History can often turn on single events.
- A young Lieutenant George Washington almost got himself killed during the French and Indian War.
- Benjamin Franklin sailed many times to Paris to gain and maintain royal French support. The British were looking for him at sea. What if he were killed or captured and brought to London to be tried and hanged? (Or, alternately, he is put in prison from which he writes eloquent letters that slowly turn opinion toward allowing the colonies more autonomy?)
- Alexander Hamilton commanded an army unit and marched it back and forth in front of Yorktown to tweak the noses of the British. What if some sharpshooter took him out?
- People often died riding their horses. What if the horse ridden by Thomas Jefferson was spooked or tripped and Jefferson was thrown down and died?
Would there have been people to fill one or more of these gaps? There is, of course, the Great Man hypothesis, the right person at the right time at that right place. Would there have been other people capable of taking the place of one or more of the above mentioned?
- A young Lieutenant George Washington almost got himself killed during the French and Indian War.
- Benjamin Franklin sailed many times to Paris to gain and maintain royal French support. The British were looking for him at sea. What if he were killed or captured and brought to London to be tried and hanged? (Or, alternately, he is put in prison from which he writes eloquent letters that slowly turn opinion toward allowing the colonies more autonomy?)
- Alexander Hamilton commanded an army unit and marched it back and forth in front of Yorktown to tweak the noses of the British. What if some sharpshooter took him out?
- People often died riding their horses. What if the horse ridden by Thomas Jefferson was spooked or tripped and Jefferson was thrown down and died?
Would there have been people to fill one or more of these gaps? There is, of course, the Great Man hypothesis, the right person at the right time at that right place. Would there have been other people capable of taking the place of one or more of the above mentioned?