What would a Medieval America be Like?
Summary
TLDRThis imaginative video script explores an alternate history scenario where modern America operates with medieval technology. It delves into the cultural, political, and economic implications of such a world, hypothesizing how geography, demographics, and historical events would shape this version of America. From the potential dominance of the Rust Belt to the rise of Pacific Northwest city-states, the script paints a rich tapestry of a diverse and complex medieval America.
Takeaways
- 🗺️ The video explores a hypothetical scenario of a modern America with medieval technology, focusing on cultural, political, and economic aspects.
- 🏰 It clarifies that this alternate America would not resemble medieval Europe due to its climatic diversity and the impracticality of feudalism and castles in the region.
- 📍 The geography and demographics would remain the same, but the technological level would be that of the year 1300, affecting the existence and size of cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
- 🌍 The video suggests that without modern communication, a unified America would be implausible, and regions would likely develop independently.
- 🌡️ Climate and disease would significantly impact population distribution, with areas like Florida and the southern coast being less populated due to swamps and diseases.
- 🛶 River systems and water transport would be crucial for city development, affecting the importance of cities like Atlanta and Charlotte, and leading to the rise of cities like St. Louis.
- 🐎 Nomadic tribes would play a significant role in the Great Plains, influencing the development of the region and posing challenges to centralized states.
- 🏙️ The Pacific Northwest would develop into a separate civilization due to its advantageous position, with city-states like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Vancouver emerging.
- 🛶 In the west, goat herding and a cowboy-Mongol style culture would develop, influenced by the terrain and the lack of suitable farming conditions.
- 🏰 Irrigation societies in the southwest would likely have authoritarian theocratic political structures due to centralized water control.
- 🛡️ The Appalachian region would be inhabited by forest tribes similar to those in medieval Europe, maintaining a warrior culture and engaging in raiding and trading.
Q & A
What was the purpose of the poll mentioned in the script?
-The poll was conducted to determine what sort of content the audience wanted, with the video script discussing a hypothetical scenario of a modern America with medieval technology.
What does the author clarify about the hypothetical scenario presented in the video?
-The author clarifies that the scenario is set in an impossible alternate dimension where America has the same geography and demographics as today but with the technology of the year 1300.
What is the potential outcome if the video about medieval America is successful?
-If the video is successful, it could turn into a series focusing on each independent region in greater detail.
Why does the author suggest that feudalism and castles would not work in America with medieval technology?
-The author suggests that feudalism and castles would not work because medieval communications were poor, making a transcontinental empire impossible, and such structures actively promoted disunity.
How does the author describe the impact of climate and geography on the potential cultural diversity of medieval America?
-The author describes that due to America's greater climactic diversity compared to Europe, medieval America would be far more culturally diverse.
What role does water supply play in determining the survival of cities in medieval America according to the script?
-In the script, water supply plays a crucial role as cities that do not have a strong water supply, like those in the American Southwest, would not survive or would be significantly reduced in size, such as Los Angeles and San Diego becoming fishing villages.
How does the author connect the historical use of DDT to the potential population of Florida in medieval America?
-The author connects the use of DDT, which helped control mosquitoes and allowed for effective swamp drainage, to the potential population of Florida. Without such measures, Florida would remain uninhabited swampland, much like it was until the 1940s.
What advantage does the author suggest black Americans would have in the southern regions of medieval America?
-The author suggests that black Americans would have an advantage in the southern regions due to a genetic mutation that helps them deal with malaria, which was a significant factor in their initial importation as slaves.
How does the author describe the impact of nomadic tribes on the development of cities in the grassland areas of medieval America?
-The author describes that nomadic tribes, being highly mobile and having military advantages, would prevent the development of large centralized states in the grasslands, keeping cities like St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Chicago smaller than they could be.
What is the significance of the Mississippi River in the development of cities in medieval America according to the script?
-According to the script, the Mississippi River is significant as it straddles the divide between the grassland and forest, affecting the development of cities in its vicinity. Cities would be kept smaller due to the threat of nomadic tribes.
