10 Incredible What-Ifs That Could Have Changed The Course Of History

2. ...Aaron Burr Had Established His Own Nation?

Aaron Burr may be most famous for killing his political rival Alexander Hamilton during an illegal duel in 1804, but the former Vice-President of the United States also contemplated establishing his own country in the early-19th Century.

President Thomas Jefferson, under who Burr served, alleged that Burr plotted with Commander-in-Chief of the US Army at News Orleans and Governor of the Louisiana Territory General James Wilkinson to create a new, independent nation in central or southwestern America - in areas of Louisiana and Mexico which had yet to be conquered by the USA at that time.

Ohio's governor learned of the conspiracy from Jefferson and sent his state's militia to Blennerhasset Island on the Ohio River, where the supposed headquarters of the alleged plotters were based, and had the two men arrested, before the district attorney of Kentucky brought him to trial for treason. At the time, treason (as of Article 3, Section 3 of the US Constitution) could only be permitted if it was admitted in open court, or if two witnesses came forward and, as neither of those things happened, Burr was acquitted.

Imagine though if he had established this supposed rival nation? It would almost certainly have brought the American Civil War forward 50 years, potentially preventing the USA from ever becoming the dominant North American force it became in the succeeding century.