Post by huojin on Feb 16, 2016 4:30:23 GMT
In the Quebec Act 1774, Britain reallocated the Northwest Territory (aka the Ohio River Valley and other assorted areas) from the Indian Reserve (declared under the Royal Proclamation of 1763) to Quebec (aka Canada). As part of the Treaty of Paris 1783 which ended the American Revolutionary War, this situation was reversed. What if it hadn't been?
Britain was originally unwilling to accept this boundary, preferring to maintain the bountiful Ohio River Valley and control of the Great Lakes. The position was actually supported by Spain and France, who were concerned that American insistences on the border being the Mississippi River would make America huge. The Thirteen Colonies were already as large as France and Spain combined, and the proposed border would double that - as well as continuing the trend of land grabs that could threaten New Spain and the newly-recovered Florida.
The Treaty of Paris is concluded, America gains possession of the Indian Reserve (aka the small strip which amounts to the Appalachians, plus a big chunk of southern territory filled with Creek, Choctaw, Muskogee, and Cherokee).
Do the British Loyalists resettle in Quebec (Canada) in this eventuality, or do some settle in the Ohio Valley?
Does Britain establish a Native American buffer state, as attempted with both the Western Confederacy and Tecumseh's Confederacy?
Does the "State of Franklin" successfully manage to join New Spain, and/or bring the Territory of Kentucky into that sphere of influence too?
Does America continue its expansionist policy, executing the Cherokee-American Wars with the same force?
Does British presence in the Ohio Valley give enough support to the Cherokees and Dragging Canoe to help them resist American dominance, forming a buffer state here instead?
Did small republics like the State of Muskogee or the Trans-Oconee Republic survive in the region?
Did Spanish interventionism and harassment lead to war between the young USA and Spain?
Does Manifest Destiny ever develop fully as a doctrine?
Does the Louisiana Purchase ever occur, considering the possibility America might not even border la Louisiane, and if it did, it would either be at a point full of angry natives, or without any direct access to the sea?
Does Canada become a more significant player in the narrative of North America?
Do British claims to Oregon Territory persist without US involvement or interference?
Really just opening this up to people to consider, I think it's an interesting though experiment.
