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America's Hidden History | Independence Day

America's Hidden History

July 3, 2018

57:31

America's Hidden History

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America's Hidden History | Independence Day

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- Hi, I'm Tim Barton.
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- And I'm David Barton.
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- And we're here in Philadelphia,
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behind us is Independence Hall.
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This is the place where the Declaration of Independence
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was actually constructed.
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When we celebrate the Fourth of July
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we're really celebrating the accomplishments
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from the building right behind us.
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- This is the birth place of national freedom.
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And we're going to go all across the northeast
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looking at the stories of those who gave us that freedom.
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We're going to look at their faith.
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We're going to look at their family
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and we're going to look at their sacrifice.
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It's remarkable stories.
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- This is America's Hidden History.
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- [Announcer] Modern historians have revised,
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rewritten and even deleted
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entire chapters of American history.
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So what are we missing?
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What happened to the history that didn't make the books?
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Join historian David Barton, Tim Barton
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and special guests as they uncover the facts
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some historians don't want you to know.
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This is America's Hidden History.
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(dramatic music)
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(drum music)
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- Behind me is Independence Hall
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and this is where the 56 men were together
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when we did the Declaration
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But you know today, so few Americans
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know who actually signed the Declaration,
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what the Declaration is even about.
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We thought, let's just go on the street
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and find out what people actually know.
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Hey I'm Tim.
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- Hi, I'm Susan.
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- Susan nice to meet you.
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Okay, we're doing a survey on the Fourth of July.
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Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July?
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- Celebrate America's, celebrate America.
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- Greg.
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- Nice to meet you Greg.
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Okay, what do we celebrate on the Fourth of July.
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- Independence.
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- From?
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- Slavery.
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- Great Britain, slavery was a little later.
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Hey man, I'm Tim.
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- Hi, I'm Nick.
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- Nick, nice to meet you.
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What do we celebrate on the Fourth of July?
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- Independence from the England, yeah.
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- Okay, no, no, it's really good though.
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Many people have not gotten that right.
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My name's Tim.
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- I'm Marcus.
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- Do you know where the Declaration of Independence
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was signed?
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- It was signed in Boston, Massachusetts.
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- It's not a bad guess.
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Do you know where that was done?
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- No, I don't.
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- I don't know.
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I want to say Delaware.
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- It's a really good guess.
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- Hi, I'm Catherine.
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- Nice to meet you.
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- Oh goodness.
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No.
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- Okay, it's okay.
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Do you know where the Declaration was signed?
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- I do, Pennsylvania.
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Yes, Philadelphia.
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Okay, yeah, very good.
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- Tom Mullen.
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- Hey Tom, nice to meet you.
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- Oh that's a really tough one.
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So if it wasn't in Quincy, it had to be Philadelphia.
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- That's exactly right, Philadelphia.
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- It was signed in Philadelphia.
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- Yes, do you know where in Philadelphia?
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- Constitution Hall?
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- Okay, actually it was in that building right there.
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- Oh okay, this building right here.
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- But you haven't been there yet right?
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- Right.
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- So you're from out of town.
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- Right.
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- You didn't know that yet.
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- Okay.
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- So when you visit that you would get that right next time.
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So it's apparent, there's a lot of things we don't know
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about the signers of the Declaration
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and a lot of things we need to learn.
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So, there's a lot of ground we're going to cover today.
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My dad's going one direction.
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I'm going another.
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We literally are covering ground
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trying to learn and uncover some of these stories.
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Join us today as we discover
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this an American hidden history.
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(drum music)
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- Just around the corner from Independence Hall
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is a small structure known as Carpenters Hall.
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Carpenter's Hall is right behind me,
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and this is where the founding fathers
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first got together two years before
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they signed the Declaration of Independence.
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They met here at Carpenter's Hall
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and they said, "All right, what are we going to do
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"with 13 colonies.
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"We've been separate states.
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"How do we join together?
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"How do we respond to Great Britain."
