How The Founding Fathers Would See Modern America | Documentary

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:01]A time portal suddenly opens in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, connecting the modern-day United States to the early republic of the 18th century. Through it steps four individuals, figures regarded by the nation as some of its most distinguished founding fathers, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. As soon as the four of them are through, the portal behind them closes, locking them in our world.

[00:00:27]What do they make of it? How does modern America compare to the America of their day? Which do they prefer? Can they even understand the modern world? Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to Fire of Learning. Thank you for joining us today as we ask, what would the founding fathers think of modern America? This video is an improved remake of a video we made in 2020. We have redone it to improve both the information and entertainment quality. Before we begin, we would like to thank the original patrons on that video. Anastasia Fay, John Dixon, Derek Aldridge, Constantine the Great, Etu Antilla, Andrew J.

[00:01:04]Tardiff, Rudy Tutti, Fresh and Fruity, Joseph Mabry, Shadow Dice, Wyatt Mantadia, Guilerme J Hobbs, James Jones, Ryan Walker, Vance Hill, and Shawn Fitzpatrick, as well as Calvin Dunn, Bjon Ogurt, and Javier Gomez for being our most recent supporters on Patreon.

[00:01:23]They joined these supporters listed here who helped to make videos like this possible. Now then, let's get to it.

[00:01:33]Previously, we have made videos exploring what the Romans and medieval people would think of the modern world.

[00:01:39]As the third video in the series, and therefore the third time this has happened, the public fully expects to see time travelers appear here and there and has a plan in place for such incidents. As always, however, these temporal interlopers have no idea where they are. They have stepped into a confusing, frightening, unrecognizable world. As they are gathering themselves and making sense of what has happened, Washington asks, "Where is Hamilton?

[00:02:12]His disappearance is a mystery, but they will have to go on without him. Before they can develop a plan, however, a curious crowd surrounds them. But the American Time Travel Agency arrives quickly, cuts through the crowd, and escorts the historical figures to safety. They are taken to the American Time Travel Agency center where the situation is explained to them.

[00:02:38]Communication in this instance would be quite easy. The English of 18th century America is almost indistinguishable from that of the modern day with only small but noticeable differences in spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, and such here and there. Therefore, it is easy to communicate to them that they have traveled to the future. The year 2026, 250 years exactly since the country declared itself independent. Though that is not to say that it would be easy for them to accept it. One issue that takes the forefront, immunization.

[00:03:14]Would time travelers from this far back lack immunity to modern strains of diseases like the flu and such things?

[00:03:21]Are they each therefore likely to die?

[00:03:24]Or are they likely to spread diseases from the past to the modern world? Not necessarily. Their immune systems might be shocked, but they are close enough in time to where they would likely survive, especially with modern medicine. they would be at greater risk for modern people than the other way around with perhaps a few possible exceptions.

[00:03:45]Smallox theoretically would be one.

[00:03:48]Smallox was an infectious disease which ravaged much of the world in their time.

[00:03:53]Washington had it as a young man and survived. Adams was inoculated with it in 1764 and Franklin lost one of his sons to smallox. Smallox was almost completely eradicated by 1980 and no longer circulates modern populations.

[00:04:09]However, if one of these gentlemen were carrying it, it could make a comeback and unleash itself onto a modern population lacking in immunity to it.

[00:04:18]However, thankfully, none of these figures had small pox during the points in time from which they have traveled.

[00:04:25]And as smallpox was only contagious for a few weeks, they would not spread the virus to modern people. Regardless, in this particular instance, the time portal magically modernizes their immune systems and destroys harmful contagions from their time so that their adventure begins uninterrupted.