What role does the author believe the Pacific Northwest would play in the development of a separate civilization in medieval America?
-The author believes that the Pacific Northwest, due to its advantageous position with a wet region, great ocean transport, and being cut off from the rest of the continent by a massive mountain range, would develop into a wealthy and separate civilization with large city-states.
How does the author envision the development of trade in a medieval America?
-The author envisions three main trade axes in a medieval America: one along the Atlantic coast, another in the Great Lakes, and a final one on the Ohio River. Junction points between these axes, such as Detroit, Cairo, Buffalo, Chicago, and Pittsburgh, would become important cities.
What challenges does the author identify for the formation of stable nations in medieval America?
-The author identifies challenges such as the difficulty of maintaining nations with medieval technology, the need for geographically definable borders for unity, and the influence of local cultures and heritage on the potential for unity or disunity.
How does the author describe the potential cultural and societal development in the regions west of the Mississippi River in medieval America?
-The author describes the potential development in the west as distinct from traditional Western European society norms, with cultures becoming their own thing due to the harsh western geography demanding changes to social order for survival.
What is the author's perspective on the role of religion in the development of medieval America?
-The author suggests that in areas without a strong established church, such as the Pacific Northwest, secularity might be the norm, and a new philosophic non-religion could develop, possibly evolving into a sect of Christianity that prioritizes living in nature and meditation.
What factors contribute to the author's vision of New England as a distinct region in medieval America?
-The author's vision of New England as a distinct region is influenced by its cultural and geographical differences, its history as mariners, and the rocky soil, which would drive the population towards the sea and a lifestyle similar to Scandinavians or Vikings, engaging in raiding and trading.
Outlines
🏰 Imagining a Medieval America: Introduction and Concept Overview
The script begins by referencing a previous poll about content preferences, leading to the introduction of a long-anticipated video concept: envisioning a modern-day America with medieval technology. The author clarifies that this hypothetical scenario takes place in an alternate dimension, maintaining the same geography and demographics as contemporary America but with the technological level of the year 1300. The video promises a broad review of how the cultural, political, and economic landscape of America and southern Canada would be transformed under these conditions. It suggests potential future series detailing each independent region more closely, should this video be well-received. The author also discusses the importance of leisure activities like reading, promoting an audible subscription service for a richer listening experience, and highlighting the book 'Darkness at Noon' by Arthur Koestler.
🌍 Geographical and Demographic Shifts in a Medieval America
This paragraph delves into the implications of applying medieval technology to the geography and demographics of America. It posits that the diverse climate of America would lead to a more culturally varied landscape compared to Europe. The author argues that with medieval communication limitations, a unified America as we know it would be implausible. The discussion then shifts to the impact of water supply on city survival, using examples like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, which would be significantly smaller or non-existent due to water scarcity. Disease and swamplands, particularly in Florida, would also drastically reduce population density, affecting the habitability of regions and the distribution of cities.
🛤️ River Patterns and Nomadic Influences on Medieval American Cities
The script explores how reliance on rivers and coastal areas for transportation and trade would shape the importance of cities in medieval America. It suggests that cities like Atlanta and Charlotte, though politically significant, would not be as prominent due to disease challenges. The paragraph then discusses the influence of nomadic tribes on the control of grasslands, which were difficult for centralized medieval states to manage. The mobility and military advantages of nomadic tribes, as illustrated by historical examples like the Mongols, would affect the size and stability of cities near the grassland-forest divide, such as St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Chicago.
🏙️ Cultural and Political Landscapes of a Medieval America
This section of the script outlines the cultural and political structures that might emerge in different regions of medieval America. It describes how the rust belt region would become a central area due to its temperate climate, fertile soil, and water transport. The west of the Mississippi would have sparser populations, with cultures developing independently due to the harsh geography. The author discusses the potential for a nomadic cowboy-Mongol culture in the Great Plains, and how the lack of certain animals like camels would affect the southwest. Irrigation societies in the dry west would develop authoritarian theocratic structures, leading to potential weaknesses in social cohesion and military strength.
