WI - British sell some or most West Indies territory to US after WW1

What if in the aftermath of WW1, the British decided to sell some or most of the British West Indies (minus say British Honduras / Belize, Bermuda and Cayman Islands, etc) to the US in order to repay wartime debt?
 
It is something that have read was mentioned in past threads, despite the US having its own motivations for not taking on any additional Caribbean territories aside from Puerto Rico though what if the US agreed to such a deal.
 
It all depends on integration, if the US gives full and equal right, then the US will have a larger economy base.

If however there are some different laws for different people it MAY become a drain on the economy and under no circumstance would it be as economically beneficial as if equal rights were installed.

So the question to your question is, how well the US handles it.
 
Bahamas could be much more populated (and likely much whiter as a result) if they share in Florida's development. It's also the only island I could see becoming a state, since odds are it will have similar politics to Florida's and thus there won't be a worry about adding too many Democrats/minorities/whatever like Puerto Rico.

Other than that, most of these islands will be slightly richer, but would look like the US Virgin Islands and still have a lot of problems. Obviously there will be a bigger Afro-Caribbean community in the US, and for that matter Haitians too.
 
I think that the residents might have something to say about being bought and sold. It's not necessarily good optic to regard black populations as fungible property. In OTL history, most of these countries and regions would become independent.

What exactly are Britain's motivations?
 
The 1980 GOP presidential ticket (Ronald Reagan-Eugenia Charles):

reagan-charles.jpg
 
I’d say “full and equal rights” was highly unlikely given the state of equal rights in America herself in that timeframe.

Perhaps, though initially envisioning whatever West Indies territories are ruled by the US being of similar status to Puerto Rico if not becoming part of the latter in the case of nearby territories or as part of other US states.

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Deleted member 94680

Perhaps, though initially envisioning whatever West Indies territories are ruled by the US being of similar status to Puerto Rico if not becoming part of the latter in the case of nearby territories or as part of other US states.

I don’t get you? Minority rights were terrible/nonexistent in both mainland USA and Puerto Rico at the time, so how is this applicable?

Other than that, most of these islands will be slightly richer, but would look like the US Virgin Islands and still have a lot of problems. Obviously there will be a bigger Afro-Caribbean community in the US, and for that matter Haitians too.

Where do Haitians come into it? This is about former British West Indian possessions becoming American colonies? Are you suggesting there’d be some kind of ‘sympathetic’ Haitian immigration spike, or that Haitian immigration to (now) American Caribbean islands would increase the size of the Haitian community in the US?
 
I don’t get you? Minority rights were terrible/nonexistent in both mainland USA and Puerto Rico at the time, so how is this applicable?

Am aware and cannot say whether the US gaining some or most of the British West Indies would significantly improve minority rights or not compared to OTL.

Was looking in terms of the status of such territories under US rule based on the map shown, with the British likely retaining territories such as Guyana, Belize, Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, etc.
 

SsgtC

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They only territories I could see the US being interested in are The Bahamas, The Turks & Caicos and maybe the Windward and Leeward Islands. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Cayman Islands if they're forced into it. The first possessions give them a defensible ring completely blocking access to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. That makes the area even more of an American lake than it was in OTL.

I think that the residents might have something to say about being bought and sold. It's not necessarily good optic to regard black populations as fungible property. In OTL history, most of these countries and regions would become independent.

What exactly are Britain's motivations?
I think that, other than the Bahamas, those territories still have a reasonable chance to become independent. Maybe the US holds onto the Windward and Leeward Islands as well. Overall though, I don't think the US would be all that interested in holding onto most of those territories for very long. They don't really offer much to the US, and well, they're quite a bit "darker" than the US would like at that time.

Am aware and cannot say whether the US gaining some or most of the British West Indies would significantly improve minority rights or not compared to OTL.
At best it stays the same. More likely, it gets a bit worse. Particularly with restricting citizenship from the new population and likely placing immigration controls on them from immigrating to the mainland.
 
I could see a really big political question here for today if this had come to pass, to wit, "Where the Hell do we build the wall?"...
 
If it's going to happen at all, the most likely time for it would seem to be World War II, with the US under a different president than FDR:

"Each lend-lease opponent, it seemed, had a different alternative to FDR's comprehensive legislation... Several anti-interventionists proposed bargaining over certain British colonies within the Western Hemisphere. The British, said the New York Daily News, should simply give the United States its pick of sites as well as other 'conveniently located pieces of the empire.' Wood spoke of the transfer of Newfoundland or British Honduras. [Hamilton] Fish's eye was on the West Indies. Representative Melvin J. Maas proposed an amendment enabling the U.S. to purchase all British possessions in the Western Hemisphere, with the obvious exceptions of Canada and Nova Scotia..." Justus D. Doenecke, Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939-1941, pp. 170-171. https://books.google.com/books?id=XYFTZYJTyGAC&pg=PA171
 
How might the locals react to being bought like property?

How are they being bought or treated like property? It's a transfer of the land they live on, and the white upper class is being "bought" too and are the people who will experience the biggest changes, at least at first. For the average worker on the islands, its business as normal, and it isn't like the US will treat them worse. They're still a colony after all. It's just like the US purchase of the Danish Virgin Islands.

Where do Haitians come into it? This is about former British West Indian possessions becoming American colonies? Are you suggesting there’d be some kind of ‘sympathetic’ Haitian immigration spike, or that Haitian immigration to (now) American Caribbean islands would increase the size of the Haitian community in the US?

Haitians are a major ethnic group in much of the British Caribbean, oftentimes having arrived as illegal immigrants. TTL these Haitians will now be in US territory. Some may stay there, some may go to the mainland after a while.

The development/eventual statehood of the Bahamas in the later 20th century will also be leading to a larger Haitian community, since Little/Great Inagua TTL will likely be coated in hotels and tacky development Florida style (instead of practically empty). And Inagua isn't far from Haiti and will likely be a major target for immigration as a result. I could see it being a major political issue, that local developers/business owners are employing Haitian illegal immigrants at sub-minimum wage.

Am aware and cannot say whether the US gaining some or most of the British West Indies would significantly improve minority rights or not compared to OTL.

Was looking in terms of the status of such territories under US rule based on the map shown, with the British likely retaining territories such as Guyana, Belize, Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, etc.
I think the experience of the USVI is a good illustration of what will happen in this area in terms of development and such. Except for the Bahamas, which will look more like Southern Florida (geologically it's very similar) mixed with Hawaii.
 
Another thing to consider is how US controlling a number of West Indian territories would impact its relationship with neighboring Cuba, since the latter would be surrounded by US ruled Jamaica, Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, Would the US presence compared to OTL have likely prevented the Cuban Revolution revolution on the island?
 
I think this might have a more significant impact on Britain than on the US if this results in neglible West Indian migration to Britain after the Second World War.
 
Not to mention the fact a number of ATL US West Indies territories (especially Trinidad & Tobago) would be in close proximity to South America.
 
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