[00:04:42]The first question these time travelers might ask is, "What happened to them and their world? Everyone and everything they knew." The founding fathers are much closer in time to the modern day than the Romans or those of the Middle Ages are. So much so that their age is sometimes included in the term modern world depending on how the term is being used. Indeed, let us put the amount of time that they have traveled into perspective. This is Albert Henry Wilson. Born February 11th, 1850 in Antworp, New York. Wilson was a veteran of the American Civil War. He served as a drummer boy for the Union Army. He never saw action, but regardless, Mr. Wilson was the last verified surviving veteran of the American Civil War. He died on August 2nd, 1956 at the age of 106. He lived long enough, therefore, to where he lived at the same time as many alive today, some of whom will continue to live for decades to come. Mr. Wilson was also born early enough to have met this man, Daniel Frederick Bakeman, the last surviving veteran of the American Revolutionary War. Though for the record, it is not likely that they actually did meet. Mr. Bakeman was born in Shohari County, New York in 1759 during the French and Indian War, the same decade as the births of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Mr. Bakeman served in the Tyron County Militia during the war. He lived all the way to 1869, dying at the age of 109, long enough to help found a nation and then see it nearly tear itself apart.

[00:06:24]These were extreme outliers in terms of their age, but it is still profound to say that all of American history from the point of independence fits within three exceptionally long human lifetimes. The modern world is not so terribly distant from the age of these figures. And yet, that being said, it has been a very eventful quarter millennium. Much has changed to the point that the modern world is very strange to them. Many things are unrecognizable and challenging to understand, but they are eager to explore. As usual, it would perhaps be a best to start off with dinner. We've gone into the differences between modern and past food production and such things in the past two videos, but by the 18th century, things had started looking more modern. Exploration and trade had led to a greater dietary variety. Many new foods had been discovered in the Americas and elsewhere and incorporated into the common diet. Sugar, tea, coffee, spices, and things such as this had become much more widespread.

[00:07:26]Meanwhile, science and technology had been allowing farmers to bolster food production. However, things weren't on the standard of today's world quite yet.

[00:07:35]Food production and preservation was still a daily fight. The process was still quite vulnerable to unfavorable weather, pests, and other disruptions.

[00:07:45]Many people struggled with nutritional deficiencies. The threat of a poor harvest that could lead to price hikes, and even for the lower classes in particular, starvation and death still loomed. At one point, before dinner begins, all four of them look across the table to find something quite shocking in the kitchen. Pineapples. An entire stack of them. The founding fathers knew of pineapples, but to say they were expensive and rare is an understatement.

[00:08:13]As we discussed in our history of pineapples video, a single pineapple in the 18th century generally would cost thousands of dollars in today's terms.

[00:08:21]Thus, they were exclusive to the very wealthy, although the more modestly rich could rent a pineapple for a cheaper price to impress their guests. The founding fathers stand before the pineapples for several minutes in fascination as if it were a pile of gold left casually lying around. Modern food preservation techniques have changed many things. It seems what interests them about food, furthermore, is how few Americans are involved in its production today. In the America of their day, the majority of the population were farmers, and the vast majority of people understood how producing and preserving fundamental foods generally worked.

[00:09:00]After a few days, it is suggested that they fly out to Washington DC, a city which became the nation's capital in 1790, but which was then in reality a small unfinished town. Before they get to that, however, they must ask, "Fly?

[00:09:17]flight is something that would astound them, though it might not be as shocking as one might think. The first confirmed sustained manned flight occurred in 1783 when a hot air balloon constructed by the Montgier brothers ascended in Paris.

[00:09:34]Benjamin Franklin himself, who was in Paris at the time, is reported to have witnessed later balloon flights, although not the first. This wasn't exactly an equal of a commercial airliner. It was really more of a science experiment, but many alive at the time regarded it as the beginning of something that could radically change the world one day. As the founders board a plane, they're now seeing that indeed it was. Hot air balloons stuck around and the French even experimented with them for military use during this period. Most famously at the Battle of Fluru in 1794.

[00:10:08]that flight had progressed so much that Americans had walked on the moon not even two centuries after the country's foundation would be incredible. The idea of traveling to the moon was actually discussed by some in conjunction with discussions of flight at the time, though it was pure speculation. Scholars and writers imagined flying to the moon using various contraptions that would not have actually worked. Perhaps making contact with the people who lived there.

