Background: Map of the Divided States of America

The map of the former United States for the Pathfinder 1899 game that I'm working in (probably without ever getting it off the ground, but hope springs eternal).

The game takes place in a steampunk 1899 based largely on the magical / industrial revolution Bas-Lag novels from China Mieville with bits and pieces stolen from Harry Turtledove novels, my own political prejudices and scraps from Deadlands and Castle Falkenstein, among many other sources.

The back story (which should not be examined too closely or it will fall apart) features a victorious Confederacy that broke away from the United States in 1874 after nearly a decade and a half of continued fighting. The depleted resources of the United States couldn't continue the war and the CSA gained its independence largely by not losing the conflict instead of directly winning it.

However, in the wake of the CSA's own losses Texas was recaptured by Mexico, leaving it a non-slave territory on the CSA's western border (and serving as a buffer between the USA and CSA). La Republica de Tejas is its own sovereign nation closely allied with Mexico and somewhat less closely allied with the United States.

Every square inch of Georgia was bought outright by George Washington Carver (a Tony Stark / Nikola Tesla genius figure in this continuity) and seceded from the secessionists. It now exists as a sovereign nation called Peachtree, serving as a release valve for tensions in the Confederacy (the smarter politicians in the CSA realize that having a place for the slaves most dedicated to escape to run keeps tensions from boiling completely over into a revolution that would destroy their entire nation).

The blue area in the northwest corner of the map is the 500 Nations' Territory. In a game world where magic works, Manifest Destiny ran up against a working Ghost Dance and powerful medicine men who halted the westward advance of the USA, leaving the native American population in control of a great deal of territory. With various shaman and wonder-workers ensuring that the USA lives up to the terms of their treaties an uneasy truce exists between the USA and the 500 Nations.

Utah is now Deseret, a Mormon theocracy let go by a war-weary nation that didn't want to throw away tens of thousands of troops to reclaim a desert. The Mormon view of blacks means that Deseret is a strong ally of the Confederacy, with Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico maintaining a strong border presence to prevent the CSA or Deseret from trying anything aggressive.

The remaining United States are an industrial powerhouse, with steam-driven Calculation Engines, a continent-spanning railroad, and several colleges of engineering and magic ensuring a supply of people capable of fighting the Confederacy and Deseret on the economic and political battlefields of the future. Neither nation has forgotten its dead or the atrocities committed by either side, but until another generation of young men grows up to join the military the current conflict between the two sides is a cold war rather than a shooting one. The USA, Peachtree and Tejas tend to use their considerable economic clout to bleed the Confederacy a drop at a time, which infuriates the secessionists who wonder why their roads are still dirt or gravel and why their industrial infrastructure is second-rate if they won the war.

Again, looking at this too closely means it'll fall apart like a house of cards in a hurricane but it's a starting point for the setting.