It Was 228 Years Ago Today...

[aptpupil]

... That the American War Of Independence effectively ended with the surrender of the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia.

Now, I was going to throw open the question of whether the world would be a significantly different place today if the result had gone the other way, but all I really want to say is how great it is that we've managed to put our differences behind us in the intervening centuries!

Peace!

[Moderator]

I think that's an idea that deserves catching on all over the world.

[PatInTheHat]

Nah, not too much in a big picture kind of way I wouldn't imagine, except I'd have health care...though, maybe that iced sweet tea thang we love so much in the south, would be considered an unlawful act of treason.

Hmmm, now that there would have been a war the south would have won hands down...tax it, eh...but couldn't go messin' with it is what I'm sayin', trouble would surely be brewin'!

(yeah yeah, that sure was a trip 'round the 'ol barn to get to the door wuddnit?)

[Srbo]

If it wasn`t for Mel Gibson and the late Heath Ledger, who knows how that battle would have turned out.

[Jake Featherston]

I still suspect the world would be better off if France had won the Seven Years War.*


*In North America, this is commonly called the French & Indian War.

[Nero]

Nah, not too much in a big picture kind of way I wouldn't imagine, except I'd have health care...

lol, except that it would probably be free health care as a citizen of the German Reich or Japanese Empire

[NathanStrickland]

I still suspect the world would be better off if France had won the Seven Years War.*


*In North America, this is commonly called the French & Indian War.

No way dood.

Friedrich der Grosse was the man! Any monarch who fights his own battles yet refers to his crown as "a hat that lets the rain in" gets two thumbs up in my book.

[PatInTheHat]

I still suspect the world would be better off if France had won the Seven Years War.*


*In North America, this is commonly called the French & Indian War.

Hard to say.
It's in all probability the Revolutionry War might have not taken place...at least not at that time, or for the same reasons...well, maybe the same reasons, or other reasons, but down the road.
The constant tax increases our fore daddies were all worked up about, were mainly the crowns attempt to recoup booty spent in that war, meant to keep the colonists safe, and of course some kickin' real estate in possesion of the crown.

lol, except that it would probably be free health care as a citizen of the German Reich or Japanese Empire

Hmm, I kinda doubt it, Great Britain would very likely stayed the worlds greatest superpower, most likely to this very day, and quite possibly the only one.
(For such a small joint, regardless of being an island, even the Reich prefered to attack primarily by air, the pusses...in my book, that makes y'all Brits some pretty tough folk)

We could very well have become like a Mama's favorite problem child (I have no idea where that one came from), if nothing else, simply because of the huge & vast natural resources that had yet to be discovered.

That and we all sure can dance...right?...well okay, I know I can.

[Mr Nobody]

I might have learned wrong, but the American War of Independence largely came down to one shot. The British conscripted man missed...and the rest is history. Had he hit his target...well.
Had independence not been gained, the American colonies would have been rather unruly places...to the point where there were never enough resources to allow the rest of the continent to be explored, etc. Of course, the extra revenue into the Empire's coffers would have amply seen off the French, et al (which happened anyway), though ultimately perhaps what is now the US would have been two or perhaps even three separate countries, each speaking either French, English or Spanish.

[Nutty Bavarian]

I'm glad America and the UK get along as well as we do. I think it's because many colonists originally came from England. Essentially making the UK and US family.