[00:10:35]But the idea of a moon landing was of course little more than a fantasy at the time which everyone felt was ultimately out of their reach. Not only do the methods of transportation astound them, but so does the speed. To travel from England to the United States in their day would have taken at least a month if you were lucky, but more typically two and as much as 3 months depending on certain factors. The other way around was actually generally faster because of the westerlys and Gulfream 3 to 6 weeks.

[00:11:06]This journey takes roughly 7 hours by plane today. To travel from Boston, Massachusetts to Savannah, Georgia on horseback in their day would have taken between a month or two, though they likely would have sailed along the coast partially to reduce time by a few weeks.

[00:11:21]Today, this distance can be driven in roughly 17 hours. Such speed they immediately correctly realize must have changed quite a bit about how the world works. How much of the world were the founding fathers aware of? Substantially more than the Romans and those of the Middle Ages, but knowledge of the earth was still not perfect. The founding fathers knew the basic shapes of the Americas, Asia, Africa, and even Australia, but much of their interiors, including even that of North America, remained unknown to them. Regarding North America, knowledge of what lay in the interior beyond the Mississippi River was fragmentaryary and vague. For example, Thomas Jefferson is known to have studied the fossilized skulls of mastadons, believing they likely still existed in the West. Part of this territory was claimed by Spain and France, but their knowledge and silment of the interior was limited as well, especially northwards in the upper Missouri River Basin. Jefferson in particular focused on America's expansion westward. It was he who purchased the Louisiana territory from Napoleon in 1803 and sent Lewis and Clark to explore the west of the continent and expand on the knowledge at the time. Thus, he wouldn't be terribly surprised that the country had expanded in this direction. However, it was not until later in the 19th century that the American West would be well mapped and understood, and so the founders would have much to learn about. Florida was a Spanish colony before it was American.

[00:12:54]But a rarely discussed historical fact is that between the years 1763 and 1783 which importantly includes the period of the American Revolution, Florida or rather the Florida as they were then two separate colonies were British colonies inhabited by British settlers. The territory was transferred from Spain to Britain at the end of the Seven Years War and the Spanish settlers, of which there were only a few thousand, largely migrated to Cuba in response. During the American Revolution, the British city of St. Augustine, in particular, was a refuge for southern loyalists and a base from which the British launched attacks on the rebellious southern colonies. The Spanish, who assembled forces partly from Louisiana, which was at the time ruled by Spain, managed to retake West Florida during the American Revolution at the Battle of Pensacola and was granted the East in the Treaty of Paris.

[00:13:50]But the Americans had learned then that acquiring Florida was strategically important, and so interested in doing so remained. Spain transferred Florida to the United States in 1821. None of these figures would be surprised by this and in fact Adams and Jefferson were still alive when it happened. However, they would be surprised to see that Florida is now the third most populous American state. Florida was in their day a hot, swampy, sparssely populated frontier, ridden with diseases like malaria and yellow fever and offended by native peoples such as the Seol who fiercely resisted invasion. Distant Alaska was known to the founders as a sparsely inhabited Russian fur trading outpost, but it would be some time before there was any interest in its acquisition.

[00:14:39]Hawaii was not even known to Americans until 1778. While it quickly became important to trade, it likewise lay outside the strategic outlook of the founding fathers. That being said, given the history of how the country expanded, the acquisition of these lands would not be surprising to these time travelers.

[00:14:58]China and India were no longer regarded as semi- mythical lands, but regions to which Westerners actively ventured.

[00:15:04]Indeed, India had even been colonized by peoples like the British and French by this point. That being said, knowledge of Asia in general, especially the interior, was still quite imperfect, and many cultures there were still poorly understood. Africa had also been colonized, but colonies at this time were sparse and generally limited to the coasts. Knowledge of the interior of Africa would also remain vague into the following century. Europeans had first reached Australia or New Holland as they called it the prior century, but interest in it had been limited, though it was growing at the time due to contemporary British exploration of the much more fertile southeast. The loss of the 13 colonies following the American Revolution encouraged Britain's interest in Australia even further, and the British would begin to colonize Australia in 1788. During the lifetimes of each of these men, in the prior video, we briefly discussed the terror Australita, the unknown southern land. The ancients believed that there had to be an equal amount of land in the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet in order to keep the Earth balanced. This idea had become challenged during the lifetimes of these individuals, but still influenced the more speculative regions of world maps. While southern lands had been and were being discovered, it was starting to become clear that the ancients were wrong.

