Day 165: Fourth of July

This year marks the 237th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, declaring to King George III that we wished to be free, treated as equals, and not pay the taxes he had given us.  It sounded respectable, but it was firm.  The men that signed that paper knew they had told the British that they were guilty of treason.  It took much bravery and sacrifice to be one of our Founding Fathers.

What if Thomas Jefferson refused to draft our declaration?  What if John Hancock and the fifty-five other men who signed it did not have the courage to admit they were involved in such revolutionary activities?  There would be one or two other men who would have tried to revolt and lead a group of men with them, but the British troops could have easily subdued them.  Since few had the courage to resist, the colonists would have back down, and after more needless bloodshed, the British would win.

That’s right.  America would still be under British rule.  This means no alliance with the French, which could have prevented their debts to soar and leave them under the rule of a king.  There would be no need for the Louisiana Purchase to be invented, so the U.S. would be much smaller, and we’d have French neighbors (which isn’t so different).  But we wouldn’t be called the United States anymore.  We’d still be colonies under the His Royal Highness.  I suppose there’s a chance we would have gotten free, when Parliament limited the king’s powers, but we wouldn’t have Washington or Jefferson around to help us draft the Constitution.  It would have come out differently.  That means we might have lost some of the freedoms we have now.  Our Constitution wouldn’t have been a model to guide or influence other countries.  We wouldn’t be able to give new lives and second chances to the millions of immigrants who have come here.  That means I wouldn’t even be here.  Our demographics would be much different, and our traditions and customs would resemble the U.K. rather than be influenced by the Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, or Irish immigrants who came here.  Can you imagine what a different world we would have?

The thing about “what if” questions is that God’s plan always comes about.  If those men had refused to sign it, other men would have stood up against the king and led the Revolution.  God allowed the best men for the job to do it, leaving us with the best results.  I’m thankful for how history turned out.