WI/AHC: less empire oriented colonization

What if colonization, instead of taking the form of conquest by large empires, was more oriented towards emigration and filibustering (in the 1800s sense of the word)?

Is there a way to set a precedent for settlers to 'go native'? (They could still seek out to carve out states of their own or try to rise up in rank).

The appeals of going to a new land when you're not a firstborn son or when you've lost what you have, or when you're oppressed, remain.

Meanwhile, native empires might allow foreign settlers since they would bring Western technology but there would be little to no risk of betrayal and conquest. Unless a nearby empire had been completely flooded by foreigners, then they'd fear that that would happen to them too.

Or do religious reasons (after all the Treaty of Tordesillas specifically split the non-Christian world) and other reasons (fear of disease by the natives, and the amount of gold and silver present in the Spanish Main) prevent this?
 
I don't know for sure however I think anytime after 1500 colonization is going to be messy, however not necessarily as messy as OTL (we pretty much are the worst possible screw).
After the renaissance I think that some issues are guaranteed.
 
This seems surprisingly doable in places like India, actually-I can certainly think of situations where this works and this was to some extent the case OTL, esp. in the earlier stages of colonization and with certain skilled advisors. You probably need less of a population explosion in Europe, which seems doable, and probably a good deal less racism in Europe(again, seems doable) so there isn't as much of a stigma against intermarriage and acculturation. I don't really see this happening in North American unless the Spanish are badly, badly crippled, but who knows?
 
I don't know for sure however I think anytime after 1500 colonization is going to be messy, however not necessarily as messy as OTL (we pretty much are the worst possible screw).
After the renaissance I think that some issues are guaranteed.
Nah, there are worse possible scenarios for the native perspective. The Viking and Malinese colonial attempts could have succeeded, and a Japanese colonial attempt could have possibly occurred. In addition to OTL European colonization.

As far as the scenario goes, a few settler colonies that are directly parts of empires are okay. Trade ports and even systems of trade ports are okay. And huge empires are okay if they are native, mixed, or originally native.

This seems surprisingly doable in places like India, actually-I can certainly think of situations where this works and this was to some extent the case OTL, esp. in the earlier stages of colonization and with certain skilled advisors. You probably need less of a population explosion in Europe, which seems doable, and probably a good deal less racism in Europe(again, seems doable) so there isn't as much of a stigma against intermarriage and acculturation. I don't really see this happening in North American unless the Spanish are badly, badly crippled, but who knows?
Actually, more or equal population in Europe wouldn't necessarily affect the possibility of this happening. More people means more war, meaning more refugees, as well as more craftsmen and skilled individuals, because there are more people in general.

Also, racism by Europeans outside the Caribbean can be butterflied away if you lessen the trade of African slaves. The Caribbean is doomed to be depopulated and then resettled, and the settlers best able to survive would be Africans, who won't choose to go there unless you have a pretty early Malinese-Imperial POD, or after a few regions in Africa are modernized.

But you could have the Europeans looking at the Caribbean as a land of slaveowner 'rednecks' and pirates. The Europeans there would be racist, but their opinions would be disregarded overseas. "Give us the sugar and we'll try not to think about how it got harvested". Meanwhile, they could see a 'Cortesian empire', a surviving Christian-converted Tahuantinsuyu/Inca Empire, and the Kingdom of Kongo as mysterious, majestic faraway lands.

Of course, if the native empires survive and get involved in trade with Europeans, they might actually be the ones buying the slaves.

And conversion to Christianity by the native empires is necessary for them to be respected. But the Jesuits etc. were not imperial colonial states, and they were very widespread and powerful IOTL, so that's not too difficult.
 
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