[00:16:30]Antarctica had not yet been discovered, but British explorer Captain James Cook had sailed close and encountering ice and cold concluded that if there were more land further south of his route, it was probably frozen and inhospitable.

[00:16:46]The founding fathers would certainly embark upon a tour of the world, starting with the country. It is interesting to note that many of America's most iconic monuments were not constructed until after their deaths.

[00:16:58]They would not recognize them. The country, they learn, did tear itself apart in civil war, something they feared might happen. As they ascend the Lincoln Memorial, they are introduced to Abraham Lincoln, the president who led the nation through the Civil War and kept it united. Lincoln was a teenager working on his father's farm in Indiana when Adams and Jefferson died. But he did later serve in the House of Representatives alongside Adam's son, John Quincy Adams. The green lady in New York City is striking. They at first assume she must be some kind of civic allegory. Washington and Jefferson love Mount Rushmore. Adams thinks it could use some work. The highway system is a true marvel. It's interesting, remarkable even that as they travel the country, they see replicas of the same stores and restaurants everywhere. Also of interest are zoos and aquariums. Many people from this time period, especially the upper classes, did actually see some exotic animals, but it was not as easily done as it is today. Of course, not everything was known, and not all of the animals that were known could be easily transported on ships and held in menageries and the like. They encounter a number of creatures which they have never seen before and only had vague knowledge of if any such as kangaroos, pandas, koalas, platypuses, komodo dragons, giraffes, hippos, and gorillas.

[00:18:24]There is much to explore even within a living room. However, it is considered imperative that they are caught up on many classic films. Films would astonish them, but also highly confused them at first. Spider-Man. Is this real? the Pirates of the Caribbean. They had no idea this was going on. John Adams forces them to watch John Adams on a daily basis. Not only has the territory of the country expanded dramatically, but so has its population. The United States's first census in 1790 listed a total of 3,929,214 people. Today, the country has a population of around 350 million people.

[00:19:07]Population density would be even more surprising. However, people in this era were much more urbanized than those of the Middle Ages, but most people still lived in rural areas. The most populous city in the United States in 1790 is the same as it is today, New York City.

[00:19:25]Today, New York City has a population of over 8 million people. In 1790, the city's population was around 30,000. The largest city in the world in 1790 was Beijing, China, which hosted a population of roughly 1 million people.

[00:19:41]London, England, followed close behind.

[00:19:44]The world in the 18th century was starting to change in ways that had never been witnessed before in human history. The industrial revolution began in the mid 18th century. Advances in science, technology, and medicine were saving lives, improving their quality, and extending them in a way that had never been seen before. As the decades and centuries after their deaths passed, progress in these areas would continue, building heavily upon what was available then. Franklin once joked that he wished that he could be preserved in a cask of Madiraa wine so that he might see the future. He is now getting his wish. Life expectancy is estimated to have been around 35 to 40 years. Like in the preceding eras, this is an average driven very low by high infant and child mortality. Most people did not die in their 30s or 40s. Like in Rome in the Middle Ages, if one made it to adulthood, they had very decent odds of seeing their 60s or even older. However, life expectancy was several years higher than in previous ages by the late 18th century. Washington died at the age of 67, Franklin, 84. Jefferson died at the age of 83 on the exact same day as John Adams, who died at age 90 on July 4th, 1826.

[00:21:04]The founding fathers are being invited to visit everyone everywhere around the country and even the world. Adams and Washington find themselves attending a dinner one evening. It is a cordial and relaxed atmosphere. But as they sit down to dinner with the other guests, Adams cannot help being bugged by something.

[00:21:24]He points it out to Washington.