🗺️ Mapping the Political and Cultural Divergencies in Medieval America
The script continues to describe the political and cultural divergences across medieval America, with the west coast potentially developing into either a collection of city-states or a unified empire, influenced by factors like geography and the presence of the Mormons. It also speculates on the development of the Pacific Northwest as a separate civilization, with city-states like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Vancouver thriving due to their advantageous position, ocean transport, and natural barriers. The author also considers the impact of secularity and the potential for unique philosophic developments in regions without a strong established church.
🏰 The Feudal Structure and Cultural Heritage in Eastern Medieval America
The final paragraph discusses the feudal structure that would likely emerge in the eastern part of medieval America, with regions like Michigan, Ontario, and Wisconsin becoming unified due to their geographical features. It also considers the potential for Ohio to become a powerful state, similar to France, if it could unify with other regions. The author speculates on the cultural heritage of different regions, such as the Appalachian Mountains becoming a region of forest tribes similar to those in medieval Europe, and the Ozarks developing a similar culture due to poor soil conditions. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the potential military prowess of the southern regions and the strategic importance of New Orleans as a major city.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Medieval Technology
💡Climactic Diversity
💡Feudalism
💡Nomadic Tribes
💡Irrigation Societies
💡Geographical Definability
💡Piedmont
💡Atlantic Coast Trade Axis
💡Rust Belt
💡Mormon States
💡Pacific Northwest Civilization
Highlights
Poll about content preferences led to a video on a modern America with medieval technology.
The video explores an alternate dimension where America has the same geography and demographics as today but with the technology of the year 1300.
The video will cover cultural, political, and economic aspects of America and Southern Canada with medieval technology.
Audible sponsorship is highlighted, with a personal recommendation of the book 'Darkness at Noon' by Arthur Koestler.
The impracticality of a European medieval feudal model in America due to climactic diversity.
America's inability to be a unified country with medieval communication technology.
The impact of water supply on the survival of cities like Los Angeles and San Diego in a medieval America.
The absence of Las Vegas and the transformation of cities in the Southwest due to water scarcity.
Disease and swamps as factors reducing city populations, particularly in Florida and along the southern coastline.
The genetic advantage of Black Americans in dealing with malaria and their potential influence in the South.
The significance of river patterns for city development and the challenges faced by cities like Atlanta and Charlotte.
The influence of nomadic tribes on the control of grasslands and the impact on cities like St. Louis and Minneapolis.
A hypothetical map of the 40 largest cities in medieval America compared to the modern world.
The development of distinct cultures and societies across different geographical regions of medieval America.
The potential for a Mormon theocratic irrigation state in the western regions.
The emergence of a separate civilization in the Pacific Northwest with city-states like Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver.
The challenges and opportunities of the temperate forest climates east of the Mississippi for replicating Western European medieval forms.
The likelihood of Ohio developing like France, with a gradual unification into a centralized monarchy.
The potential for New England to become a group of city-states or a unified kingdom with a maritime focus.
The cultural and military implications of the American South in a medieval context, including the potential for Africanization.
The strategic importance of New Orleans as a major city due to its position at the mouth of the Mississippi.
The announcement of the speaker's participation in an upcoming digital conference and partnership with a quiz company.
