please ignore if we're going into future update/spoilers territory.
So, just some further thoughts on the update. It's interesting how New France isn't so friendly towards the Native Nations ITTL due to more colonization, would New Netherlands and/or Roanocco be on friendlier terms with them by comparison, or not so much? Also, I eagerly await the update on New Spain and/or the other Spanish colonies, I figure the butterflies would start to kick in before too long as a result of the different colonies being set up. Also, anything new with the Mughals as of late, or not so much? As usual, please ignore if we're going into future update/spoilers territory
.
Witch0Winter
Banned
The Mughals have been expanding, though their expansion is slow due to overtextending themselves, and they're likely to snap back sometime soon. Roanocco is a bit better with natives, while New Netherland is a bit neutral. Too bad that the plight of the natives can't be solved ITTL.Looks like French fortunes in the New World are on a more-or-less up and down swing. I figure they might get more territory elsewhere with time; then again, they own OTL New England and Canada as part of New France so maybe not. Anyway, nice update!
So, just some further thoughts on the update. It's interesting how New France isn't so friendly towards the Native Nations ITTL due to more colonization, would New Netherlands and/or Roanocco be on friendlier terms with them by comparison, or not so much? Also, I eagerly await the update on New Spain and/or the other Spanish colonies, I figure the butterflies would start to kick in before too long as a result of the different colonies being set up. Also, anything new with the Mughals as of late, or not so much? As usual, please ignore if we're going into future update/spoilers territory
The Mughals have been expanding, though their expansion is slow due to overtextending themselves, and they're likely to snap back sometime soon. Roanocco is a bit better with natives, while New Netherland is a bit neutral. Too bad that the plight of the natives can't be solved ITTL.
To be fair (and as pointed by myself and others elsewhere on the site), there's not really any way TO solve the Natives' plight without a super-early POD. Not that it's impossible or anything, but the 1500s is too late IMO to really change all that much. Although, perhaps New Spain is a possible candidate for better Native integration in North America. Just a thought.
Witch0Winter
Banned
Where Hearts Were Entertaining June
Laying the Foundation: Part 3 - Roanocco
To the south of the trader colonies of New Netherland and New France lay the Portuguese bastion in the New World: Roanocco. First founded off a Spanish outpost, the colony rapidly grew in size. Under the new monarchy in Portugal, the people were encouraged to move off in large numbers to aid in Portugal’s growth as an empire. With Spain breathing down their backs in Europe, plenty of volunteers were had. Roanocco’s capital, São Marcos, quickly grew in size and scope. Though initially only a sustenance farming colony, the introduction of tobacco in 1650 caused the profits to begin to pour in to São Marcos. Located on the Potomaque River, the city could easily ferry its goods downriver to the sea, and take ships up the wide river to land right on the shores.
With the growth of tobacco crops came the reassertion of Brazilian colonial life on the northern American continent. Many of the colony’s early settlers after tobacco were rich planters from Brazil, who brought with them their slaves and know-how for building large scale plantations on the fertile land. Vast fields of tobacco were planted and harvested by slaves, spurring on the economy to greater and greater heights. In this way, the colony’s land expanded rapidly inwards in search of more land to grow on, though it was sparsely settled by Europeans.
Early confrontations with the local Powhatan Tribe were mixed. While the Powhatans were powerful and could sweep down on the burgeoning colony, they were also peaceful and sought understanding with the Portuguese. Unlike in New France and New Netherland, the Portuguese were willing to work out treaties with the natives and even intermarry. As a number of the rich and powerful from Brazil were mulatto anyway, marriages between POwhatans and settlers became increasingly common, and viewed as a way to gain more land for the colony.
Life in the colony was never easy, but it proved to be better than in New Netherland and New France for quite some time. This can be contributed to the Portuguese already having experience with colonies, and thus falling into an old routine. Much of the population was spread out over vast tracts of land along the coast, and concentrated in only a few areas. The largest town remained São Marcos, with a population of 8,000 in 1700. Other fairly large towns included Martim further inland and Vila Nova to the south. The northern reaches of the colony was made primarily of large tobacco plantations, along with other crops, and owned by the plantation holders. Some foreigners worked as indentured servants, but most workers were slaves from Africa. Though life could be hard for them, their survival rate increased dramatically from growing sugarcane in Brazil.
Many of the poor lived further to the south, where they ran personal farms. What farms weren’t for only personal consumption were usually for tobacco. Other industries included pitch and lumber. Lumber was especially important further inland, and became an industry that attracted many young men away from the coasts for promises of higher wages. Felled lumber was taken by river to Vila Nova and São Marcos, where it was sold wholesale to Europeans or sent to New Amsterdam to be made into ships.
