American States in the Caribbean?

TheNordicBrit

Hey Guys,

Lately I've been into thinking of how you could actually get American states in the Caribbean. I know in some ways this is cliche-ish, however I rarely find scenarios in which any island bar Cuba is an American state. Thus I'd like a thread in which we discuss how the United States (and Confederacy if you think you can work out a way) can get more states in the Caribbean.

This can include events after 1900, however I always feel the best way is for some divergence pre-1900. Here are a few ideas of my own, some may be a little ASB but if you think so just say.

  • Under the Presidency of Polk the Spanish sell Cuba to the United States for (in modern terms) around 2.5 billion dollars.
  • The French manage to hold onto Haiti by not re-instating slavery. Thus there isn't a huge amount of animosity between blacks and whites in Haiti. Years later after American migration to Haiti it's sold to America for a decent price.
  • Somehow get the US Senate to vote in favour of annexing the Dominican Republic, possibly through the Haitian scenario above which would make American interests on Hispaniola heightened.

What do you think of the above scenarios? What are your own ideas on American expansion and statehood's within the Caribbean?
 
Tallest Skil

Tallest Skil

Banned
When Haiti went bankrupt in the late 1800s, its president pleaded for the U.S. to accept it as a state. Congress split 50-50 on that vote, which was a shame.

Cuba could've easily remained part of the U.S. after the Spanish-American War.

Jamaica and the Bahamas would be interesting to see.
 
Alex Richards

Alex Richards

Donor
Well, if we posit the old 'Britain and the US end up on opposite sides of a world war after 1900', it could be possible to create a scenario where several of the British islands in the Caribbean, such as the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Windward Islands, are annexed as part of the peace treaty. Filibustering may work in some places as well.
 

danwild6

Many of the colonist in the British West Indies were sympathetic to American complaints leading up to the outbreak of the War of Independence. British defeats at the Siege of Gibraltar and Jamaica are possible and may have lead to the US receiving some or all of the British West Indies. The French and their Indian allies missed a golden opportunity to deal the British a crippling blow in India but if that changes and the British are beaten there Britain's position at the negotiating table would be severly weakened.
 
Cuāuhtemōc

Cuāuhtemōc

Banned
Dominican Republic was almost annexed to the United States but the vote failed to pass by one Cozumel was considered to be purchased to send former slaves but with the French intervention, they decided against it. Bahamas are pro-American and could've gone to the Patriots.
 

Whanztastic

I think Bermuda is an interesting one too, although not Atlantic. IIRC, it was basically considered part of Virginia until the ARW. It could be swept up with it.

How about an American-Dutch War? :cool: No idea how but it would offer some holdings. With the US snatching up the ABC islands, having US territory less than 30km from Venezuela would have some interesting impacts.
 
Umbric Man

Umbric Man

Emperor-of-New-Zealand said:
...Wouldn't it be easier just to have Puerto Rico given statehood at some point?
Click to expand...

:D

That's what I thought of!

------

Incidentally, Whanztastic and Danwild got it right. Bermuda and the Bahamas were made up of the same stock of angry colonists the mainland ones contained. The 1776 raid on Nassau may very well have been at the behest of the Bahamians and the Bermudians gave their gunpowder stock to George Washington in 1775 - and were the only British colony Congress officially traded with in the war.

Bermuda was almost overrrun twice in 1777 and 1779 (two times a creaky old ship came *just in time* to save the island and drive off the occupiers), while the Bahamas were captured in 1778 and liberated by Britain with again, a sheer stroke of luck (a loyalist warned the more powerful British ship coming to recapture the colony of the American warship's plan to ambush it, and so forced the rebel to retreat).

Any other British West Indian island joining is sheer ASB, since these two were the closest to America and the least populated, economically valuable, etc. They didn't gain true value till the Loyalist influx and new stragetic situation made them suddenly worthwhile.
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

Umbric Man said:
:D

That's what I thought of!

------

Incidentally, Whanztastic and Danwild got it right. Bermuda and the Bahamas were made up of the same stock of angry colonists the mainland ones contained. The 1776 raid on Nassau may very well have been at the behest of the Bahamians and the Bermudians gave their gunpowder stock to George Washington in 1775 - and were the only British colony Congress officially traded with in the war.

Bermuda was almost freed twice in 1777 and 1779 (two times a creaky old ship came *just in time* to re-conquer the island and drive off the liberators), while the Bahamas were liberated in 1778 and captured by Britain with again, a sheer stroke of luck (a loyalist warned the more powerful British ship coming to liberate the colony of the American warship's plan to ambush it, and so forced the rebel to retreat).

Any other British West Indian island joining is sheer ASB, since these two were the closest to America and the least populated, economically valuable, etc. They didn't gain true value till the Loyalist influx and new stragetic situation made them suddenly worthwhile.
Click to expand...

Fixed it for you. :)
 

Ofaloaf

I hadn't heard of the Dominican Republic annexation thing before. When did that come up for a vote? I'd like to look up more on the subject.
 

Paul Spring

The problem with Bermuda or the Bahamas is that with control of the sea the British could have quashed any serious uprising pretty quickly. If sending one or two ships wasn't enough, they would have sent a dozen. I'm pretty sure that the British considered them important enough to spare some forces for them if they had openly sided with the rebels.
 
Umbric Man

Umbric Man

Paul Spring said:
The problem with Bermuda or the Bahamas is that with control of the sea the British could have quashed any serious uprising pretty quickly. If sending one or two ships wasn't enough, they would have sent a dozen. I'm pretty sure that the British considered them important enough to spare some forces for them if they had openly sided with the rebels.
Click to expand...

Oh, the Royal Navy was already powerful enough in the first place, it's more a sign of American weakness in the ARW the British assigned just one or two (crappy) ships to defend these places, and still kept them safe.

The Bahamas was basically undefended through the war, and some old creaky brig was all that was there in Bermuda throughout the entire conflict.

Their stragetic importance didn't come until the USA was suddenly an independent and hostile nation and Florida was once again Spanish.
 

Derek Jackson

Britain managing to help the treasonous Southern Rebellion but it still loses. A Radical Republican adminsistration might feel some solidly black and therefore Republican states would help their cause
 

DuQuense

After whe buy the Banish Virgin Islands, Britian offers the other two as payment of some of it's WW1 debt. The 4 islands have enuff population to become states in 1959 along with Alaska/Hawaii..
 

Xen

Banned
If memory serves me correctly the Bahamas were occupied by Spain during the ARW and in the post war was in one of those places that if the Americans pushed for it, the British may have conceded it.

Of course come War of 1812, it may be taken back and the US would almost certainly view the war as a loss (its considered a tie or victory by most Americans)
 
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