[00:21:26]Washington recommends not saying anything. It's a different time with different rules. But Adams, being Adams, ignores the advice and directly asks the man in question, "Are you expecting rain, sir?" Modern etiquette might bug the founding fathers. Things were not quite as strict as they were in the Victorian era. the following century.

[00:21:47]But there were still strong expectations and norms governing dress, behavior, speech, etc. in 18th century America which were not to be neglected. They noticed that many etiquette rules from their day still exist today in relaxed forms, but some things have disappeared altogether. They would find the world much less formal and much more casual than theirs. Modern people likewise would find them extremely stiff. Hats such as the tricorn were in style in their time period, but it was impolite for men to wear them in many settings, including during dinner, but many other indoor environments and social occasions in general. The rules were different for women. However, hats and other headwear like bonnets were often more acceptable on women in indoor and formal environments. Again, this rule is not necessarily archaic. Americans today often cannot wear a hat to school or work unless it is part of a uniform, but the rule is now much more relaxed than in their day. Dress in general is much more informal. In the 18th century, people dressed formally by default and casually only in certain circumstances, though there really wasn't a perfect equivalent to modern casual attire. A lady or a gentleman taking a trip to the market did not need to wear their best clothes per se, but it was expected that they dress in a structured formal way.

[00:23:09]While there was variation among different social classes and cultures, men would generally wear something like a hat, coat, waste coat, shirt, breaches, stockings, and proper shoes.

[00:23:20]Women a gown, petticoat, stays, shift, apron for the working and middle classes, cap or bonnet, stockings, and proper shoes. roughly the equivalent of wearing a full suit or dress to the grocery store. In modern-day America, for most, especially those of the younger generations, casual, though not too casual, is the default, and formal is reserved for certain circumstances, such as special events like weddings and funerals and specific professional environments. In many work environments today, however, business casual, which meets in the middle, is more common.

[00:23:54]Clothing was generally more expensive in the 18th century, but also more durable and for these reasons less frequently replaced. People owned fewer clothes and wore them repeatedly, maintaining and repairing them more over time. Women wearing pants instead of dresses is new to the founding fathers. While men of their time sometimes had facial hair, it was seen as unfashionable or rustic and thus avoided by the upper classes.

[00:24:18]Though this started changing only a few decades after their deaths. Facial hair tends to go in and out of style throughout the centuries. As far back as ancient Rome, there were alternating periods in which a clean shaven look and a bearded look were in fashion. Wigs were worn by some men, especially of the upper classes, but were going out of style in their lifetimes. Upper class men who did not perform physical labor, very often had long hair, though this was also changing in their lifetimes.

[00:24:46]Attire in general was still closely tied to position and status in the 18th century in a way that is less the case today. Clothing is only the beginning.

[00:24:55]Adams has also noticed that while titles are still important in many contexts today, namely in formal and professional environments, generally speaking, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers usually only called each other by their first names. This is unusual to the founding fathers. being on a firstname basis was reserved mostly for family, close friends, and some informal contexts among social equals. In most other situations, these figures would have been referred to as Mr. Adams, Mr. Jefferson, General or Mr. Washington, Mr. or Dr. Franklin, etc. For a stranger to call these figures John, Thomas, George, or Benjamin would have been awkward at best, but often rude or presumptuous. Posture was regulated in formal contexts. Slouching and fidgeting were rude. People were more expected to defer to elders and people of higher social rank. In many situations, there were a number of rules and expectations, some of which were rather complicated regarding visiting others. Americans were more reserved. It was frowned upon to be too expressive, especially negatively, but also even positively.

[00:26:05]>> I'm not embarrassed.

[00:26:08]There were more rules and expectations governing speech and conversation. For example, vulgar language was more frowned upon than it is today, especially for women and in front of women. While the handshake is not rude by their standards, they have to get used to it. In the past, people more often bowed and curtsied when meeting each other. No one in their day followed the rules perfectly, especially in private, but they were widely understood expectations and generally adhered to in public. Hygiene, namely, keeping the body, face, hair, and teeth clean, was important. There was no understanding of germ theory, and so hygiene was focused more on appearance and smell. Most people would not bathe daily in the form of a full body immersion, but would clean their face, neck, hands, and feet on a daily basis. People had used tooth cleaning utensils like cloths and powders, but also sometimes brushes for some time by this point. But the first mass-roduced toothbrushes made with animal hair started being produced in Britain in 1780 and quickly reached America. Still, dental hygiene was not on the standard of today, and many people struggled with dental issues and decay as they aged, including Washington, who used dentures in his later life, which, contrary to the myth, were not wooden.