Transcripts
so some of you might remember a bit more
than a month ago i put out a poll
about what sort of content you guys want
well
here's more stuff that's neither
altering history nor geopolitics
although in all actuality this has been
a video people have been asking for for
a long time
this is a scenario about what a modern
angle america would look like with
medieval technology
i want to make clear this is an
impossible alternate dimension what
matters is that america has the same
geography and demographics as today
with still being a predominantly western
country just the technology of the year
1300
this video will be a review i'll try to
cover the basics of what america and
southern canada would look like on a
cultural political and economic basis
if this video successful turned into a
series focusing on each independent
region in greater detail
so mount your steeds race the lion
banner of indiana
prepare to ride to battle on the banks
of the ohio
it's practically part of this channel's
brand that i read a lot this channel
needs me to read and it's my favorite
leisure activity
however you can't read all the time it
starts to hurt your eyes after a certain
point
and you have other stuff to do like
groceries exercising work etc
this is where our sponsor audible comes
in i listened to one of my favorite
books of all time in audible the
masterpiece darkness at noon by arthur
kessler
this is a book an ex-soviet commissar
reminiscing about his time in the soviet
service
everything in this book's perfect
between the writing characterization
and historical imagery it's even an
absolutely brilliant book on philosophy
we see rubishav's descent from a loyal
party member to cynical descent from the
perspective of
tortured conscious of a brilliant man
this book taught me and will teach you
about life this only scratches the
surface of cool material and audible
listening to the iliad as narrated by
derek jacoby was awesome
besides this audible was books on
practically everything if you're
interested in history geopolitics etc
you'll find titles there on it
there's also the new plus catalog that
has much more content like podcasts and
music
click the link in the description or
search audible.com slash what if altist
or text
what if altis to 500-500
start listening to audible today
what will surprise a lot of people is
that a european medieval feudal model
just doesn't work in much of america
america's far more climactic diversity
than europe does and
would thus be far more culturally
diverse as well america
as a country now wouldn't even work with
the technology of 100 years ago
firstly and most obviously america
wouldn't even be close to being a
unified country
medieval communications were terrible
and so a transcontinental empire like
america just could never exist
also things like feudalism and castles
were actively pushing towards disunity
which is why medieval europe looked like
this
just as a starting point in how
different in america with medieval
technology would be
this is a list of the 40 largest cities
in modern america
let's see how many this would survive
with medieval technology the first
category that's easy to remove is those
that don't have a strong water supply
even in the modern world large amounts
of the american southwest just don't
make sense of how many people they have
versus how much water they do
american culture as an extension of the
british culture that came from a bunch
of water clogged islands had no concept
of conserving water and so
we've seen completely insane water usage
often tapping into limited underground
aquifers and pulling from water sources
hundreds of miles away
in a medieval america los angeles and
san diego were fishing villages for this
very reason
las vegas which only exists by being
close to california and so californians
could party there just doesn't exist at
all
in general the southwest just has far
less people in this world the few people
who are there
are based around rivers like the rio
grande or colombia
with goat herders in between the second
main way to cut down on cities would be
through disease and swamps
until the 1940s when ddt cut down on
mosquitoes and we could effectively
drain the swamp
florida was an uninhabited swampland for
all intents and purposes
we often forget this but in pre-modern
eras majorities of white people who
immigrated to the tropics died of
disease in the first two years
after a couple generations they're able
to gain immunity but still
places like florida weren't places most
people wanted to live
much of the southern coastline would be
like this with medieval technology
it even extends pretty far north
washington dc would have far less people
due to being a malarial swampland
the cities north of the philadelphia
cincinnati saint louis line would have a
large advantage in this regard just as
they did a hundred years ago
interestingly enough black americans
have a genetic mutation that lets
them deal with malaria which was a big
reason they were brought over as slaves
in the first place
in a south that wasn't jim crow black
people would actually have the advantage
in much of the low and south becoming
the majority population in places like
florida
and becoming powerful and influential
elsewhere if racism wasn't holding them
back
black people would dominate places like
