Steamclock: North America in 1883 (Alt History)

[Klaus van der Kroft]

Well met!

This is the third map on a series I'm doing for my homemade roleplaying game Steamclock, set in a XIX century that never was. These are supposed to be relatively simple maps for quick reference in the manual. Click here for full size (links to Deviantart).



Made in Photoshop.

Update: By mistake I forgot to add some of the changes to the Canadian territory, as well as the labbel for Saint Pierre & Miquelon. Thanks to Robulous for noticing there was something missing there!

Related maps:

Europe in 1883
South America and the Caribbean in 1883
World Map (WIP)

[Josiah VE]

Simple, but nice.
Wait, Canada is exactly the same, but US is split into pieces? Heheheh.

[Robulous]

Fascinating, I do like the "simple" book style. Obvs I'm European so what do I know, and this is alternate history, but wasn't Baja California part of the Mexican Empire? And Newfoundland only became part of Canada in 1948, and a majority of Newfies still resent that decision.

[Klaus van der Kroft]

Thanks, guys!

As for Canada: Actually, that was a mistake on my part; on the world map I have Newfounland (Terranova in Castillian) as a separate entity than the Dominion (which in this alt-history is also split into consessions the British Government had to make to the East India Company, which basically runs the country. Merchant companies are big players in the plot of the game), but clearly I forgot to include it here!

Thanks for noticing; as soon as I get back home I'll fix it an reupload it.

Regarding Baja California: Aye, the Peninsula was part of the Second Mexican Empire. In this alternate timeline, the protracted Civil War in the US, coupled with the historical desire for self-determination among several east coasters, motivated the cessession of what came to be known as the Empire of California, Oregon, Utah, and Nevada under the figurehead of Norton I, part of which later split into the Free State of Deseret. Meanwhile, with the US divided and thus no longer able to uphold the Monroe Doctrine keeping the great European powers out, France took a far more active role in the management of the Second Mexican Empire (which was ruled by Maximilian I, a French puppet of the Hapsburg family), allowing it to survive the insurrections that in our timeline brought the throne down. This forced the mexican antimonarchists to retreat into their footholds, finally getting cornered in Baja California. That's when Norton I, noticing the situation (the historical Norton declared himself "Protector of Mexico"), decided to intervene, threatening war with Mexico unless the liberals were allowed to vote on a change of allegiance, which the French (worried at the implications of a war with wealthy California, and how that could prove tempting for the Confederate to start raiding south of the border) forced Maximilian to accept. Of course, the mexican separatists ended up trading one crown for another, so it's anyone's guess how this move will turn out in the future.

[Klaus van der Kroft]

Got the map fixed and updated. Thanks for the headsup, Robulous!

[Robulous]

Looks great. Just wondering though, why are the British Empire territories (I)? Guessing Imperio Británico, but aren't there other European imperios too?

[Klaus van der Kroft]

Looks great. Just wondering though, why are the British Empire territories (I)? Guessing Imperio Británico, but aren't there other European imperios too?

Thanks!

The (I) in this case stands for Inglaterra (England). In Castilian we use the name interchangeably between the country, the union, and the empire (there are specific names for each, such as Reino Unido for United Kingdom and Imperio Británico for British Empire, but Inglaterra is the most common. Plus it's one letter instead of two!). My personal rule for notation is that great powers get preference of using a single letter (I for England, F for France, R for Russia, etc), while everyone else only uses one letter if they haven't been taken (that way, Prussia gets P, while Persia gets Pe). This is mostly because the former are going to show up a lot more than the latter.

The () notation, in turn, I took from French maps from the late XIX century, which listed overseas possessions that way; ie (A) for Angleterre/England.

[Robulous]

The (I) in this case stands for Inglaterra (England)

Hm, I feared that might be the case. Britain and England are not the same thing. It's like labelling the Spanish Empire C for Castille.

[Klaus van der Kroft]

Hm, I feared that might be the case. Britain and England are not the same thing. It's like labelling the Spanish Empire C for Castille.

I know. However, in Castilian the standard usage is that way (and that's the language in which the map is made), with England being stand-in for both England the country and Britain the empire. We do the same thing with the Netherlands, which we can formally call either Holanda (after the Holland region) or Paises Bajos (Low Countries), even though the former is technically just a part of the latter.

Though in recent years there has been an increase in the usage of the more appropriate equivalents, it's relatively new development; the British Empire was often refered to simply as England in most Castilian sources of the time in which the map is set.

[Robulous]

I know. However, in Castilian the standard usage is that way

I know, I'm just tilting at windmills But I'll remember that the next time I hear a Spanish speaker bitching about how "America" means the whole two continents, not just the US!