[00:27:29]As George Washington lays in a modern hotel room, he thinks about the fact that beds are more comfortable in the modern world than in the past. beds in his age were stuffed with straw, hay, or for the wealthier, feathers, and often home to pests like bed bugs. He also recollects on the fact that staying the night at an inn often meant sleeping in a bed with a complete stranger. How awkward the future folk would find that.

[00:27:55]In spite of the comfort, Washington is having trouble sleeping at night. The constant beeping, hum, and other noises are driving him insane.

[00:28:11]The world in the 18th century was quieter. Most people lived on farms in rural areas, but even cities were comparatively quieter. One would hear the sound of talking, animals, work, carts, and horses going by, and the sounds of nature.

[00:28:32]But there would be no sirens, no modern traffic, no electronics, no HVAC systems, no televisions or radios, no airplanes, etc. Combined with a lack of modern artificial lighting, which caused daily life to revolve around the sun much more closely and therefore limited activity at night, even the busiest cities could be comparatively rather quiet.

[00:29:02]Things do smell better, though.

[00:29:04]Washington isn't going to get carried away about how good modern cities smell.

[00:29:08]But while in his day, cities were not as horrendously dirty as is sometimes imagined, as there were efforts and laws to keep things relatively hygienic, waste management was not on the standard of today. People were much more exposed to garbage and animal and human waste.

[00:29:26]Speaking of life revolving more around the sun, standardized time did not exist yet. as it does today. Noon was defined as the point at which the sun was highest in the sky. Even nearby towns could have slightly different noons.

[00:29:40]Mechanical clocks and washers existed, but were expensive and not always completely accurate. Church bells were also sometimes used to mark morning, noon, and evening, and sometimes the intervals between them, possibly even every hour, depending on the settlement.

[00:29:56]But these were also not perfectly accurate and not everyone lived close to a church regardless. As a result, people became good at estimating time.

[00:30:05]Appointments and things would often be scheduled at, for example, 2 hours after sunrise or 2 hours before sunset. It was the later railroad system and telegraphs that would lead to standardized time systems. As this was not so much a problem until then as long distance travel and communication was slow. They would find it fascinating that the whole world has clocks synchronized down to the second. And not only that, but that modern society depends on this level of precision. While structured timing existed in some jobs, most people would not work from 9 to 5, but sunrise to sunset with many breaks throughout the day. Work for many, especially farmers, was tied to the seasons, and as a result, there would often be less work and less to do in general during winter.

[00:30:54]Most people would work Monday through Saturday. Sundays were a day of rest on which most people would attend church, which was socially expected. What was family and social life like?

[00:31:07]A common household primarily consisted of a husband, wife, and their children with the husband serving as the legal head of the household. Once married, a common couple would often move out and establish their own residence. Though this might happen gradually, and how it was done varied according to a number of factors. While moving great distances was more common in America at this time than in Europe, they would not often move terribly far away with extended family generally living within the same area. Regarding marriage, the process would often begin with courtship. This might be thought of as dating, but it wasn't quite dating in the modern sense.

