Wild America's

Some disaster on the Bering land bridge causes no mass migration to the continents. A huge storm wrecks the ships traveling to Hawaii and Pacific Islanders die on their way to South America. The result is once the Europeans land they find two whole continents completely devoid of human life.
How does this change the U.S? Is colonization slowed or quickened? Without corn or tomatoes how does that change world history.
 

Keenir

Banned
Some disaster on the Bering land bridge causes no mass migration to the continents. A huge storm wrecks the ships traveling to Hawaii and Pacific Islanders die on their way to South America. The result is once the Europeans land they find two whole continents completely devoid of human life.

or mammoths, bears, camels...

How does this change the U.S? Is colonization slowed or quickened? Without corn or tomatoes how does that change world history

you've also stopped Eurasia from getting the horse.
 
Empty America is one of the legendary TLs.

It doesn't really bother explaining *why* the Americas are empty, so it doesn't worry about things like horses and stuff.
 
or mammoths, bears, camels...



you've also stopped Eurasia from getting the horse.

Beringia did not raise only once. A catastrophic event like the OP suggests around the time humans crossed into America (assuming it is even possible, which I doubt) would not affect most animals since those had already crossed way earlier. Modern horses were already in the Old World more than a million years before humans walked in the opposite direction, and there were fairly similar beasts before that like Hipparion anyway.

I think only the moose/elk, the brown bear and the wapiti crossed as late as we are considering, in fact.
 
How does this change the U.S? Is colonization slowed or quickened?

Butterflies tens of thousands of years prior to the USA and you think it'll exist?

That's a hell of a net.
 
I foresee a comparably slow immigration at first. Why go there if all the gold is still to be mined?

And why risk you life to settle somewhere where you still have to work for yourself. ;-) That is, until someone brings an African in chains. Now that is an idea.

How are the odds for the very first settlers in Northern America without helpful relations with those who KNOW the place? My guess is, in most cases worse.

Now as others mentioned, of course the butterflies are enormous. If they remain harmless until some guy with three ships loses his way en route to India, then...

- 1st thesis: Without Aztecs and Mayas to be crushed, I suspect the Spanish share of the New World to be a lot less impressive.

- 2nd thesis: as stated above, overall a slower initial establishment of settlements

- 3rd thesis: colonial latecomers (Russians, Germans, Italians) might have an easier time to get a share of the place if settlement and colonization are delayed
 
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