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George Washington Gave A Speech That Saved Our Country — What if . . .
On the Ides of March, 1783 George Washington gives a dramatic speech, halting a coup by his officers against Congress and saving the fledgling United States.
The bulk of the Army was encamped in Newburgh, New York. Things were relatively peaceful as the politicians worked on the Treaty of Paris to end the War. But many officers hadn’t been paid in months and resentment toward Congress, more comfortably ensconced in Philadelphia was growing among the officer corps. The word was that a group was going to march on the city of Brotherly Love and overthrow the government.
It is 1783 A.D. The world’s population is roughly 900 million humans on the planet, of which only 3.1 million are part of the United States. Even though fighting had stopped, the war is not yet technically over on the 15th of March. That would happen in September. Catherine the Great of the Russian Empire annexes the Crimean Khanate, the last remnant of the Mongol Golden Horde; the last celebration of Massacre Day is held in Boston; the first public demonstration of a parachute jump is done in France by a man jumping from an observatory; the 1783 Great Meteor passes over the North Sea, Great Britain and France prompting fear and scientific speculatio. Some things change; some don’t.
