If they [Noah Smith] applied the same chronological metric to the US none of it would be the US which is the reality OP showcased but somehow they are never consistent.

Death to the settler-colonial entity know us "The United States of America", sometimes called AmeriKKKa.

This would do really well as a 2-variable projection: length of control (hue) and length of statehood (saturation).

You'd get a lot of colors and shades along and across state lines.