A setting loosely based on the early US

[Jabrosky]

Most of the fantasy worlds I've thought up had their geography based on the ancient Old World, but at the moment I want to try something different. Ergo, for at least one short story I've chosen to base the setting off the early United States of America.

This continent is by no means united under one government however. Instead its territory is split between several distinct cultures:

The White Republic: This covers the continent's temperate northeastern region. As the name implies, its population derives from European colonists whose culture most closely matches that of early Anglo-Americans. The government system is a representational democracy and the economy industrialized like the historical American North, although the Republic must import most food and other agricultural products from the Black Kingdoms to its south.

The Black Kingdoms: This is a confederation of monarchies that covers the continent's humid subtropical to tropical southeast. Though each of these kingdoms has its own distinct culture and laws, all share a common African origin and a predominantly rural economy. Together the Black Kingdoms also share close economic ties with the White Republic, which depends on their agricultural exports for sustenance while providing them with industrial technology.

The Red Tribes: Trapped in the continent's rocky and arid interior, these copper-skinned people represent what survives of the continent's indigenous inhabitants after foreign diseases wiped out the rest. Depending on the culture, they may either roam the desert as nomads or work as farmers in adobe villages. Inter-group tension among the Red Tribes may run violently high due to competition over the scarce resources, but they have also suffered harassment from various foreign settlers intruding into their country.

The Yellow Coast: These colonists of Asian origin, who have settled alongside the continent's western coastline, have advanced technology rivaling if not surpassing that of the White Republic. The Yellow Coast can be subdivided into two subregions, the rainy north and the dry and sunny south. Whereas the people of the northern Yellow Coast have coalesced into one Empire, those in the south remain split into squabbling fiefdoms.

Any thoughts so far?

(Sorry about the unimaginative color-based names, but it was real early in the morning when I typed this out)

 

[chrispenycate]

Apart from pointing out pedantically that I believe no part of the continental United States extends into the tropics; yes, it got easily warm enough for me in both Baton Rouge and Florida, but technically they are merely subtropical, I suspect the black kingdoms would spread a long way up the Mississippi, and the white republic at least start its expansion along the waterways and the Great Lakes, as I doubt technology would have been high enough at the expansion point that water was not the most convenient method.

How fast was this expansion? Presumably faster than OTL (our time line) with covered wagons, probably as fast as the railways period, otherwise the red tribes would have been developing resistance to the imported diseases faster than they were being eliminated. How high is your 'high tech'? (I read diversely enough for it to be anything from antigravity and fusion power to steam and mass production. In fact, domestication of animals is a technology that must have been high tech relative to its neighbours at some point).

I don't trust any society dependent on food being shipped in from outside. Not that it hasn't happened OTL, (particularly the British Empire between Word Wars, and the Byzantine Roman Empire depending on grain ships from Egypt), but your European immigrants will have come from independence, and enough will want to farm even if factory work does pay better if there is land available to cushion a war or transport catastrophy.

 

[Queshire]

This strikes me as having a higher than normal chance of offending readers. I think if you went with fantasy-style race, elves, dwarves, and so on (or fantasy style races of your own creation) and not mention skin color then that would go a long way towards reducing the chances of readers being offended.

To be more specific;
The White Republic: Considering the early US inspiration for the story, white north, black south, and how you say importing food from the south, this could be read as a loosely veiled reference to southern plantation and as such slave labor. Considering the North fought against slavery in the civil war, the underground railroad smuggling slaves to the north, and all the tales of slaves trying to flee to the north the idea of white people in the North benefiting from black people in the South working in the fields comes across as offensive.

Black Kingdoms: Other than the general connection to south and slavery, along with portraying the south as technology backwards compared to the north and needing to import tech from the north, (No, I know that's what you mean, I'm just giving an example of how someone could interpret it) it seems ok.

Red Tribes: Seems a basic enough Native American expy. Though since they're cookie cutter Native Americans you can expect all the angry ranting that comes with a basic Native American expy. I would suggest taking a look at all the various Native American tribes and do something different from the whole desert and adobe thing. For instance, I live in Minnesota, we're pretty far from that. We have a bunch of lakes carved out by the glaciers in the last Ice Age, fields of corn and wheat, and have cold, snowy winters. All over the state there are places named after Native American words and there's a reservation up north though I've never been there.

Yellow Coast: Asians with high tech. Even a positive stereotype can be offensive just like saying Chinese are good at Math. Also the combination of Asians, the west coast, and early america brings to mind ideas of Chinese immigrants working on the rail road, made to work long hours of hard work for little pay and faced with discrimination, stereotypes, and basically just treated like shit. Sort of similar to how Mexican immigrants are treated now days.

I can see where your inspiration shines through and it has enormous potential, however due to the inherent risk of talking about race anything in America I think you would benefit from taking that inspiration and twisting it through the levels of disassociation so that the average reader can't see the inspiration. Basically, use the inspiration and make it something distinctively and uniquely your own.

 

[Jabrosky]

Truth be told, I'm not totally satisfied with this setting design either. It does need a makeover to address the regional and racial stereotypes. Let me mull over this for a while.

BTW, is it really offensive to label Asian and Native American people yellow and red respectively? I thought it didn't seem any worse than calling Europeans white or Africans black, but I want to make sure just in case.

 

[Queshire]

That's what I grew up with, but as a white guy I don't know if it is or if it's just over-political correctness. *shrug*

 

[CupofJoe]

BTW, is it really offensive to label Asian and Native American people yellow and red respectively? I thought it didn't seem any worse than calling Europeans white or Africans black, but I want to make sure just in case.

Can't talk about everyone, but [at work] if I used Yellow or Red as descriptors for a racial group I would be reprimanded. The same would go for White or Black. [European Roma people are not considered "white" in parts of Europe - it at least not White enough for some... If I were to use Black - did I mean African or Caribbean or an American of African heritage, even someone from south Asia/India?]
I like the general idea though - Have you read Patrick Tilley's Amtrak Wars? It's not exactly the same setting [it's post-apocalyptic] but it has a vaguely similar differentiation of cultures...