Spanish Southern US

[Ricardolindo]

How could we have a successful Spanish Southern US? I aim for at least the entire Deep South. A point of divergence could be De Soto finding the gold in Georgia. Another one could be the Ayllón expedition succeeding in establishing a colony in South Carolina in 1526. The colony was supposed to be a settlement colony instead of an exploitation one. Yet another one could be Tristán de Luna y Arellano succeed in establishing a colony in the Gulf Coast, which could allow Spain to control the Mississippi long before France.
Would the Spanish colony develop the same slave dependant cash crop agriculture that the English Southern colonies did in our timeline?

 

[Jackson Lennock]

Georgia wasn't established until 1732 OTL, so a Spanish Georgia isn't hard.

Georgia didn't press past the Altamaha River until 1863. With a fairly late POD, Spain could have much of today's Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

 

[Ricardolindo]

Georgia wasn't established until 1732 OTL, so a Spanish Georgia isn't hard.

Georgia didn't press past the Altamaha River until 1863. With a fairly late POD, Spain could have much of today's Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

I assume you mean 1763, not 1863.

 

[Ricardolindo]

An important question is: Do the British eventually conquer the colony, like they did Quebec? If not, assuming the American Revolution still happens and succeeds, do the Americans conquer or buy it?

 

[Nyvis]

An important question is: Do the British eventually conquer the colony, like they did Quebec? If not, assuming the American Revolution still happens and succeeds, do the Americans conquer or buy it?

I don't think Spain can hold onto it long term because it was already stretched thin settling what it got OTL. It could easily end up like Florida: taken by the British during the 7 years war, loyalist during the revolution (due to delayed settlement, there's not enough people in Georgia to swing it?), recaptured by Spain, then similarly disputed with the US (especially with a few anglophone settlers remaining in Georgia) and finally taken over.

Or it could split between the revolution with Georgia going as OTL despite the lesser development.

In both cases, it's still delaying settling of Georgia, which has implications for the south's development.

 

[Ricardolindo]

I don't think Spain can hold onto it long term because it was already stretched thin settling what it got OTL. It could easily end up like Florida: taken by the British during the 7 years war, loyalist during the revolution (due to delayed settlement, there's not enough people in Georgia to swing it?), recaptured by Spain, then similarly disputed with the US (especially with a few anglophone settlers remaining in Georgia) and finally taken over.

Or it could split between the revolution with Georgia going as OTL despite the lesser development.

In both cases, it's still delaying settling of Georgia, which has implications for the south's development.

It depends on when the colony is founded and how many Spanish settlers it has.

 

[Charles EP M.]

Would the Spanish colony develop the same slave dependant cash crop agriculture that the English Southern colonies did in our timeline?

Spanish colonies used plantation slavery IOTL, so I assume yes: what Cuba did, hypothetical Spanish Deep South would do as well.

 

[Ricardolindo]

Spanish colonies used plantation slavery IOTL, so I assume yes: what Cuba did, hypothetical Spanish Deep South would do as well.

No Spanish colony had slavery to the same extent South Carolina did, though. Even at its peak, Cuba didn't have a slave majority.
It also depends on how intensive Spanish colonization is. It may be as light as that of Northern Mexico.