General Washington is killed in action

[Dick Cheney.]

General George Washington is killed at the battle of Monmouth (1778).

What happens to the American war for independence and what happens to the future of the United States?

My guess is a divided country or that an elderly Ben Franklin is forced to become president.

[Roma_Victrix]

WOW! That's an awesome question. You might be right about Ben Franklin given his sheer popularity, but who would lead the war effort going forward? Would the United States have the type of military leadership necessary to win the war, to fill the shoes of Washington? Nathanael Greene (who'd recently become Quartermaster General)? Horatio Gates, the victor of Saratoga? Although the latter wasn't as competent according to some accounts.

[Markas]

As hilarious as it would have been, I doubt Benedict Arnold would have taken up the reins as he was too unpopular with Congress and was suffering from wounds in battle. Gates was a schemer that was fresh from the Conway Cabal plot to replace Washington anyway, so I can't see Congress allowing him either. That leaves the more logical choice of Greene, who was a good soldier, administrator and General.

I think Greene would have brought the Rebels' cause to a successful conclusion. Actually, he may have been more effective than Washington in the role, but it's hard to say.

[Sir Adrian]

Paul Giamatti becomes the first president.

[Dick Cheney.]

WOW! That's an awesome question. You might be right about Ben Franklin given his sheer popularity, but who would lead the war effort going forward? Would the United States have the type of military leadership necessary to win the war, to fill the shoes of Washington? Nathanael Greene (who'd recently become Quartermaster General)? Horatio Gates, the victor of Saratoga? Although the latter wasn't as competent according to some accounts.

Thanks! This really could have happened too. During his career, Washington is said to have had several horses shot from under him, his hat and coat peppered with bullet holes, and was said to have come within shouting distance of Indian assassins and the best crack shot in the British army (http://www.historynet.com/the-marksm...washington.htm).

Evidence thus shows that Washington barely survived his military career.

In the event that Washington is KIA, I'll just state briefly that I think the US does still win the War of Independence. Washinton becomes the ultimate martyr and rallying cry for the 13 colonies, which has the effect of keeping the army and war effort together (even without GW).

My guess then is Horatio Gates or Robert H. Harrison takes over, though Lafayette will need to play an even more important leadership role, and probably would be the most competent choice.

US still wins though thanks to Mr. Franklin getting the French military involved and the awful logistics of trying to police a continent from across the Atlantic (if you're the UK). This scenario however, changes dramatically if Washington dies to heat stress or dies from frostbite and sickness at Valley Forge instead (another possibility which I don't wish to contemplate), because there is no more rallying cry for the 13 colonies.

After the US wins, only Ben Franklin (and possibly James Madison's Virginia ties) has the prestige and credibility nessecary to poltically unite the colonies in agreement at the constitutional convention. The problem however, and Achilles heel, is that Mr. Franklin's health is obviously declining and there's the fact that he is a well-known and very vocal abolitionist. The end result therefore,-without GW- is a divided country.

[+Marius+]

Paul Giamatti becomes the first president.

I don't think he would stop at president;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5czM9pf9Wo&t=1m13s

[Roma_Victrix]

I don't think he would stop at president;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5czM9pf9Wo&t=1m13s

I like the fact that they built an entire replica of Rochester Castle for that film. Cool!

Paul Giamatti becomes the first president.

God I love that HBO miniseries.





I suppose there is a case to be made that John Adams could have stepped up and applied for the job as the nation's first president instead of the second. He was well renowned as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and although he gained quite an unsavory reputation for his "diplomatic" efforts in France alongside Benjamin Franklin, he was neverthess a successful diplomat in the Netherlands. One thing is for sure, though: he was not a military man and would have had nothing to do with the military command in the war effort. That role would still require someone else.

After the US wins, only Ben Franklin (and possibly James Madison's Virginia ties) has the prestige and credibility nessecary to poltically unite the colonies in agreement at the constitutional convention. The problem however, and Achilles heel, is that Mr. Franklin's health is obiviosuly declining and there's the fact that he is a well-known and very vocal abolitionist. The end result therefore,-without GW- is a divided country.

That's a fairly justified assumption. Who knows how much longer slavery would have existed if the South had its own country from the start? If the South remained in British hands, however, it would have abolished slavery along with the rest of the British Empire, given the Slave Trade Act of 1807 (coinciding with the US slave importation prohibition law enacted the following year) and finally the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. Lol. Ironically, slavery would thus have ended in the South around the same time the states in the North had all abolished the practice.

[Cyclops]

Militarily I think the US would still win the war (thanks Lafayette), but the question of unity (during and post war) is tantalising. I suppose some other commander might gain the necessary prestige by concluding the war, so long as he didn't die in turn.

A divided US is an open invitation for British intervention. Maybe a loyalist enclave would develop in New York and spread northwards? If enough colonies returned to the fold the Reconquista might become self sustaining.

I do think pragmatism is the hallmark of US political development, so probably a compromise candidate would be found, but given the stormy constitutional seas ahead (crises and civil war) the stability established by the well liked Washington is a key moment in US history. Maybe the Hartford convention prompts seccession, or Dixie does break free in the 1860s?