louisiana and south carolina with
medieval technology
similarly the opposite was also true in
cold climates like new england and
canada where black people died at
horrifying rates of illnesses like
typhoid and pneumonia
this would cause a whitening of states
in the northern united states and canada
i honestly have no idea what racism
rates of medieval america would be
however and so that's a big factor that
we don't know
the third big factor is river patterns
every major medieval city was built
around river system or a coast
this was since water transport was so
much more cheaper than lands transport
this would also make places like atlanta
or charlotte far less important although
both of them would probably be somewhat
important due to being political
capitals and
the piedmont disease-wise being the
healthiest area of the south
if we're looking wise places like st
louis should be the biggest cities in
the country
however we run into another complication
here nomadic tribes
medieval centralized states could never
control the grasslands since the nomadic
tribes had such insane advantages
nomadic tribes were so mobile having
their entire armies on horseback that
they could ride circles around their
opponents
this is how people like the mongols were
able to continually wipe out armies five
times their size
it reminds me of how in a lot of fantasy
stuff you'll see this massive human army
of like a thousand
pikemen go up against like a hundred
ogres and the ogre just ripped them
apart
that's how it must have felt for the
chinese when their armies of half a
million are wiped out by genghis khan's
100 000 horsemen
we see in places like russia and china
where the frontier stopped at the forest
grassland line and beyond it lies
nomadic horse tribes that routinely
murder and enslave the farmer
turning the cities into piles of skulls
every few centuries
sometimes under very strong leadership
the farmers could press into the
grassland like under the tongue dynasty
in the kievan rus but
strong central governments couldn't last
forever and whenever they did it
nomadic tried to just rule the farmers
back to the woodlands
cities like st louis minneapolis and
chicago are in great positions riverwise
in geography and of amazing farmland but
since the mississippi straddles the
divide between the grassland and forest
all of these cities would be kept
smaller than otherwise possible
by genociding nomadic tribes so when we
add these four variables together this
is a map of the 40 largest cities in
medieval
america versus what they are in the
modern world as a general pattern you
see the area that's now the rust belt
has become the center of the continent
this area's got a temperate climate
fairly healthy disease-wise situation
some of the most fertile soil on earth
and lots of water-based transport
meanwhile west of the mississippi things
become a bit more sparse with
collections along the rivers and in the
pacific northwest
west of the mississippi the traditional
norms of western european society don't
work
we see that much of the cultures of the
american east are projections of the
original colonial societies created by
the british but
once you get west of the 100th parallel
we see the west cultures become their
own thing
the harsh western geography demanded
changes to social order in order to
survive
one culture we've already analyzed a
little bit is the horse tribes of the
great plains
we've already discussed how nomadic
horse tribes already have a massive
military advantage on the grassland
however another thing to consider is the
soil was so thick in the great plains
that it was impossible to farm it before
1880 when a new plow was developed
beforehand it was literally so fertile
that it broke the plows
we would see a nomadic cowboy mongol
style culture develop
a culture who i want to exist honestly
just to listen to their music
they lead their herds across the region
and fight over grazing rights
we'd see a gradient between a fairly wet
shores of the mississippi
and the drier regions out by denver and
montana with
cattle gradually giving way to sheep
this is sort of similar to the wet to
dry gradient seen in eurasia between
ukraine and mongolia
this gradient resulted in tribes
attacking westward across the step
towards wetter pastures
we'd see a similar situation develop
here with tribes continually pushing
eastward until they slam into chicago or
memphis
they would economically have a couple
different pillars one of which would be
that they'd be a pivotal part of the
transcontinental trade in the
mississippi and california
similarly they'd take slaves from the
midwest and trade them down the
mississippi to new orleans for the
caribbean market
finally they would trade hyde's meat and
animal products in exchange for grain
being dependent like every other nomadic
group on neighboring agricultural
peoples
the further west you get the more you
get into goat-hurting country and the
regions of the west too drive for the
horse tribes you'd see people shelter
around a waste season
lead herds into dry patches a major
failing would be america's lack of the
camel which
would be an eminently useful animal in
the southwest you would see bedo and
light cowboys here living similar lives
to the native navajo sheepherders who
would supplement their herds with
little patches of potatoes beans and