After New Amsterdam swallowed New Sweden, the Dutch came into contact with the Portuguese along the Potomaque River. Tensions were high at first, as both colonies looked to expand, but lacked the ability to do so against the other. The Dutch lacked in numbers, but made up for it in weapons and ships. Their colony was a more Europeanized one, and could handle the larger weight. However, as far as settlers went, it quickly proved to be a game in Portugal’s favor. Roanocco had nearly double the inhabitants of New Netherland in 1700, and thus could throw its weight around. The border was forcibly made on the Potomaque, halting New Netherland expansion while Roanocco continued to move further to the south.
With the expansion of the colony came great difficulties. One of the largest was in financing the colony. While money poured in due to tobacco, much of it went to the plantations themselves, rather than the local infrastructure. In comparison to New Netherland, the people of Roanocco lived poorly and oftentimes in squalid conditions. Steps were taken to counteract this, but were not initially successful. One of the largest exports of Portugal’s colonies in Africa were slaves, but slaves only came readily into Roanocco. The Spanish and English had their own ways of obtaining slaves, and slavery was unpopular in New France and New Netherland.
The solution came in the 1680s as Roanocco was granted crown colony status. Portugal had been working to vary its African exports as more and more Portuguese were persuaded to head to the African colonies. The varied products from Africa were in high demand in Europe, and Roanocco quickly became a midway point between the two. European money abounded in São Marcos and elsewhere, allowing for great constructions of towns, settlements, and expansion of the cities. By 1700, living conditions almost matched those in New Netherland.
Portugal had been through a rough century. First they had been taken over by a foreign power, then lost their largest colony. However, by 1700, they had begun to recover. Their African colonies were expanded, more colonies were taken in Asia, and Roanocco began to be a large moneymaker as Brazil had been. Only time would tell if this trend would continue.
Witch0Winter
Banned
Sure, why not? The world in 1700:I like how the TL is going
will there be a map along with this update?
Nice little update on Roanocco! I'm guessing that Sao Marcos is roughly where *Washington is IOTL, given its riverside location, or maybe one of the smaller towns on the river instead? Also, one thing about the Native-Roanoccan relations bit, part of the reason why there was so much intermarriage in OTL's Brazil between the Portuguese and the locals is that the Tupi tribe were particularly receptive to the notion on their own, other circumstances not withstanding (see HERE). The Powhatan tribe, while not impossible to form such a relationship with, was rather smaller and less population-dense than the Tupi were by comparison, and as such not so likely to influence future demographics quite the same way. It's also a good thing that Roanocco developed an alternative to slavery-driven agriculture in their trade-route participation .
.I think I'm becoming a parrot whenever I say "Nice update!" due to me not knowing a thing about 17th century America, but your updates really put a clear picture of what is going on in TL among the respective nations.
Speaking of which, will there be any changes to the Serenissima Respublica de Venexia, or will they just go down hard like OTL?
Speaking of which, will there be any changes to the Serenissima Respublica de Venexia, or will they just go down hard like OTL?
Witch0Winter
Banned
Well hey, just saying that you like it makes it more fun to write the updates.I think I'm becoming a parrot whenever I say "Nice update!" due to me not knowing a thing about 17th century America, but your updates really put a clear picture of what is going on in TL among the respective nations.
Speaking of which, will there be any changes to the Serenissima Respublica de Venexia, or will they just go down hard like OTL?
And Venice, by the way, is having some changes. Chief among them is not joining the HRE for a while longer and retaining more of their land. Viva Venetia!
Witch0Winter
Banned
Where Hearts Were Entertaining June
Laying the Foundation: Part 4 - Messipia and Uruguay
Laying the Foundation: Part 4 - Messipia and Uruguay
The British colony of Messipia began, simply, as a Scottish colony founded by adventurer William Walters. After the union of the Crowns under James I, the colony passed to the British, who became determined to expand it despite its location among Spanish claimed land. With the Spanish Crown in desperate need of funds, however, the colony was soon bought. A retired general in the British Army known as Sir Richard Davies was given command of the colony after he personally volunteered to help build a suitable city. The Scottish colony had mostly consisted of small huts built among native villages, and lacked any great and suitable place for Englishmen to live.
Traveling to the colony in 1620, Sir Davies picked a spot of high ground above the flood-prone banks of the lower Messipia River. He named the future town Portsmouth after his own home town in England, and to serve as a name for the future capital of the entire Messipia colony. Though built with high prospects, the initial years of the colony were not easy. The climate, though an improvement over tropical Brazil, were still difficult on the colonists. Portsmouth was planted in a wet thicket of willows and dwarf palmettos, infested with malaria and alligators. Despite this, however, settlers were eager to move to the burgeoning colony. Trade with the natives was strong, and fishing provided an abundant way of life for simple colonists. By 1625, Portsmouth population numbered 100, with another 50 in the surrounding area. The Messipia civilization of natives was nearby, and generally amicable with the settlers. Unlike in other colonies, Messipia was planned to be a farmer and simple colony,so conflicts with the natives remained few.
