The idea of an American annexation of Yucatan during the early part of the Caste Wars comes up reasonably often on this board. The basic situation is straightforward: during the early part of the Caste Wars, the Spanish-speaking elite of Yucatan were begging for annexation from anyone who they thought could defend the Maya. This included the US of A, among others. The USA did debate the matter in Congress, but never really came close to intervening.
I'm looking for a way to make this happen, to the point where there's a semblance of possibility of the Yucatan being stable enough to be admitted as a state by 1864. There are several difficulties. The first is getting the USA interested in the first place. The Caste Wars promised to be long and bloody, and (as someone on shwi once said) it's not easy getting the USA interested in sticking a finger into that meat grinder.
The second is keeping the USA interested enough to stick at conquering the Yucatan. This will be difficult jungle warfare, requiring a considerable expenditure of blood and treasure to accomplish. I think this could be done if the political will was there, but it would be a matter of several years, probably a decade before the U.S. can even pretend that the Yucatan is "pacified".
Is there a way to get that kind of initial interest and ongoing political will?
Disclaimer: I'm not asking this out of some desire for a kind of Ameriwank or Maya-screw. (As if OTL wasn't bad enough for the latter already.)
Rather, I have a vague idea for a mini-TL where the *Republicans in the North, in an alt-Civil War, are so desperately concerned to achieve an electoral victory in 1864 that they create Yucatan as a state (along with Nevada and possibly one other territory). The idea is that the precedent of Yucatan (as a largely indigenous, non-English speaking state) sets an example for race relations which improves those considerably in the broader USA over the next few decades.
Thoughts? Can it be done? Or does it require pressing some solar chiropterans into service?
I'm looking for a way to make this happen, to the point where there's a semblance of possibility of the Yucatan being stable enough to be admitted as a state by 1864. There are several difficulties. The first is getting the USA interested in the first place. The Caste Wars promised to be long and bloody, and (as someone on shwi once said) it's not easy getting the USA interested in sticking a finger into that meat grinder.
The second is keeping the USA interested enough to stick at conquering the Yucatan. This will be difficult jungle warfare, requiring a considerable expenditure of blood and treasure to accomplish. I think this could be done if the political will was there, but it would be a matter of several years, probably a decade before the U.S. can even pretend that the Yucatan is "pacified".
Is there a way to get that kind of initial interest and ongoing political will?
Disclaimer: I'm not asking this out of some desire for a kind of Ameriwank or Maya-screw. (As if OTL wasn't bad enough for the latter already.)
Rather, I have a vague idea for a mini-TL where the *Republicans in the North, in an alt-Civil War, are so desperately concerned to achieve an electoral victory in 1864 that they create Yucatan as a state (along with Nevada and possibly one other territory). The idea is that the precedent of Yucatan (as a largely indigenous, non-English speaking state) sets an example for race relations which improves those considerably in the broader USA over the next few decades.
Thoughts? Can it be done? Or does it require pressing some solar chiropterans into service?