corn although there's immense climactic
differences between canada and mexico
the terrain's barren enough that a
similar lifestyle will develop across it
like the bedouins babylonians jews and
berbers they deal to launch some
successful attacks against the
neighboring settled peoples from time to
time but they wouldn't be the same
menace the civilized world that the
horse tribes would be just because of
their smaller populations
in the river valleys of the dry west
like the great salt lake the rio grande
and colombia's
you'd see irrigation societies develop
these would be like those in egypt iraq
or pakistan
irrigation societies share certain
variables that we can see here
one of which is they tend to have
authoritarian theocratic political
structures
this is since a single government
controls the water and so can crush any
dissenters and that removes competition
this would especially be the case in the
largely landlocked southwest which would
stifle creativity
similarly spending one's entire life in
humid irrigation trenches creates lots
of diseases that physically weaken
irrigation populations
for example in the 1950s somewhere
around 90 percent of egypt's population
had some form of intestinal worm
the central government being so powerful
means they don't have to create a system
of social reciprocity since they can
just take what they want
this results in an unpatriotic
disaffected population doesn't fight
very well
places like syria and egypt were never
under the control of a native regime
from 500 bc to 1950
a.d pakistan's record's only slightly
better in this world the irrigation
societies of the southwest would largely
be under the control of herder dynasties
given how small most of these western
rivers are these would not be impressive
civilizations when you compare the tiny
rio grande in new mexico with
a massive watered state like ohio the
comparison really comes up short
mormonism is a very interesting factor
in the west the mormons are able to
maintain a theocratic irrigation state
in our world
i could see mormonism spreading across
the american western irrigation
societies partially since it's well
suited for it
and since the degree of separation and
animosity between the mormons and the
rest of the world
would protect mormon social cohesion we
could see a league of mormon states
develop in the west creating crusades
against their opponents
being surrendered by mountains would
also allow utah to maintain stability
fight off nomadic invaders and remain
wealthy this would be opposed by the
majority hispanic catholic states on the
rio grande in new mexico and southern
texas meanwhile that would be facing
attacks from the horse tribes of central
texas
once we get to the west coast we see an
entirely different civilization develop
that of the pacific northwest this
society is in a really advantageous
position
and it is located in a wet region with
great ocean transport cut off from the
rest of the continent by a massive
mountain range which weakens barbarian
attacks
the pacific northwest would be very
wealthy in this world with massive city
states like portland seattle san
francisco and vancouver developing
i could see puget sound developing
either into a cockpit of competition
between seattle
victoria and vancouver or being unified
by one of them into a larger empire
capable of controlling the whole region
warfare and empires here would be
heavily naval based similarly
i could see san francisco with its
central position amazing harbor and more
fertile hinterland than anywhere in the
west coast
forming an empire across the whole
region it could conquer the central
valley of california which it opens up
onto
and also has the normal weaknesses of
irrigation societies that makes it
relatively easy to conquer
the san francisco merchants would
control the trade with mexico and thus
would establish a series of bases on the
desert coast along the way
one of which would be the fishing
villages of los angeles and san diego
in general there's no way i don't see
the pacific northwest developing into a
separate civilization here
it's so far removed from the other
centers of the country that it couldn't
share a culture with the east
however at the same time i don't know
what that culture would be by the time
the pacific northwest was settled in our
timeline we were already in a globalized
era of transport and so
the coast in areas like portland oregon
named after portland maine was settled
by new englanders
creating a somewhat similar culture the
pacific northwest is one of the few
areas that was settled without having a
strong established church and secularity
was the norm which
wouldn't work for the middle ages maybe
some philosophic non-religion would
develop here
much of new age philosophy isn't that
dissimilar to platonism and
it might evolve into a hippie cataract
sect of christianity that prioritizes
living in nature and meditation
the temperate forest climates east of
the mississippi are the areas that would
be the easiest to copy western european
medieval forms
michigan's climate's close enough to
germany's you could have knights castles
surfs and market towns
you run into a sort of issue where a lot
of medieval europe gets difficult to
replicate without those specific
conditions which
involves stuff like the collapse of the
