Italian Colonial America

In OTL was never able to maintain colonies in the  although they had many opportunities to do so. came one step away from establishing a colony, even having a advance party scout it out. The colonized a portion of the Caribbean with  help until it could no longer afford the cost of maintaining it. The nation of had a navy 3000 ships strong and was one of the richest nations in Europe. It also invented the deep water which became the ship of choice in the new world. , Venice’s arch rival was able to profit from loans to the in order to fund colonization. The loans reached the extent that Spanish ships carrying silver went directly to Genoa after the New World in order to settle debts. What if the Italian nations had seized these opportunities? That is what Italian Colonial America will explore.

Point of Divergence
In our timeline in 1608 commissioned an expedition of English explorer Robert Thornton to South America hoping to establish a Tuscan Colony. Thornton explored the region, scouting out a place near modern day  for a colony. After Thornton returned back to Tuscany, he discovered Fernando was dead having died on February 16, 1609. Thornton then proceeded to gather settlers from and  with plans to embark in the summer of 1609, until, Fernando's son scrapped the expedition. In this timeline Fernando survives placing more of an emphasis on colonialism.