[00:31:45]When a man was interested in a woman, he would request to call on her. This meant visiting her and her family at her home, usually in the afternoon or evening, and only at her family's invitation. If agreed, he would have a supervised visit with the woman and her family, as unmarried men and women were discouraged from spending time together alone in private outside of only specific circumstances. Though that is not to say that this rule was rarely broken. There was no ambiguity about what was going on during courtship. This was a trial period to see if the couple would be a good match for a lifelong marriage. If it were not leading to marriage, it was to be ended. Courtship often lasted months, though it could take as little as a few weeks if the couple and their families had already long known each other. Much like in centuries past, marriage was viewed as a family affair with emphasis on a match being practical and focused on the welfare and continuation of the family. Though 18th century America was somewhat more individualistic than Europe of the Middle Ages with one's personal choice becoming more important, marriages, especially outside the elite, were not usually strictly arranged. However, as all this suggests, the families, specifically parents approval, was generally needed, and marrying against the wishes of one's parents would usually cause controversy, though it could and did sometimes happen. Single young ladies and gentlemen would often select partners from among their peers on their own and families would become involved to review the match afterwards during the courtship process. Women were usually free to reject a suitor, but they were more likely than men to face pressure to marry someone they were less interested in. The early United States was a very religious, overwhelmingly Protestant nation. And though there was variation in belief among the different Protestant groups inhabiting the country, marital beliefs and customs were typically rather similar. Marriage was monogamous. Adultery was illegal for both women and men, though women were generally more likely to face consequences for it. Although keeping mistresses was less acceptable for men in America at the time than it was in Europe. The couple were strongly expected to try to have children.

[00:33:57]Divorce was possible in some states, especially northern ones. In some circumstances, namely in cases in which adultery, great cruelty, or abandonment had occurred. A divorced couple could then even remarry. However, divorce in 18th century America overall was rare, difficult, and strongly socially discouraged. Men were oriented towards being providers and heads of a household, while women were oriented towards raising children and performing domestic duties, though domestic and economic activities were often less distinguished for common people. Women would often work alongside men assisting on the farm or in a family trade.

[00:34:36]Generally, these were managed by men, but women might take over their management under certain circumstances, especially widows. While social mobility existed, it was limited. People were still defined in part by the station of the families from which they came, and most boys followed in their father's footsteps in terms of their profession.

[00:34:56]Most people at the time were farmers, though a larger variety of jobs had been, especially at this time, emerging.

[00:35:04]Education had become more common, but was still not universal. There were sometimes what were called common schools, funded by local communities, but still no public school system in today's sense. Advanced education in particular was still mostly reserved for the upper classes. For the lower classes especially, even when educational opportunities were available, children would sometimes be needed to work instead. Like in previous eras, the elderly would not generally retire in the modern sense. Rather, they would continue working as long as they could, switching to lighter tasks as they aged.

[00:35:40]When an individual could no longer support themselves, their care would often become the responsibility of their adult children. Likewise, if a child lost their parents, there was a strong expectation that an older sibling, aunt or uncle, grandparent, or another family member take them in. Among the upper classes, a guardian might be appointed to manage their inheritance.

[00:36:01]The United States was founded as a nation with freedom of religion and even avoided establishing a national religion. This was codified in the first amendment which begins, quote, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." End quote.

[00:36:19]Although, as this applied only federally at first, individual states would maintain state religions for a few decades. The preceding two centuries of European history had been defined in large part by religious conflict, a significant portion of which was violent. Many Americans at the time were people whose ancestors or had themselves moved to America to attain religious freedom. Avoiding declaring a national religion was a practical decision as much as it was a principled one. While certain religious denominations clustered in individual regions, no single religious denomination constituted an overwhelming majority throughout the country. The country was divided mainly among groups like congregationalists, Anglicans who are now calling themselves Episcopalians due to their split with the British monarch, Presbyterians, and Baptists in particular, with a number of other groups present as well. Methodists, for example, though small in 1790, would begin to grow rapidly soon after during the Second Great Awakening. However, overall the overwhelming majority of the country, more than 95% was at this time some form of Christian, almost all of whom were some form of Protestant, and members of non-protestant faiths often faced social and even legal setbacks.

[00:37:38]Religious affiliation has changed significantly in the country since then.

[00:37:43]According to the Pew Research Center, today a little over 60% of the United States identifies as Christian with Protestants remaining the majority, representing a little over 40% of Americans. However, today nearly 20% of the country now identifies as Roman Catholic. In terms of individual denominations, Catholicism is now the single largest denomination of Christianity in the United States. This would stand out the founding fathers.