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And so as they convened to do that
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this was new for them because the guys from Georgia
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had never met the guys from Pennsylvania,
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and the guys from Massachusetts
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didn't now the guys from Virginia.
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I mean this is the first time they get together
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so they started the meeting, they opened it up,
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they convened make sure they had all the people they needed.
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And one of the very first acts they did
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was they opened with prayer.
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But it's not the dinky little prayer
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like we would use at a city council meeting,
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this was serious stuff.
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They went right around the corner to Christ Church
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and got the Reverend Jacob Duché to come pray
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and according to historical records
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it looks like that opening prayer session
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ran for about two hours.
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But they didn't just pray.
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When you look at the writings of those who were there
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like John Adams who wrote his wife Abigail.
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He said that they also studied
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four chapters of the bible the morning,
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and that God so spoke to them out of one of those chapters,
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out of Psalm 35 and changed their whole attitude
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on what might occur.
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So this is the starting place
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of what two years later led to
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the Declaration of Independence.
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And it starts with a strong active prayer and faith.
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(drum music)
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- Aaron.
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- Aaron, hey nice to meet you.
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What was your name?
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- Alexis.
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- Alexis, okay, thank you guys for doing this.
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Do you all know people signed
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the Declaration of Independence?
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- 22?
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- It's a little more.
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Do you know how many people signed the Declaration?
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- No.
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- Do you know how many people signed the Declaration?
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- I'm going to guess five.
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- 13?
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- 13?
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- There were 13 colonies,
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but every colony sent people to sign it.
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- 12.
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- Several. - Yeah.
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- I think a dozen, I'm not sure.
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- Under 20.
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- Okay, that's a good one.
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Probably close to 60.
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- 50.
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- No, how about, can I guess.
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- Absolutely.
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- 54.
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- You are so close.
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Do you know how many people signed the Declaration?
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- It seems like 56 people.
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- Now, we also should probably point out where are you from?
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- I'm from Russia.
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- From Russia, and you already know more
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than most Americans do, that's great.
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(drum music)
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- We talked earlier about Carpenter Hall,
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and that Carpenter Hall we mentioned that
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they opened that original session of Congress with prayer.
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And they did so with the Reverend Jacob Duche
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of Christ Church coming over to pray.
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Christ Church is where so many
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of the founding fathers attended church.
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As a mater of fact, seven signers of the Declaration
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are buried here at Christ Church.
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And one of those signers is Francis Hopkinson,
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a signer of the Declaration from New Jersey.
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Francis, in addition to designing an early American flag
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that didn't catch on,
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he also was a federal judge appointed by George Washington.
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And on top of that he's a church music director,
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he's a choir leader,
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he played the organ here at Christ Church.
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And this is actually a hymn book that he did.
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It's the first hymn book in American history
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to have musical notation in it.
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It's the Book of Psalms.
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He set the entire Book of Psalms to music
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and this is the product of a signer of the Declaration
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who was a strong patriot and a strong Christian.
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(drum music)
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- Do you know the difference between
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the Declaration and the Constitution?
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- The Declaration and the Constitution,
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I have no clue.
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- What's the difference between
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the Declaration and the Constitution?
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- Um?
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- What's the difference between
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the Declaration and the Constitution?
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- Well isn't the Declaration about life, liberty and.
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- What's the different between
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the Declaration and the Constitution?
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- Well one was, the Constitution
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was our own statehood
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when we separated from England.
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And the other one was.
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- What's the difference between
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the Declaration and the Constitution?
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- I mean I know the Constitution has certain
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I guess way of life.
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- Well the Declaration came before the Constitution.
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- Absolutely.
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- I know that, it was signed before that.
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The Constitution was just the official,
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it seemed like the Declaration was the rough draft.
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- What's the difference between
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the Declaration and the Constitution?
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- Well the Declaration of Independence,
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we came independent from Great Britain.
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- Yes.
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- The Constitution is more of once we were independent
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like what our rules and regulations or goals were, I guess.
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- Absolutely, this was how we were
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going to operate as a government.
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- Okay. - Okay, perfect.
