Today's post is about one of those little moments in which a simple choice could have changed the course of history (a For Want of a Nail, as I explained in this blog's post #2). I have already written about the 19th and 20th centuries, so now it is time to speak a little about something that took place before, in the 18th century.
This century's last quarter was, probably, one of the most tumultuous to the date. The American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, the beginning of Napoleon's career, the Russian-Swedish War, the Second Partition of Poland, the first vaccine (against smallpox)... many things that took place in those twenty-five years were fundamental, with an influence that reaches to our days, particularly the first two events. Here, we will concentrate on the American Revolutionary War, in which the United States of America broke off from the British Empire.
The French-Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years War) had greatly indebted the British Treasury, so the government tried force the North American colonists to give up money through taxes, but the Thirteen Colonies were opposed, as they lacked any legitimate representation in the British Parliament (as they said, "no taxation without representation"). The British tried to pass several laws, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 (which forced the colonists to use only stamped paper produced in London for official documents and newspapers, among other things) or the Townshend Acts (five laws that intended to raise money so that governors and judges could be pay, regulate trade, punish the Colony of New York for not obeying the Quartering Act of 1765 and establish the precedent by which Parliament would be allowed to tax the colonies), all of which were overwhelmingly rejected by the colonists. Only a law that raised taxes on tea was accepted, and an occupation of the city of Boston (capital of the colony of Massachussets) triggered the Boston Massacre of 1770. However, the spark that started it all did not appear until 1773, when the Government reduced the tea tax on the British Eastern India Company, which would have greatly damaged the local traders. This is when the Boston Tea Party took place (this is where the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party in the United States has taken its name, although it remains obvious that the irony of the name escapes their comprehension), in which several colonists, disguised as Native Americans, boarded the BEIC ships anchored in the Boston port and threw hundreds of boxes, full of tea, into the sea.
The British Parliament tried to punish the colony for the act, but this backfired, as most colonies stood behind Massachussetts and joined in the First Continental Congress (1774), which demanded the derogation of all laws that had been passed since 1763 that affected the colonists, and that the British Government accepted that unilaterally ordering the quartering of troops in colony territory was illegal. An eleventh-hour attempt (already in February 1775) by the British Government to negotiate had no success, and hostilities began in April that year.
We all now the final result: the North-Americans managed to kick out the British troops out of the Thirteen Colonies with the support of France, Netherlands and Spain (one of whose admirals, Bernardo de Gálvez, rode next to George Washington in the parade held to celebrate the end of the war), becoming independent de jure in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. It had cost a lot, particularly at the beginning, when there were moments in which the Continental Army could have been wiped out or captured by the British Redcoats, which would have meant the colonists' defeat.
It is one of these moments I want to speak about: the Battle of the Brandywine River (yes, the same name as the of the river in The Lord of the Rings). The British had managed to land on the north bank of the Chesapeake Bay with the intention of marching into Philadelphia, the rebels' capital city. Washington led his army into battle in this river's bank, but he was forced to retreat, allowing the British to take over the city, which would remain in the latter's power until 1778.
Shortly before the battle, a group of British veteran sharpshooters lead by Captain Patrick Ferguson met with two enemy officers, one European, the other American, that were inspecting the place where the fight was going to take place. Ferguson ordered three of his sharpshooters to point towards the officers, who did not know the sharpshooters were there, but in the last moment, Ferguson decided to warn them to leave, thinking that there was no honor in shooting an officer in the back. It would not be until the next day that Ferguson discovered the American officer was George Washington himself.
What would have happened if Ferguson had ordered his soldiers to shoot?
Washington's death would have been, undoubtedly, a hard hit for the colonists, who would have lost one of their best leaders and icons. It is possible that this could have demoralized the rebels enough to get them to accept the Carlisle Peace Commission (or an equivalent to it), which had offered the colonies a peace treaty where the colonists' initial demands (self-government, representation in Parliament) would have been met, so the United States would have been a failed experiment. Florida would have remained in English hands, as well as Menorca (which had been given to the English in the Treaty of Utrecht along with Gibraltar, and returned to Spain when the Treaty of Paris was signed). France would have not indebted itself while it supported the rebels, so the French Revolution would have either not happened or take place later, changing Napoleon's career. The Spanish Empire might have managed to survive for longer, the Spanish Constitution of 1812 would have never been promulgated. The concept of Republic as a great power's government would have been reduced to the glory that was Rome and the Italian Merchant Republics of the Renaissance.
It is possible, too, that it would have not changed a lot. The rebels were not only Washington and his troops: the Continental Army also had many great leaders and generals, such as Benedict Arnold (victorious in Saratoga shortly after the Brandywine River Battle, but who would be later rendered as a traitor for trying to surrender West Point to the British) or Horatio Gates, both of whom could have easily led the rebels' army. The war could have ended sooner or later, with the victory of the rebels. France would have declared war to the United Kingdom, got ruined and the French Revolution would have brought us Napoleon the Emperor. Broken empires, changed history... and, in the end, we would be complaining because the President of the United States of America believes himself to be the world's master while he governs from the White House, in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Arnoldstown D.C.
As you can see, this is a shot that could have changed everything, or nothing. But we will never know if it would have happened that way. At least, until a Paul Van Zandt appears and invents the parachronic projector, or the guys of Infinity Unlimited come here with their conveyors, but that's something I will explain in the future...
I hope you enjoyed this, and if you want me to speak about something, do not doubt in asking me!
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