The Off Topic Topic

[jimmy olsen]

Tried to get as many alternate state and province borders and possible names
I could think of. Set it up so there'd still be 50 states as well, though of course
Hawaii is off the map.

EDIT: Fixed the font issue, added an h to Manitoba

[garbon]

Why did you want to do this?

[Tonitrus]

Why did you want to do this?

I think we all should know better than to ask that of Timmah.

[jimmy olsen]

Why did you want to do this?

I enjoy playing with maps, obviously.

Also, enjoyed researching all the different territorial borders over the years and the etymology of state/province names.

[garbon]

Why did you want to do this?

I think we all should know better than to ask that of Timmah.

I don't know that I've really understood why.

Nor why one would want to share something like that here where it is unlikely to be received...kindly?

[jimmy olsen]

There's always hope that someone will make some substative criticism like "they wouldn't name state X that because ..., or border Y looks off, the river/line of latitude is more to the south, etc".

Never really understood why it isn't received well here, aside from a symptom of general anti-Tim sentiment, people who play Europa Universalis, Victoria, etc are the prime demographic of folks who like this kind of thing.

[Barrister]

Can't believe I'm going to give you this Tim, but...

if you want alternative names, you should name the province "Manitobah".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Manitobah

[jimmy olsen]

Can't believe I'm going to give you this Tim, but...

if you want alternative names, you should name the province "Manitobah".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Manitobah

See, it happens.

[Barrister]

Or if you want an alternative border... ignore the 49th parallel.

Originally, the HBC was granted rights to all drainage into Hudson's Bay, while the Louisiana Purchase granted to the US all drainage through the Mississippi.  That would make the US-Canadian border quite different - notably Canada would get hunks of North Dakota and Minnesota that drain into the Red River, while the US would get a hunk of southern Alberta that drains south.

[Tonitrus]

The splitting of those four states horizontally instead of vertically seems rather arbitrary, and unintuitive.

[CountDeMoney]

The splitting of those four states horizontally instead of vertically seems rather arbitrary, and unintuitive.

Not necessarily; after all, several of the original charters for the thirteen colonies were drawn longitudinally, with their western borders terminating at rivers like the Mississippi.

I can't believe I'm defending Timmay. 

[jimmy olsen]

The splitting of those four states horizontally instead of vertically seems rather arbitrary, and unintuitive.

God damn, glitch erased my reply.

The Arizona territory was proposed in 1860 because of the difficulty in administrating the southern half of the New Mexico territory from Sante Fe. It was torpedoed by the oncoming civil war and the identification (and eventual attempted secession) of the territory with the South and the Slave Power. Absent that political situation I see no reason why it wouldn't be accepted, the rail lines that were being built would be going east to west and facilitate communication.

Mississippi territory was originally split that way though the southern half was named Mississippi, while the northern half was unorganized. Unfortunately the northern half has no river or geographical feature of note. I don't know enough about the native tribes there to come up with a name. Something from Choctaw would probably be best. So, since the great majority of the Alabama is in the southern territory I gave it that name, and went with Mississippi for the north.

The splitting of those four states horizontally instead of vertically seems rather arbitrary, and unintuitive.

Not necessarily; after all, several of the original charters for the thirteen colonies were drawn longitudinally, with their western borders terminating at rivers like the Mississippi.

I can't believe I'm defending Timmay. 

[Razgovory]

Muscogee, Creek, Yazoo.

[Syt]

I love how Tim's maps always gives the U.S. more territory, not less.

[jimmy olsen]

I love how Tim's maps always gives the U.S. more territory, not less.

Wrong!

Alaska is bigger than Cuba, Baja California and all of British Columbia, so there's no way that the U.S. does not have less territory here!