Editor says, what if the concept of consolidated government had failed to gain the necessary support at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).

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Michael N. Ryan commented on 2010-05-28 17:42:25 ~ I honestly dought that the country would be able to hold itself together to achieve westward expansion if we were to follow this projected path. How would we be able to achieve the Louisiana Purchase or the Mexican war without a strong central authoity to scheme and push and carry out its plans?

Eric Oppen commented on 2010-05-28 20:14:32 ~ I know a lot of people from those areas that would love to do something like this. The Californians are sick and tired of being dictated to by the Bay Area and the LA-San Diego metroplexes, while the Oregonians feel that they've more in common with Northern California than northern Oregon.

Eric Lipps commented on 2010-05-29 00:37:05 ~ I rather agree with Michael Ryan. I suspect North America would have ended up like Europe, with lots of individual nations, some large, some small. Spome might even have abandoned democreacy--in such a timeline, the Mormons might have been able to successfully establish the theocratic monarchy of Zion they originally hoped t create. And of course European nations would stick their oars in.

Brian Hartman commented on 2011-02-28 22:51:18 ~ I think this is just a fantasy for people who still cling to the Lost Cause. The reality of the situation is that if the states had stayed a confederation after 1789, North America would just look like a larger version of the Balkans. The entire *idea* of decentralization of government is faulty. If any region that feels slighted or left out can just take their marbles and go home, How do you end up with a democracy larger than, say, a city block, or for that matter, larger than a single household?

H. Torrance Griffin commented on 2011-03-01 07:42:40 ~ I have to concur with those questioning the idea that the Acts of Confederation lasting or expanding. At best we get a customs union along the lines of the EEC, at worst we are looking at the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth reborn (no central government worth the name, local tyrants running thier own fiefdoms, and outsiders buying off proxies).

Jeff Provine commented on 2011-03-01 15:53:31 ~ If Federalism doesn't clean up its spending policies, we may end up seeing something like an economic union when Tea Partiers turn separatist.