George Washington was one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, he
was the first president of the united states.
He was also the commander in chief during the American revolutionary war.
But what if in an alternate time line, America’s first president, George Washington was assassinated?
What would America look like today?
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I’m Charlotte Dobre.
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It is known that there was an assassination plot against George Washington was uncovered
in 1776.
A man named Thomas Hickey, a private in George Washington’s Guard.
His primary job was to protect George Washington.
Hickey was arrested in 1776 for passing counterfeit money, but while he was in jail, Hickey admitted
to another prisoner that he was involved in an assassination plot against the commander
in chief.
If Hickey had not been caught with counterfeit money, he would have continued with the plan
to assassinate Washington, or perhaps someone else would have tried to assassinate him had
hickeys plan not gone through.
After Hickey was hanged, no other attempts on Washington’s life were made.
But right now, we’re discussing a hypothetical timeline in which George Washington was assassinated,
and what would happen if he was?
Would it mean that the outcome of the American revolutionary war would have been different?
Well that would entirely depend on when Washington is assassinated.
If a successful assassination happened early on in the war, it is likely that the revolution
would not have continued in the way it did.
If George Washington was killed, someone would have had to take his place, but not without
a struggle for power.
Either Horatio Gates or Benedict Arnold would have assumed the role of commander in chief.
Gates was known to be somewhat incompetent, so if he took over the revolution would have
been disastrous.
But benedict Arnold could have reasonably continued the revolution without George Washington
and lead the patriots to victory.
Benedict Arnold was a brave and skilled soldier, who spent much of his own money on the war
effort.
He was bitter toward the continental congress because they denied him a promotion and did
not properly credit him for his accomplishments.
Because of this, he decided to change sides.
Perhaps he would not have been a traitor if he had become the leader of the army, but
still, his actions make us question the outcome of the war had he been the leader.
If George Washington were killed later on down the line, after Arnold had switched sides,
he could have been succeeded by Nathaniel Greene, who was Washington’s most gifted
and dependable officer.
Greene could have easily led the Continental Army to victory without George Washington
included the equation.
But George Washington was a leader, not necessarily valued for his military efforts.
His leadership was necessary to set up a US presidency.
He was not the president until 1789, so if he died before that, he would not have become
America’s first president.
Without George Washington, the entire history of America, and perhaps even its system of
government, would be entirely different.
He didn’t want to be president, but accepted the job and served for 2 terms before stepping
own, in order to set the precedence for future presidents.
The United States was the first country to have a presidential system of government.
The presidential system had failed many times, almost always ending up as a dictatorship.
Without George Washington, the US might not even have a president as its leader today.
Perhaps Arnold would have taken power, Aaron Burr or even Alexander Hamilton.
Any of those men might have dubbed themselves King of America.
George Washington governed strictly according to the constitution, setting the tone and
code of conduct for all future US presidents, in which any abuse of power would lead to
opposition by the people and by their representatives in congress.
And lastly, if George Washington did not end up being America’s first president, Washington
DC might be called something else.
Mount Rushmore would probably not include his face, and neither would the 1 dollar bill.
Many of his major accomplishments would not exist to this day.
He issued the Proclamation of Neutrality, in 1793, as well as the jay treaty which helped
make peace with Great Britain.
He kept a young America out of internal struggles, so its central government could increase in
strength.
Without George Washington, America would not be the country it is today.
How do you think America or even the world would be different if George Washington was
assassinated?
Let us know in the comments below.
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