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(dramatic music)
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(drum music)
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- We're in Virginia, which is were the final battle
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of the American Revolution took place.
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And this is the home of signer of the Declaration,
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Thomas Nelson Jr., who was key in that final battle
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and winning American independence.
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He was actually one of
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the younger signers of the Declaration,
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about 38 years old when he signed the Declaration.
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But he was a very wealthy man.
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I mean this is a very elegant house
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for that period of time.
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And he was willing to use his wealth
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to help advance American independence.
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And it really cost him a lot of his fortune.
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Interestingly in the early part of the Revolution,
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the British fleet is coming up the Chesapeake,
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and that's real close here.
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And they thought well they're going to attack Virginia.
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Well what happened the fleet went up to Philadelphia.
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So the first part of the Revolution
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was really in the Northern states.
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But by the later part of the Revolution
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the British Army is coming here toward Yorktown,
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and at the same time the American general
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who became a trader, Benedict Arnold,
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he has now switched over to the British,
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he's got a fleet of ships and they're coming
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up from the other direction.
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So you've got all of the British forces
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amassing here at Virginia.
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And as that's happening the call goes out
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that we need help, we need military,
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we need troops, we don't have enough
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in the Continental Army.
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You got to remember that at the time of
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The American Revolution, when you have all these Americans
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say, "Hey, let's take on the British."
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And the British are the greatest power in the world,
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nobody thought they could win.
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I mean we didn't have our own military.
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We had a bunch of farmers and shop keepers
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and store owners and we'll grab out squirrel guns
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and do what we can,
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but nobody thought they were going to win.
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So nobody loaned them any money,
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and so as they're running short of troops and supplies
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one of the calls go out from the Continental Congress
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that says, "We're asking young men across the colonies,
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"young men who have any kind of wealth or fortune
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"to start being banker."
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And bank rolling some groups of artillery
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and groups of calvary etc.
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So what young Thomas Nelson did
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was he got here in Virginia
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and got a bunch of young men together
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and they brought their horses
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and he bankrolled the entire regiment of calvary here.
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Came out of his pocket.
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Well he did that and they took that calvary up
00:11:08.110 --> 00:11:10.090
and helped Washington up North and they come back South.
00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:13.010
And then as they're seeing all the British
00:11:13.010 --> 00:11:14.280
start to converge here they recognized, you know,
00:11:14.280 --> 00:11:16.130
the British have got a lot of ships and a lot of fleets
00:11:16.130 --> 00:11:18.220
and we really need some help.
00:11:18.220 --> 00:11:20.020
And so they get the French fleet to come,
00:11:20.020 --> 00:11:22.110
but we got to pay for that.
00:11:22.110 --> 00:11:23.130
It cost a lot of money,
00:11:23.130 --> 00:11:24.240
and so Congress went to Thomas Nelson and said,
00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:27.220
"Can you see if you can raise several million dollars
00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:30.050
"there in Virginia to help pay
00:11:30.050 --> 00:11:31.210
"for the French fleet to come."
00:11:31.210 --> 00:11:33.150
And so Thomas Nelson, wealthy, went to all the folks
00:11:33.150 --> 00:11:36.110
he knew who had money.
00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:37.270
Everybody said, "There is no way we're giving money
00:11:37.270 --> 00:11:39.210
"to the American government.
00:11:39.210 --> 00:11:40.220
"These guys won't win."
00:11:40.220 --> 00:11:42.060
So Nelsons like, "Well would you give it to me?"
00:11:42.060 --> 00:11:44.040
"Well yeah, we'll loan you money."
00:11:44.040 --> 00:11:45.190
And so Nelson put his own name on the line
00:11:45.190 --> 00:11:47.260
and got the money that was needed.
00:11:47.260 --> 00:11:49.200
But he did it personally at his own expense.
00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:52.060
So all of the stuff that he's pouring in
00:11:52.060 --> 00:11:54.150
and by the way, he was so giving in nature
00:11:54.150 --> 00:11:58.130
that the state early made him the commander-in-chief
00:11:58.130 --> 00:12:01.030
of all the military in the state of Virginia.