[00:38:12]Catholics lived in the United States at the time of the country's foundation.

[00:38:16]However, they represented only perhaps 1 to 2% of the population. It would be a half century before there was a more significant Catholic presence in America. A much more noticeable difference to these founding fathers with regard to the religiousness of then and now, however, is the overall reduced presence of religion in daily life in general. Religiosity was in late 18th century America less intense than it had been in past centuries, but more intense than today. Religion permeated most aspects of daily life. Today, according to the Pew Research Center, roughly 10% of Americans identify specifically as atheist or agnostic, and another 20% of Americans identify as nothing in particular. That is to say, not necessarily without religious or spiritual beliefs, but not defined beliefs or organization. These founding fathers themselves had complicated religious beliefs. However, they each identified as Protestants, but with Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams in particular, privately tending more towards beliefs that had emerged during the Enlightenment referred to as theism.

[00:39:24]defined as a belief in God and a moral order to the universe, but that God does not actively intervene in human affairs.

[00:39:32]Many more Americans are eligible to vote today than was the case under the founding fathers. They did not view voting as a universal right. Initially, only white landowning men over the age of 21 were allowed to vote, with some minor variations in some states at some times, some less restrictive, others more. The vote would be expanded gradually over the centuries. Slavery is another significant difference between the modern world and theirs. How would they feel about its abolition? Each of these individuals, at least eventually, openly expressed moral concerns about slavery and felt that its eventual abolition would be a good thing.

[00:40:10]However, Adams was the only one among these figures to never actually own slaves. Franklin did earlier in life, but became an abolitionist towards the end of his life. Washington and Jefferson owned slaves until their deaths, though Washington directed in his will that those whom he could free be freed after his and his wife's deaths. However, even many of the founders who did not own slaves and opposed the practice were reluctant to bring an end to it in their lifetimes for multiple reasons, including fear of upsetting the southern states. Literacy in late 18th century America had expanded significantly from centuries past. Perhaps roughly 70% of Americans were literate with regional variation compared to 60% of Englishmen. Men had a higher literacy rate than women, but a large number of American women could also read at this time, seemingly a majority in New England in particular.

[00:41:03]The founders believed that education was the key to a successful republic and would be glad to see that the vast majority of the population was literate.

[00:41:12]Americans were also taller than Europeans. The average American man was about 5'8 or 173 cm as opposed to the 5' 6 or 168 cm that appears to have been average for men in Britain. American women 5'3 or 160 cm as opposed to 5'2 or 157 cm in Britain. These differences are believed to have been rooted in Americans having things like relatively better nutrition, lower population density, and less disease burden. The height of Americans in their day is not terribly different from today, however, and so they may not comment on it. The duel, they have noticed, is gone. In late 18th century America, dueling was on its way out and illegal in many areas. But a gentleman who had been grievously offended could challenge the offender to a duel by sword, or more often by this point, pistol. It was meant to be a more controlled, ritualized, formal way to hash out differences that it was felt could not be ignored, excused, or otherwise resolved as an alternative to public brawling and chaos. Most did not end in death. Many were symbolic to demonstrate their courage, but some, such as the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr in 1804, did end in death.

[00:42:30]Would each of the time travelers want to remain in the modern world or travel back to their own? It's difficult to say. The modern world has a great many advantages. But can they abandon their worlds and everyone they knew in them?

[00:42:45]When a backwards time portal suddenly opens. They must each make their call.

[00:42:50]Some of them want to stay, but Washington implores them to return so that history is not recklessly and unpredictably rewritten by their sudden disappearances. It is put to a vote and decided that they will return. The historical figures then leap inside and are whisked away back to the exact moments in time from which they were taken. The time portal erases their memories so as to ensure balance and the world goes back to normal. We hope you enjoyed this video. If so, we invite you to come check out the rest of Fire Learning, namely our most recent videos on the Romans and medieval people being transported to the modern world, and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future. To support the channel, there is a link to our Patreon in the description. A special thanks to our current supporters listed here. Thank you for watching.