I have always had a list of wishes in the chance that I stumble across that mythical genie in a bottle. My list has three wishes total, with slight variations made over the years. I choose not to divulge those wishes here, but I do want to tell you a new wish that is very likely to replace one of the original three.

This new wish was born during my current reading of H.W. Brands book, “The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin.” My semi-simultaneously watching the HBO mini-series called John Adams also spurred my imagination. It doesn’t hurt that while traveling the roads of the county to fulfill my work duties, I am listening to an audiobook by a different author, Walter Isaacson, “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life.” I am obsessed with the amateur nudist Ben Franklin, and he certainly had his faults. But, don’t we all?

Picture the scene in a hot, humid room in Philadelphia in the months of September and October of 1774. This was the gathering known as the First Continental Congress. Fifty-six delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies (Georgia did not send delegates) were assembled. In response to the British Parliament’s passage of what is known as “the intolerable acts”, this group of men organized a unified colonial boycott of British goods. This effort was a precursor to the events convened the following year, May 1775.

On May 10, 1775, delegates from all thirteen colonies gathered again in Philadelphia with a head of steam driving them toward independence. They would act as a de facto government for the next few years. Many scenes in the John Adams miniseries I referred to earlier (real or somewhat creative) attempt to represent the discussions, debates, and passion of declaring independence from Britain. Mr. Adams argued vigorously and relentlessly for independence. Representatives from New York, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina (sent the youngest and very vocal representative named Edward Rutledge) countered with pleas for continued allegiance to King George III. Ben sat quietly, thinking, listening, contemplating every word uttered. He remained phlegmatic while others pounded their walking sticks on the floor in either approval or disapproval of each other’s orations. Eventually, a vote was taken with a comforting unanimous result for independence. Even the stubborn Mr. Rutledge consented with an “Aye” vote.

A committee of five was formed to draft the document we now know as the Declaration of Independence: John Adams (Massachusetts), Roger Sherman (Connecticut), Ben Franklin (Pennsylvania), Robert Livingston (New York), and Thomas Jefferson (Virginia). Mr. Jefferson, known for being the most elegant wordsmith in the group, composed most of the first draft. I find it interesting and probably inconsequential that four of these five states represented in the writing group were from the northern states. I wonder in silence if the final product may have been different if more southern influence had been exerted?

So here comes my wish…are you ready? I request the genie to grant me the ability to travel back in time to 1775, or even earlier. I would like to be a citizen of Boston to witness the Tea Party and the subsequent momentum of the American Revolution that started there with what is known as the Boston Massacre. I can thereafter relocate to Philadelphia to sneak into Carpenter’s Hall and later the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) and take a seat in the back row. I promise not to say a word, just listen and observe. I would like to bring along a legal pad to take notes.

I get goosebumps, butterflies and all those other fun emotions when I think about being around those men. The way they spoke, the words they used, the formality of their manners and even the powdered wigs they wore fascinate me. I marvel at their intelligence and logic that did not come from expensive and sought-after college degrees that are now expected for one of my generation and younger to achieve such political or business success. Self-taught, thoughtful, passionate men from a variety of backgrounds. That wide variation in background is a part of one of Ben’s most famous quotes about the independence process. “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately”. They stuck it out in the Philadelphia heat and produced a document that should hang in every home. They sparked the flame for the warmth of freedom we now enjoy.

Many trivia night questions can come from the founding fathers and their work on both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. For example, how many founding fathers signed both the aforementioned documents? Not as many and not who you might initially guess. The answer is six, one of which was Benjamin. Why was John Hancock’s signature so large and showy? Three members of this holy group refused to sign the later written Constitution because it initially lacked the Bill of Rights… Can you name them? Which state sat out the writing and creation of the Constitution (but eventually ratified it) for fear of being bullied by the larger states? A hint on this one, it is the smallest state geographically in the United States.

To my buddy Ben and to all the other founding fathers, I give my common phrase of praise… job well done! I wish you could be here to attend our America 250 celebrations. I will be thinking of you!