00:12:01.030 --> 00:12:03.080
But in working with George Washington,
00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:04.230
it's interesting that in the middle of the Revolution
00:12:04.230 --> 00:12:07.160
as they're seeing things progress
00:12:07.160 --> 00:12:09.030
and we don't have funding but we keep winning battles.
00:12:09.030 --> 00:12:11.140
George Washington writes Thomas Nelson a letter and says,
00:12:11.140 --> 00:12:14.070
"Thomas," he said, "The Hand of providence has been
00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:17.030
"so conspicuous in all this,
00:12:17.030 --> 00:12:19.150
"that he musts be worse than an infidel that lacks faith,
00:12:19.150 --> 00:12:23.110
"and must be more than wicked,
00:12:23.110 --> 00:12:25.040
"that has not gratitude enough
00:12:25.040 --> 00:12:26.150
"to acknowledge his obligations."
00:12:26.150 --> 00:12:28.140
Another words Thomas, if people have seen
00:12:28.140 --> 00:12:30.100
what you and I have seen here,
00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:32.010
and they don't feel an obligation
00:12:32.010 --> 00:12:33.240
to acknowledge God for what he's doing,
00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:36.060
they're just flat wicked.
00:12:36.060 --> 00:12:37.090
They've got no spiritual heart at all.
00:12:37.090 --> 00:12:39.240
And so that was kind of the tone.
00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:41.110
They kept seeing God pull all these things off.
00:12:41.110 --> 00:12:43.260
Thomas Nelson's house goes back to 1730.
00:12:43.260 --> 00:12:46.120
So we're surround with all these old houses
00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.140
and because this is a nice house,
00:12:48.140 --> 00:12:50.080
guess where the British officers went.
00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:51.230
They went in that house.
00:12:51.230 --> 00:12:53.060
As a matter of fact, Thomas Nelson thought that
00:12:53.060 --> 00:12:54.180
General Cornwallis, the commander of the British forces
00:12:54.180 --> 00:12:56.160
was in his own home.
00:12:56.160 --> 00:12:58.010
Because this is where the principle officers were.
00:12:58.010 --> 00:12:59.230
So it comes time to chase the British out of Yorktown
00:12:59.230 --> 00:13:02.120
so the American artillery is out there
00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:04.150
and they're just firing away at the town
00:13:04.150 --> 00:13:06.070
trying to get the British out.
00:13:06.070 --> 00:13:07.230
And as Nelson is watching all the artillery
00:13:07.230 --> 00:13:10.010
being fired down on town,
00:13:10.010 --> 00:13:11.160
he sees all these houses being hit
00:13:11.160 --> 00:13:13.190
except his own house.
00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:15.030
And his house is where the British generals are.
00:13:15.030 --> 00:13:17.120
And nobody's hitting it.
00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:18.240
And he goes and asks the artillery guys,
00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.060
"How come my house is not getting hit?"
00:13:21.060 --> 00:13:22.250
They said, "Sir, you're the governor.
00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:25.020
"You're the one bankrolling.
00:13:25.020 --> 00:13:26.080
"We're not going to hit your house."
00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:27.220
He says, "Yes, you will, you aim at my house."
00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.160
"No, we're not gonna."
00:13:29.160 --> 00:13:30.240
So he started offering them money,
00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.220
every cannon that would hit his house
00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:34.150
he would give them money.
00:13:34.150 --> 00:13:35.290
And so interestingly he starts boning his own house
00:13:35.290 --> 00:13:39.230
and cannonballs went through the wall
00:13:39.230 --> 00:13:41.130
and killed some British.
00:13:41.130 --> 00:13:42.210
And so the British scoot out of here.
00:13:42.210 --> 00:13:44.000
And so here you have a guy
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.210
who did so much more for the rest of us
00:13:45.210 --> 00:13:48.280
and what people today say, "Oh those wealthy guys."
