13 Colonies as a World Power

Though it is a pretty broad question I wanted to ask the board a question that has been bothering me for the past few day.

Is it possible to have 13 Colonies in their prerebellion borders become a World Power by 1914? How could that happen that they remain confined in those borders and what would be the effects on the development of the rest of the North America and the World?


I mean this area as the area of USA
 
If you're confining the 13 colonies to these borders, they can't use the resources of the remainder of the continent. There populations cannot increase very much. They be surrounded (except on the east) by other "colonies" controlled by other nations, and all of those (Britain, France, Spain) would be more powerful.

Hard to see how they could become a world power!
 
Still around 360,000 square miles, so if they had a population density comparable to France, they could have over 100 million people: as dense as Germany, over 200 million. Of course, without the western bits, the economic development would be entirely different, and might not attract that many immigrants.

Bruce
 
And to keep them from moving west, you need a UK or France more powerful, or a Spain much more powerful, than OTL claiming - and occupying - the area.

Bruce
 
i believe that its quite possible for the 13 states of america to be at least a great power. if they focused on encouraging immigration and economic development, they could have a strong modern state.

the American settlers would still move west, but the government either cant or wont move the borders with it, and thus, the countries get independent.
 
Assuming this retains some changes to the Articles of Confederation that make it a bit more workable long-term, I don't think they'd be a "world power" in the military interventionist use of the term, but they could become a financial powerhouse (an über-Switzerland), key leader in international affairs (they might still house some kind of U.N. organization for instance) and a major net-importer of people (might accelerate a bit later than OTL).

Part of the reason would be the fact they'd probably already be championing trade agreements with colonial powers that control the rest of the resources in the region (United Kingdom, Spain, possibly France). Quite possible there'd be some sort of regional EU type organization the distant future from the PoD too, as an after-thought; they might start by championing North American interests.
 
And to keep them from moving west, you need a UK or France more powerful, or a Spain much more powerful, than OTL claiming - and occupying - the area.

the American settlers would still move west, but the government either cant or wont move the borders with it, and thus, the countries get independent.

I'm not sure what exact circumstances would bring it about, but I can sort of imagine a scenario like this, with a series of independent republics and/or dominions stretching to the Pacific; more analogous to South American independence, maybe, with "Triskaidekia" being one of the bigger powers--a Brazil or Argentina.

Still around 360,000 square miles, so if they had a population density comparable to France, they could have over 100 million people: as dense as Germany, over 200 million. Of course, without the western bits, the economic development would be entirely different, and might not attract that many immigrants.

Bruce

But even at a lower density, the Colonies could end up with a population at least as great as either France or Germany--who have certainly qualified as "world powers" at some points. So I would say it sounds plausible to me...
 
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