Bab 60: Slideshow of Our History
Philadelphia, United States of America
December 12th, 1776
"That was much more tragic than I anticipated," Jefferson muttered softly as he stared at the credits of the movie, "Perhaps I was mistaken about my perceptions of Neg... African Americans. Those African Americans fought valiantly to keep the Union alive, but I expected all of those African Americans to return home happily as freedmen. "
"The truth is often tragic, Mr. Jefferson. Unfortunately, even the slaves that were freed after the war did not enjoy much freedom or happiness," General Kim sighed as he recalled the history lessons he received in high school and college.
The Founders had ended the more "strategic" part of the meeting for the day, and General Kim had set up a projector (a gift for this occasion), so the members of the Watchmen Society were able to watch "Glory." The delegates watched the movie silently, admiring the moving pictures and the vivid colors that were displayed on the wall for them to see. By the end of the film, some of the members were nearly in tears as they caught glimpses of the "other" United States and the problems it faced.
"It has to do something with that "Jim Crow" laws you spoke of, correct?"
General Kim nodded, "Unfortunately, even after the Civil War, the South would resist any attempts of integration and equality, even developing "Jim Crow" laws to deprive African Americans of rights and liberties. It would take nearly a century for those Jim Crow laws to be broken through the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The worst part is, even in my times, the Confederacy is remembered... fondly by some Southerners. Even after the Confederacy lost the Civil War, some of the more prominent Confederate members spread misinformation about the true causes and nature of the Civil War. They claimed that the United States was the aggressor, that the South seceded because of state's rights instead of slavery, and the such. Needless to say, their tactics worked, and the nation was still feeling the effects of it even in the year 2018."
"You mean, citizens of the United States admired the traitors?" General William Alexander asked incredulously, "Unbelievable. Thank heavens that the issue is solved, hopefully."
One of the few members from South Carolina, Representative Christopher Gadsen, looked nervous as other members glared daggers at him, "South Carolina will never secede or attempt to reimpose slavery. At least, not while I and the other delegates from South Carolina are alive."
"That reminds me, Samuel. Perhaps you can show us the basic history of the United States from your history so that we may have a better understanding of the future," General Washington mentioned casually, "Most of us have only heard bits and pieces of what the future is like. I believe it may help us create more long-term goals if we are more aware of what the future has in store for us."
"Coincidentally, I have prepared a PowerPoint about American history for you to look at."
The members of the Watchmen Society looked confused as General Kim pressed a few buttons on his laptop, which made the man grin. They had no idea they would be the first people to suffer from PowerPoint presentations in this history.
The projection on the wall flickered to a title page which stated, "United States History (and Relevant World History)." Next to the title was the picture of the modern American flag, with fifty stars and thirteen stripes.
"Let us begin."
He went through as much information as he could. He started with the Treaty of Paris, the establishment of the republic, and the first few presidencies. Jefferson seemed more surprised that Adams was the second president than the fact that he was the third president. The Louisana Purchase greatly interested the men gathered in the room, especially after General Kim listed the tremendous wealth and farmland that the territory eventually offered to the republic. Madison, one of the newest members of the Society, looked shocked when a slide revealed information about the fourth president. Slides that revealed the War of 1812 stirred great interest amongst the members, especially the stories of the burning of Washington D.C. (the namesake of the city looked unfazed at all the information being revealed in front of the group). The belief in Manifest Destiny and the controversial Trail of Tears brought mixed arguments between the Society's members, though the views on the Trail of Tears were primarily negative. The political chaos and the division of the nation before the Civil War, the Civil War, and Reconstruction troubled nearly everyone in the room. After seeing the results of leaving the issue of slavery and equality alone, the room universally agreed that the current Constitution would (hopefully) prevent such a division from plaguing the nation in the future. The rapid industrialization and the Gilded Age depressed a few more pro-agriculture members such as Jefferson, and the level of corruption during these eras shocked them. When General Kim watched them, there was no doubt that several of them were thinking of ways to add a safety measure to prevent corruption and exploitation pre-emptively.
General Kim continued into the Progressive Era, expanding women's rights and more expansions of rights. He braced himself for the inevitable as he discussed World War One with the members.
"World War One," Washington recited the words on the wall, "It sounds very ominous. I'm assuming there were more world wars?"
"There were only two World Wars, but both of them were devastating. The amounts of lives lost in both wars are probably unimaginable for all of you, but the end results were horrifying. New weapons were developed as industry and technology increased rapidly. Millions were thrown into conflicts, with soldiers and civilians dying in droves during both wars. The two wars changed the entire global order, shattered entire nations, and allowed humanity to push the limits of their horrors to the test."
"How many died in those wars?" General Alexander asked, looking uneasily at the pictures of the First World War."
"Approximately 20 million people died in the First World War, with a total of 40 million casualties. For reference, the current population of the United States, or the total population of all the colonies that signed the Declaration, is approximately 2.5 million people."
The room went quiet as they processed the numbers while General Kim informed them of the horrors of World War 1: everything from poison gas to trench warfare. He briefly went over the radicalism the world saw after the collapse of several countries after the First World War and the buildup to the Second World War. The information the colonials received was more than enough to make them go completely still.
"The Second World War was even more deadly, with nearly 70 million dead and hundreds of million injured. But the weapons and crimes of this war were... much more terrible than the First World War."
The Japanese invasion of China, the Rape of Nanking, Unit 731, the Pearl Harbor Attack, the German invasion of Poland, antisemitism, the fall of France, etc. All the horrible truths of the future were revealed to the members. The delegates' faces paled further and further as General Kim apologetically explained the events of WW2.
But the two events that shook the cores of every person in the room were the most vicious ones: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Holocaust.
"Six million Jews, murdered in these industrial camps, simply because they were Jews?" Jefferson asked mutedly.
"Yes." General Kim replied simply.
"And to think the United States, even that far into the future was still discriminatory enough to turn back those fleeing refugees and send them back to death."
"The atomic bombings too," Washington mentioned, "The United States carried out the bombings; were they necessary?"
"It... is still a contested topic even in the 21st century. I can not justify the bombing of hundreds of thousands of civilians, but the public was wary of war. And with Japan preparing to fight to the death and an invasion seemingly being necessary, which would've resulted in millions of casualties on both sides... President Truman made his decision."
All the delegates looked remorseful and horrified but continued to listen. Everyone was highly interested and disturbed as they heard General Kim's explanation about the Cold War and America's involvement everywhere.
"Well, hopefully, the limitations we placed on the president work as intended, though perhaps passing a few more regulations may help," Madison laughed nervously, "Now about this... "CIA," though. That may be a bigger problem later on."
"I think I must... come to terms with all the information revealed to me. Forgive me while I excuse myself, gentlemen," Jefferson fixed his clothes and left.
The other members of the Watchmen Society filed out immediately after, all of them looking lost in thought as they left. General Kim was afraid that he had utterly rocked the colonials and caused them to rethink their position in the United States. He stayed up all night, worried about what the future held for the Watchmen Society.
His assumptions were wrong. The new information the delegates received did not deter them, no it changed them. And for many of them, it would change their perspectives permanently.
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