What If They’d Tried to Pass A Declaration of Emancipation on 4 July 1776?

That was the question at the core of one of the missions for the Time Patrol, Independence Day. I was trying to think of an ethical dilemma for the agent assigned the 4 July 1776 mission and this is it: Along with the declaration of Independence, Jefferson and the Committee of Five, have drafted one for Emancipation.

The Time Patrol’s mandate is to keep our history exactly as it is has been recorded. The reasoning: we’re still in existence. We know other timelines diverted and no longer exist.

But. What should the agent do? Wouldn’t it be the right thing to do, to allow both to go forward? But. What if by presenting both to the Continental Congress, the vote is split and neither get passed?