Honestly, I think the United States would eventually look the same as it does now. If they had not bought the land, they likely would have gone to war for it. It is very unlikely that they would have let it stay there as part of France or an independent country, both because of Manifest Destiny and for national security.
The filibuster is the right to unlimited debate a bill.
This leads to the abbility of the minorities to do an ever debating process con a bill they don´t feel like passing. Though this could be used wrong, it also assures that every bill that passes is well thought and well discussed. THe large parties with majority at senate have considered in the past making a move on removing the filibuster with no success yet.
I think it's warm and wet.
