Obviously we just celebrated a huge event in the 239th birthday of our great country, America. This past weekend we celebrated the liberty and freedom we have as a country and raised toasts to the men who started it all--our Founding Fathers. Every 4th of July, after thinking of the guys who took a stand and started our nation, I always wonder what they would think if they were to see how it turned out today. Did they have any idea the impact the signing of the Declaration of Independence back in Independence Hall in 1776 would have on the world?

Let's say Benjamin Franklin magically came to life today…or John Adams or Thomas Jefferson or George Washington--what would they think about America today? First off, I'm sure that the technological innovations that have come around in the last two centuries would probably immediately throw them off. Seeing cars that weren't powered by horses would probably be enough to freak them out. But assuming they could get past that initial technology shock, I can't help but wonder what they'd think of their crowning achievement known as the USA.

For one, they'd obviously be taken aback by the size of the US. Not only were there only 13 initial states, they were tiny. If you were to tell George Washington that America would eventually end up becoming 50 states, he probably would imagine 50 small colony-sized territories that wouldn't extend past the East Coast. Even the gigantic Louisiana Purchase didn't take America all the way out West. And I'm sure they'd be really surprised to see that our jurisdiction extends to a group of islands out in the Pacific Ocean and a huge near-desolate land mass off the borders of Canada.

I'm sure that the second they got to 2015-era America, they'd hear lots of rumblings about gun control. I've always wondered how the Founding Fathers would feel about the fact that their Second Amendment has caused such a commotion all these years later. On one hand, I feel that they would be shocked regarding the advancement of weapons--while they were referring to muskets and other largely ineffective weapons in outlining the right to bear arms, the guns of today are crazy in what they can do with the pull of a trigger. I also think that seeing as how the quartering of British soldiers in colonists' homes isn't really "a thing" anymore, they'd be questioning the motives of enforcing this amendment in this day and age. No matter what though, I'm pretty sure that they'd think it's really cool that, after all these years, words they themselves wrote down still hold so much power and respect.

Of course, there are tons of other issues today that I'm sure they wouldn't be able to comment on just because they wouldn't make sense to them (John Adams wouldn't know what global warming is and Ben Franklin had no idea that healthcare would ever become as advanced and specialized as it has, much less debated over so often). But one thing that is for sure is that they would look around and be impressed. I mean, how could they not? Every decade takes strides in promising to be a place where every man is created equal. Even to this day, we refuse to get pushed around like the colonies did back in the pre-Revolution days. We are, by and large, the greatest country in the world (Go America) and that's all thanks to a few guys who were sick of taxes. And even cooler yet is the fact that even to this day, we still set a day aside to honor the people who founded our great nation. I think that that would be the Founding Fathers' favorite part of seeing America today--being able to see their legacy live on.