frankish empire or the norman conquest
of england but i don't want this to get
too rabbit holy
i want to make this america demonstrably
part of western civilization and similar
to modern america
similarly i was wondering if the
mississippi plane would develop into
some large bureaucratic civilization
like china's but
came to the conclusion that if america
was built in castles and had a feudal
system of development a big empire like
that would be impossible here
in the neo europe that would develop
there'd be three main trade axes
one of which would be in the atlantic
coast another in the great lakes and a
final on the ohio river
in this medieval water-based trade
system the junction points
between these would all be important
cities places like detroit cairo
buffalo chicago pittsburgh and the like
would all do well
out of this system the great lakes in
general being a central hub
probably the beating heart of the
continent an interesting thing to keep
in mind would be that since nations were
so difficult to maintain with medieval
technology they tended to only survive
in regions with easily geographically
definable borders to keep them unified
we see that the only real stable
countries in the middle ages were on
either extremity of eurasia
or on peninsulas in this north america
we would see the west coast develop
either into a group of squabbling
city-states or a mega san franciscan
empire
and the mormons in a practical
bowl-shaped valley would become a nation
in deseret but
most of the stable nations in the
continent would be centered in the
northeast and around the great lakes
michigan ontario and wisconsin are easy
calls unifying due to fighting off
either each other or invaders in the
nomadic step
in the northeast pennsylvania and new
york caged in by the atlantic and the
appalachians would also become
centralized states
ohio is a bit more of a gamble but has
the ohio river and lake erie as
discernible boundaries
if pushed a little bit further east it
could seize pittsburgh and get the
appalachians as an eastern boundary as
well
ohio if it could unify with the most
powerful state in the continent between
a large
fertile piece of land healthy climate
and with lots of waterways
i could see ohio develop like france
gradually unifying into a centralized
monarchy
if ohio unified with ontario i think
upstate new york would probably unify as
well to prevent conquest
if not it would remain a group of
disparate duchies since there isn't a
unifying river system
the rest of the land east of the
mississippi would largely be central and
eastern europe
in the middle ages either weak but
geographically large monarchies that
collapse after a couple generations of
nobles running everything
or small city-states duchies and other
noble states
on the east coast eastern pennsylvania
would be the most powerful state
it is the most fertile soil in the
largest hinterland in the northeast
new york was only able to surpass
philadelphia in our world due to the
erie canal which would not exist in this
timeline
splitting these two branches of
feudalism would be the appalachian
mountains which i will tell you from
personal experience are somewhat
difficult to cross
this land is so poor and the native
population have historically been such
good warriors that
they'd be able to keep independence in
this timeline this region would be
inhabited by forest tribes like the
scots lithuanians
irish or croats of our middle ages most
of this area was settled by people of
scottish ancestry and they'd basically
revert back to that lifestyle of raiding
herding subsistence crops and clan
chiefdoms they would raid the
neighboring kingdoms when weak and would
serve as mercenaries and local armies
there'd be pests across appalachia for
trade with merchants either hiring
bodyguards or negotiating deals with
local chieftains
there'd be a similar situation in the
ozarks in the forests of east texas
the people in this area are descendants
of the appalachians and the culture is
quite similar the soil is so crappy in
these pine forests that you couldn't
maintain a bureaucratic society in them
these people would probably be
tributaries of the militarily and more
powerful horse tribes to their west they
would routinely invade the lower
mississippi valley becoming the ruling
classes of a lot of the area
on a side note i was sort of confused as
to how much to include local cultures
from our timeline in this medieval
america i decided to do so half-assedly
i have the feudal regime going into
regions of the south where western
european forms could be well maintained
i could make some claims like virginia
and kentucky would be more predisposed
towards disunity and amazing cavalry due
to their cavalier heritage well
pennsylvania and ohio might be more
predisposed towards trade and less on
the military due to their german and
quaker heritage
however new england is distinct enough
both culturally and geographically that
i still have it
new england would either be a bunch of
squabbling city-states or a unified
kingdom
or two in the both in one scenario
pressure exerted by new york forces the
new englanders to unify
in another the new englanders voyaging
from ports like providence portsmouth or
boston
traded the rest of the continent
becoming city-states while the interior
is a bunch of poor farmers
new englanders would be driven towards
