How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
To keep my mind off my troubles I began trying to name all the countries in the world, which I was supposed to know because I'd learned them in geography. Some were easy to name: England, France, Sweden, Russia. […] It took me a while to decide if I should count America or not. If the Rebels won the war then we would be a country; but Father was sure they were going to lose, so I decided not to count us. (9.10)
Tim doesn't just think about the American Colonies in isolation. He also considers America as part of a big huge world that has lots of other countries. This means Tim gets to predict whether America will become a country or not. Well, sorry Mr. Meeker, but turns out you were wrong on this one.