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BlueBeaver25 — United States in Wilfred's Universe (~1885)

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Published: 2023-08-10 13:42:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 1021; Favourites: 7; Downloads: 0
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Description

Map contains the 34 states and 7 territories of the Union, circa. 1880s but prior to 1889.

Where State Borders Shift

Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the territories of Oklahoma and Dakota and states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa were created. Northwestern Florida and Northeastern Louisiana (Spanish and French respectively) successfully negotiated on increased land inland from the coasts from what was then the Georgia Territory. The treaty of Madrid, in which the Spanish surrendered the land in present-day S. Mississippi and S. Alabama never took place, and this land became the West Spanish and Louis territories until joining their respective states in 1793. 

Yazoo Land Fraud

Georgia, with the support of corrupt public officials such as Governor George Mathews and the Georgia general assembly, sold 40 million acres of land as far west as the Mississippi River to three major companies, the first of which purchased 600,000 acres along the Yazoo River to develop for tobacco production. Roughly 20% of the land sold by Georgia overlapped, or otherwise remained unclaimed or belonged to a number of tribes. By the time the Yazoo Land Scandal was discovered, tens of thousands of civilians and the three corrupt businesses had already moved in and had legally binding deeds to the land. Up to 40% of the land fraudulently sold to these three companies was resold to innocent civilians. When this was discovered in 1795, the three businesses were shut down and all parties involved were either arrested, impeached, or fled the state. Following a supreme court case in 1802 that determined Georgia legally responsible for paying back all parties scammed, the state agreed. By 1800 the West Spanish and Louis territories joined Florida and Louisiana. Georgia’s extension west remained, and attempts to break away never gained substantial support. 

War of 1812

Following the burning of the capitol in 1812, US troops marched as far north as the St. Lawrence River to lay siege on the settlements of York (present-day Toronto), Montreal, and numerous British military installations. Fort Toronto was the first structure to be destroyed by US troops, and all therein were killed or taken as war prisoners. During the following days a third of York was burned, including most buildings along the southern edge of the harbor in addition to hundreds of structures on the southern side of the city. British troops managed to hold off US troops from passing  west of Adelaide Street and north of Yonge Street. Death totals ranged around 4,200 for troops and 288 for civilians, all of which the US took no responsibility for, as civilians received a half-hour warning to retreat before American troops advanced upon the city.

Following weeks of fighting with no notable gains on either side, a stalemate was reached and president James Madison agreed to surrender the cities north of the St. Lewis River and maintained no military presence save for small military posts across the river to ensure a peace-through-strength sense of diplomacy. In return, at King George’s command, British forces abandoned Washington, though troops on both sides were still somewhat hostile, with dozens ending up court martialed or killed for threatening each other.


Annexation of South Ontario

The US would go on to annex lands between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario in the following years, establish the territory of York, and this land would go to Michigan. The border would be established approximately 40 miles south of Toronto, and cross diagonally for roughly 70 miles, continuing north roughly 43 miles, following present-day Highway 6 and ending at Owens Sound, Ontario. In order to appease the British over the annexation of the York Territory, the British were given exclusive water rights in Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, and tariff-free trading between Michigan and New York. While elected officials reluctantly agreed, a steady opposition among British citizens remained, leading to civil unrest and rioting between the bordering cities for decades. This largely fizzled out by the time of the civil war, and a notable amount of military-age men fled to Canada at this time.

Due to bitterness between the two lands, the Treaty of 1818 never took place, British forces would never cede their occupation of lands encompassing North Dakota/northern Minnesota, and the US would never cede their ownership of a narrow strip of land north of Montana. 

A hurricane and historic flooding combined with hundreds of destroyed buildings led to the relocation of the US capitol in Philadelphia, which was declared independent of Pennsylvania shortly thereafter. This angered the south, who believed the capital would be under northern influence and as such southerners felt their way of life was threatened. 

Further West

With the Indian Removal Act of 1830, tens of thousands of natives were forced to inhabit the Oklahoma territory. Some would later go on to aid Texas in the Texas Revolution. Once Texas became a state however, their rights as citizens of the independent state would disappear and begrudged militias would massacre them, or at best push them further westward to the Colorado and Arizona territories.

The US annexed Texas in 1845. In this timeline Texas encompassed the Oklahoma panhandle and extended into what would be New Mexico in real life. 

In 1846 the US annexed Columbia Territory, including roughly half of present-day British Columbia. The state of Oregon was created in 1859, and the remaining land was divided between Columbia and Montana territories. In 1848 the US acquired a wide swath of land west of Texas and South of Montana territory, which included all land north of the Gila River, and the California Peninsula. Nevada became a state in 1864, occupying the northern part of real-life California. Colorado territory became a safe haven for Mormons fleeing persecution, who had founded Salt Lake City a year prior in 1847. As of the 1880s the Arizona territory remained disputed.

Civil War

Following the election of President Lincoln in 1860, the confederacy seceded. In this world West Virginia never splits from Virginia, and remains a loyal slave state due to increased public sentiment of their population lacking adequate representation with the capitol being relocated so far north in Philadelphia. Spanish-occupied Cuba allies with the south and fights in exchange for rights over Floridian ports and trade. Confederate states include Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, with Missouri and Kentucky being Union slave states. All other states and territories remain in the Union as free states.

In 1861, Pennsylvania, a part of the Union and border state, was easily invaded by Confederate forces in Baltimore en-route to Philadelphia. The battle of Wilmington, similar to the real-life battle of Gettysburg, marks the start of the civil war. With the narrow strip of Delaware taken over by Confederate forces, villages south of Philadelphia are burned but the city itself is kept safe by tens of thousands of Union soldiers.

The civil war formally ended in 1865. The 13th amendment quickly passes. Lincoln considers running for a third term but is viewed as weak by the radical republicans, because he doesn't want blacks, aside from veterans and highly educated ones, to have the right to vote. Because he's viewed as a moderate and coward by others, he declines a third term and endorses his Secretary of War, Ulysses S. Grant. Grant wins in a landslide in 1868, helps pass the 14th and 15th Amendments, and Lincoln retires from politics, returning to Illinois with his wife. Grant is never assassinated and wins a second term, though his term goes on to be marred by the blatant corruption of the gilded age. He is president as of this map's time.

Simplified map changes:


- Gadsden purchase never happens - Arizona territory ends at the Gila River.

- Baja California is part of California.

- US takes around half of British Columbia. Becomes Columbia territory.

- US never cedes land above Montana

- Britain never cedes land around North Dakota/Minnesota

- Wisconsin has Michigan's panhandle

- Michigan extends into Canada; Toronto sits on state border

- US takes over Toronto after Canadian troops burn Washington

- Capitol stays in Philadelphia, a city which is between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

- Northeast states extend up to St. Lawrence river; New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are made into a state. Montreal sits on Vermont's border.

- ~34 states and 7 territories: Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, California, Nevada, Oregon.

- And the territories: Columbia, Montana, Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Cuba


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