King James I of England - During the reign of the Tudor monarchs, England had begun to emerge as a significant center of culture and naval power, such that the English had been able to successfully withstand the Spanish Armada, an attack by the wealthiest Catholic nation intended to weaken the English navy in preperation for a major land invasion. By the end of Elizabeth I's reign, however, England lay in troubled waters, as Elizabeth had left no children to assume the throne. The situation seemed dire, and rightfully so, since the confusion of succession provided her enemies with the opportunity of revenge. They were quick to sieze the opportunity. A plot was soon devised by three of England's enemies: the Papalcy and the Spanish, who had lost out when Henry VIII had declared England a Protestant nation, and the Irish, who, following the collapse of their Scottish conspiracy, longed to remove the English from their island. Their plan involved placing James Stuart, the King of Scotland on the English throne. They believed that the Scottish ruler, when faced with the vastly different English system, would rule the united Britain so poorly that civil war would result. At this stage the Irish would revolt, driving the English out of Northern Ireland. Next the Catholic nations would send a gigantic multi-national army to conquer England and restore the Pope as the religious authority of the island. The Scottish monarch was considered expendable. This plot very nearly came to fruition, with civil war resulting not in the reign of James I but during that of his son Charles I. But, this time delay served only to allow the Catholic nations to grow lax with their plans, so that when the civil war finally occurred none of the countries had raised the necessary concentration of troops necessary to subdue the island. The result of their lack of preparation was the junta of Cromwell, the great Puritan leader, and the eventual restoration of the English crown. The Irish, without the assistance of her allies could never drive the English out of Northern Ireland, and the English people only hardened their resolve to remain Protestant in defiance of Rome.

New Jersey - The English, sensing early in the seventeenth century the eventual collapse of their North American domination, embarked on a policy of creating a colony entirely devoted to subverting the will of the surrounding countryside. As those wise fathers suspected, the colonies revolted, but have remained cursed with the state of New Jersey ever since.

Benjamin Franklin - During the period shortly following the American Revolution, the new United States of America stood on shaky ground. Whereas England had established itself as a powerful nation with many allies, the United States was a periphery nation, far from the interests of Continental Europe and its nations. In addition, the new nation was relatively weak militarily and had only a small navy to patrol its extensive coastline. Although they had gained their independence from England, the Americans knew well that the Crown would retaliate. American leaders, anxious to protect their own interests and the interests of the nation, realized that an alliance to a European nation would be of great benefit. Naturally, they looked toward France, the long-standing foe of England had sent troops, ships and money to aid the cause of the Revolution. The Americans realized that France would make an ideal partner, but they also knew well the tendency of the French toward a fickleness in their political affairs. To prevent the collapse of United States/French relations, the leaders of the nation hit upon a grand idea. Benjamin Franklin, the internationally renowned scientist and politician, was called to serve as an ambassador to France. Behind this diplomatic role, Franklin was to achieve a more comprehensive goal. Franklin, himself a man of remarkable talents, played to the whims of French ladies and their fascination with a "roughneck American," In this way, the best qualities of both Americans and French would be combined to produce people who could be justly called citizens of both nations. In this way, the Americans secretly hoped that these descendents would continue the mutually beneficial alliance between the two nations. Unfortunately, the French Revolution of 1789, with its subsequent beheading of the pro-American monarch Louis XVI and many members of the French aristocracy, ended this noble attempt shortly after it began. The government which followed the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte would not take so friendly an attitude toward the new nation.

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