Any thoughts on what the Commonwealth of America would look like today?

[twcpfan1]

.. if we did not bother to gain independence from the British, what would this country or for that matter, the world look like today?

Would we have been a socialist democracy with a considerably lower population and relatively high overall standard of living?

Will the United Kingdom be the ultimate superpower or would the Soviets have been?

Will HS football exist in Texas or would we all be playing soccer and rugby? :D

Are we better off as a country because we became a republic?

[BDB]

i guess we would be alil more like Australia or Canada?

[TheBigPeach]

What would our accent be? :rolleyes:

[F18mustang]

I don't know, I wouldn't be here.

[mad_fan]

What would our accent be? :rolleyes:

You'd probably still sound like you were from the back 40...:rolleyes:

[mad_fan]

I don't know, I wouldn't be here.

How do you know this???:ninja:

[F18mustang]

How do you know this???:ninja:

Because I'd be in England playing Rugby.

[JOH]

Because I'd be in England playing Rugby.

http://newmedia.funnyjunk.com/pictures/rugby-pantsing.jpg

http://www.myspaceantics.com/images/funny/rugby-can-be-painful.jpg

[mad_fan]

Because I'd be in England playing Rugby.

The people that ran away from England...probably still would have run...
You'd probably be playing ice hockey...

[BDB]

me, hunnybunny, bandido, and half of JBT would be the only texans :laugh

[mad_fan]

me, hunnybunny, bandido, and half of JBT would be the only texans :laugh

The Irish (and the railroad) would be here too...
But el prez might own me...:eek:

[BDB]

The Irish (and the railroad) would be here too...
But el prez might own me...:eek:

i own you in agruement, but i guess literally would be just as rewarding.

[F18mustang]

i own you in agruement, but i guess literally would be just as rewarding.

http://forumspile.com/Owned/Owned-BabyScribble.jpg

[mad_fan]

i own you in agruement, but i guess literally would be just as rewarding.

This is evident in your replies...and lack thereof...
I only made you cry once today...you know the post...;)
But it wasn't sig worthy like FB...

[BDB]

This is evident in your replies...and lack thereof...
I only made you cry once today...you know the post...;)
But it wasn't sig worthy like FB...

the annoying thing? that was more of a observation and request, then crying.

but, it's whatever.

[yankee]

i'd probably be living in............northern england/ireland.
couldn't deal with those rebs down south.

[mad_fan]

the annoying thing? that was more of a observation and request, then crying.

but, it's whatever.

Wrong post reference fail...but as el prez would say....whatever...

[mad_fan]

i'd probably be living in............northern england/ireland.
couldn't deal with those rebs down south.

haha...I might have killed you already...:eek:

[BDB]

Wrong post reference fail...but as el prez would say....whatever...

"IT'S whatever". meaning "it's whatever you want it to be".

what post was it, then? i have really bad memory.

[yankee]

haha...I might have killed you already...:eek:

you'd be too drunk to kill me. :ninja:

[mad_fan]

"IT'S whatever". meaning "it's whatever you want it to be".

whatever...

[mad_fan]

you'd be too drunk to kill me. :ninja:

I don't know much...but I know I'd drink less if I lived around a bunch of drunks in Ireland...
I'm pretty sure you'd have been car bombed by now...:)

[yankee]

I don't know much...but I know I'd drink less if I lived around a bunch of drunks in Ireland...
I'm pretty sure you'd have been car bombed by now...:)

i like potatoes too much to get involved in all that IRA stuff...;)

[twcpfan1]

Because I'd be in England playing Rugby.

Great Britain has a losing record in Rugby against most of the colonies (All Blacks, Wallabies, and Springboks) as far as I know. They probably would have lost to America too.

[Firebird]

.. if we did not bother to gain independence from the British, what would this country or for that matter, the world look like today?

Would we have been a socialist democracy with a considerably lower population and relatively high overall standard of living?

Will the United Kingdom be the ultimate superpower or would the Soviets have been?

Will HS football exist in Texas or would we all be playing soccer and rugby? :D

Are we better off as a country because we became a republic?

An interesting question.....try this one counterfactual on for size, as I have been thinking about it.

A farsighted British Parliament and PM recognize the potential values of the colonies and, when trouble explodes over taxation issues, defuse the situation. The colonies are awarded proportional representation in Parliament and some of the taxes are repealed. The colonies become in essence equal to the British homeland in terms of rights and privilges. Let's not forget that this was what they wanted to begin with.

The British governemnt continues a wise policy of fairly loose immigration to the overseas colonies and trade between the Americas and the homeland and Europe grows at its historical rate. As the colonies grow in both population and wealth, sensible governments are able to navigate the difficult conflicts of interest by allowing for substantial local governance while keeping both the British Isles and the Americas under the same Imperial government with representation in Parliament. The American colonies and Canadian holdings quickly group together to advance common interests at the national level. However, the national government is forced to deal with the growing relative power of the colonies and perhaps two "capitals" emerge, a la the late Roman Empire-- one at London and one at New York/Boston/Philadelphia. (There is no need to build Washington).

Slavery will likely end earlier than otherwise-- with the combined sympathies for abolitionism from the home isles, Canda, and Northern colonists. Any Southern insurrection will be quickly squashed with the help of the British Royal Navy and Army. No long Civil War. Likewise, the new British Government enforces its own version of the "Monroe Doctrine" and with the cooperation of its American citizens, is quickly able to establish itself as the main player in the Western Hemisphere at the expense of a declining Spain and troubled France. Manifest Destiny comes into play, again, likely earlier than before. I see borders stabilizing roughly where they are right now--- though without the impetus to expand for slavery, the British might never have thought Texas or some of the southwest worth the trouble. Nevertheless, the British Western Empire expands towards California and includes all of modern day Canada. They quickly overwhelm the Russians in the Pacific Northwest.

By the turn of the 20th century, Boston and the Western Empire are at least the equals of the home Isles in terms of political influence. The British have always been free traders and industrialists, so I see no reason why the British Western Empire would not have grown at the same clip, or faster, than the actual U.S. economy did. As the U.S. continued to grow, more and more power would move to this side of the Atlantic. For sure, tensions would arise, but smart statesmen could navigate them and keep the whole thing together.

Talk about a world changing path. All of modern history would have to be rewritten. Who knows if the Soviet Union ever comes into existence? The Germans were nervous in WWI when just France and the U.K. were involved, if it had meant picking a fight with an empire the size of 1914 Britian/Canada/U.S./Australia/New Zealand COMBINED....things would go differently. At the very least, perhaps the war ends long before 1917 and the Tsar is able to fend off the problems developing at home. The likely balance of power in the 20th century would likely end up being some version of a British/Russia dyad. In all likelihood, I think that would be a liberalized British Empire and some sort of Russian Empire with the tsar as nominal, though perpahs not actual, head.