the sea both by their history as
mariners and by their crappy rocky soil
with their high degree of social
cohesion new englanders have become the
scandinavians or vikings of america
raiding along the coast and trading
along the whole eastern seaboard
the canadian maritimes be wrapped up
into this new england's naval system
much of northern new england makes
absolutely no sense with medieval
civilization
large parts of maine new hampshire and
vermont in this world would be inhabited
by small farming tribes
intermediaries between quebec and new
england
the line between the feudal region in
the deep south is difficult to draw
the south as a cultural entity would
probably still exist a big thing
considers the south would not be created
by cash crops in this world
there would be no european market to
have created something like plantation
slavery that existed in our world in the
american south
don't get me wrong the middle ages did
have slavery and plantations and the new
englanders would almost certainly be
enslaving people from the caribbean to
sell them in the deep south but
the middle ages capitalist economies
weren't organized enough to have entire
regions dependent on growing a single
crop
you would see parts of the south growing
sugar and tobacco but in general you'd
see a broad division
across eastern north america between a
cattle and wheat north and a hogs and
corn south
this brings us to an awkward politically
incorrect question would the southerners
be bad fighters since people in their
latitudes normally are
peoples like the indians egyptians south
chinese etc consistently have lost the
vast majority of military encounters
with opponents to the north of them
during the middle ages
however modern american southerners have
proven themselves some of the best
warriors in the world
this is a weird question for the
american south given it's a culture
being predominantly british that's
implanted in the climate completely
unsuited to it
over a couple centuries you'd think the
geography went out over the culture
right however this isn't the correct way
of viewing this those peoples mentioned
before were conquered since irrigation
lifestyles bring a lot of military
weaknesses like lack of social cohesion
and all sorts of nasty diseases
however with the main crops of the
american south being corn
that that wouldn't be the case the
native population of the american south
in our timeline were skilled warriors as
was the azdek empire
however the rice and sugar farming
regions of the american south like low
country south carolina and louisiana
would be continually conquered
we might see some of the deep south's
warlike society survive in this timeline
involving crusades into mexico and the
caribbean you'd see an interesting
gradient develop in the south the
coastal regions as mentioned before
would benefit black americans and thus
gradually africanize with
blacks becoming majorities in the
nobility and prosperous farmers
black culture would become the court
culture that whites would try to imitate
meanwhile the piedmont regions remain
majority white with the white ruling
class tied to further north
places like low country louisiana and
south carolina where the irrigation
would weaken the native population will
likely largely have uplander probably
appalachian ruling dynasties however
areas like florida and the great dismal
swamp of north carolina with conditions
that replicate swamp west africa in many
ways including disease would become
majority black tribal groups
you could see the floridians become
great warriors like the native seminal
tribes were in our timeline due to the
harsh climate
damn medieval america is a violent place
meanwhile there'd be naval bases and
sandy disease-free coastal islands like
the florida keys in the north carolina
outer banks for trading purposes
the last resting stop of north america
for a voyage to the south would be
new orleans the crown jewel of the
continent in its largest city
although disease would be a major issue
in new orleans its strategic position at
the mouth of the mississippi
as well as being the nexus for trade
with the caribbean would make it the
biggest city in the continent
a veritable constantinople in the
swampland louisiana would either be able
to use its position to dominate the gulf
coast in lower mississippi or
be horrifically exploited by tribesmen
from arkansas who would rob it blind
i can't tell you well that was a summary
of the world in medieval america i hope
you folks enjoyed it a strange and rich
world of everything between the pirates
of boston to the goat herders of phoenix
arizona
tell me if you want more videos in this
topic before we go i must say i owe a
huge debt to matthew white's blog which
i read 10 years ago when he's a big
reason i got into alternate history in
the first place
however as you've seen since then it's
taken on a life of its own
before we end i have a final
announcement i'm a keynote speaker
intelligent speech a digital conference
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link in the description
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alongside cool maps and exclusive fan
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thanks so much for watching and have a
great day
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