Due to this nature, Messipia got its first major boost in the 1640s as the Anglican Church began to tighten around England. The Church, in dire need of reform, suppressed smaller sects who wished to purify or otherwise change the church. Facing persecution in England, they fled for the New World and away from Europe. They landed in Portsmouth, over 100 settlers at first, and then increasing numbers in the ocming years. They settled along the bayous and wetlands, eaking out a living where they could. Their diligence caused the colony to quickly grow.
However, for the first years, the colony steadfastly remained a vanity project. Little of value came out, and the town of Portsmouth remained sad and small in comparison to Port Elizabeth in Brazil. Despite this, the future seemed bright for Messipia as more and more colonists poured in every year and the land expanded farther and farther out, claiming vast territories in the New World.
Farther to the south, a new colony was being birthed as well. Since gaining Brazil, Britain had been given almost unlimited access to Asia through ships sailing from Port Elizabeth and Raleigh, out into the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This access gave Britain vast amounts of wealth from the rich treasures in India, East Asia, and southeast Asia. Brazil, not made of fools, quickly began to tax all the goods coming in from Asia. This brought further wealth to the colony, but at the cost of a nuisance for the traders.
Most small trading companies could not do anything about it, but most small companies were not the East India Company, founded in conjunction with the West Indies Company. They had both the power and will to not take any of Brazil’s high taxation, and began to look for a way around it. Messipia was much too far away, and the taxes were just as high in New Spain. However, they also knew that New Spain had grown very large and tedious for Spain to manage, and the nation was looking to sell off some of its land to prop up the dying Habsburg monarchy.
The Rio de la Plata area of New Spain was particularly rich, and settlement was igh to the south of the large river and bay. However, the flatlands north of the Rio de la Plata were sparsely populated and, even better, not well governed by the Spanish government. This place was known by the Spanish as Uruguay. The East India Company, in 1678, dispatched ships to explore the coast of Uruguay in search of a suitable area for ships. They found one in the middle of the coast, a natural bay that was deep enough for large ships and could make for a fine town. Even better, the climate of Uruguay was mild and unchanging, and devoid of rainforests.
In 1680, the East India Company brought a proposal before the New Spain government to buy the area of Uruguay to settle and use as a stopover from Asia. With a generous sum of money, the government agreed and handed over the land, only making sure the EIC would not expand south of Rio de la Plata or west of the Uruguay River.
Starting in 1682, the bay that had been scouted out by the company had a town established on it, named New York after the hometown of many of the expedition’s sailors. The town would serve as the capital of the colony. The duties of the colony would be, unlike Brazil, to simply be there to service ships and keep goods flowing rather than be productive itself. To that end, the Spanish cattle ranchers in the inland areas of Uruguay were left to their own devices while the English population was concentrated on New York, to keep the city growing and able to service the incoming ships of the East India Company.
Life was easy in Uruguay. The average Englishman was only expected to serve in a bar, hotel, trade shop, or on the harbor to help the ships and sailors of the Company. Profits were high as sailors expended their built up pay and the EIC paid generously. Due to the favorable conditions, by 1700 the colony had expanded to over 8,000 Englishmen, with 5,000 of them concentrated around New York. The rest established small farms and ranches in the flat, grassy interior of the colony.
Over the years following, Uruguay continued on a slow and steady growth as a stopover to Asia and a place to get away from the rest of life for a bit of easy living. It was one of the most efficient colonies, and New York quickly became one of the best shipyards in all of the Americas.
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Nice little update, Sarge! Things seem to be turning up roses for Britain, that's three good colonies they've got now, and that's just in the New World. Also, I like how Messipia seems to be growing bit by bit, albeit in a different way than the region did in OTL (although with the Brits running the show maybe I shouldn't be so surprised!). I wonder how things are going in Brazil and Britain on the home front, not to mention how New Spain's coming along.
Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
katchen
Banned
Staying north of the Rio de la Plata isn't going to work in the long run. Sealskins are simply too lucrative of a resource for the East India Company or the British Crown to ignore. So are the whales and whale oil farther south. And finally, the wool that can be grazed south of the Rio Negro. And Cape Horn and the Pacific.
The British will be on top of Spain in the area as soon as the War of the Spanish Succession heats up. Frankly, it's doubtful that the Spanish will hang onto anything south of the Equator.