00:13:48.280 --> 00:13:51.240
Well it may be one thing
00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:53.010
if you keep all your wealth to yourself
00:13:53.010 --> 00:13:54.210
but he was willing to sacrifice all of his wealth
00:13:54.210 --> 00:13:57.020
for the good of the country.
00:13:57.020 --> 00:13:58.170
And it was really good that he was willing to do that
00:13:58.170 --> 00:14:01.020
because without what he did to bank roll here
00:14:01.020 --> 00:14:04.080
the final battle of the Revolution, Yorktown,
00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.240
we might never have won the British.
00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.280
So Thomas Nelson, by the way, like the others you've seen,
00:14:08.280 --> 00:14:12.060
he too was a strong man of faith.
00:14:12.060 --> 00:14:14.060
Way back when this thing started,
00:14:14.060 --> 00:14:15.150
back at the Boston Tea Party,
00:14:15.150 --> 00:14:16.210
at the very front end of the Revolution,
00:14:16.210 --> 00:14:18.210
he's one of the guys who calls for
00:14:18.210 --> 00:14:20.160
a nationwide day of fasting and prayer.
00:14:20.160 --> 00:14:23.040
And so he did see God's assistance often
00:14:23.040 --> 00:14:25.040
throughout the Revolution.
00:14:25.040 --> 00:14:26.120
Strong man of faith, but this is the home
00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:28.080
of young Thomas Nelson Jr.,
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:29.290
one of the wealthiest men in the Revolution
00:14:29.290 --> 00:14:32.000
who was willing to give it all
00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.080
so that we could have freedom.
00:14:33.080 --> 00:14:34.200
(drum music)
00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.020
Now I mentioned how Thomas Nelson
00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.070
was willing to turn the cannons on his own house
00:14:41.070 --> 00:14:43.160
when he found that they weren't hitting his house.
00:14:43.160 --> 00:14:45.240
And here is part of the evidence right here.
00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:47.170
You see that nice round pot mark right there.
00:14:47.170 --> 00:14:50.170
Right were a cannonball hit and it just boom.
00:14:50.170 --> 00:14:53.180
And you find those pot marks
00:14:53.180 --> 00:14:55.120
all over the sides of his house.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.160
They evidence that he was turning the cannons
00:14:57.160 --> 00:14:59.290
on his own house.
00:14:59.290 --> 00:15:01.070
As a matter of fact, when you get over here,
00:15:01.070 --> 00:15:03.240
still got a cannonball right there in it.
00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:06.200
And the same is true up top,
00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.160
another cannonball right up there.
00:15:08.160 --> 00:15:10.130
Just all over the side of the house.
00:15:10.130 --> 00:15:12.240
You have the evidence of his willingness to give his life,
00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:16.140
his fortune and his sacred honor,
00:15:16.140 --> 00:15:18.000
which is what he had pledged to do in the Declaration.
00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.080
And his house bears testimony to the fact
00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.060
that he was willing to keep his word.
00:15:22.060 --> 00:15:23.250
(drum music)
00:15:23.250 --> 00:15:26.070
So you've seen something at the home and life
00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:36.110
of Thomas Nelson Jr.
00:15:36.110 --> 00:15:38.010
It's interesting to see what his contemporaries
00:15:38.010 --> 00:15:39.240
and his peers said about him.
00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:41.260
For example, this is from James Madison,
00:15:41.260 --> 00:15:43.290
also a Virginia founder.
00:15:43.290 --> 00:15:45.180
He said, "General Nelson was excelled by no man
00:15:45.180 --> 00:15:48.120
"in the generosity of his nature,
00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:50.110
"in the nobleness of his sentiments,
00:15:50.110 --> 00:15:52.090
"in the purity of his Revolutionary principles,
00:15:52.090 --> 00:15:55.000
"and in the exalted patriotism
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:56.280
"that he answered every service
00:15:56.280 --> 00:15:58.200
"and sacrifice that his country might need."
00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:01.250
Thomas Nelson Jr.
00:16:01.250 --> 00:16:03.170
(dramatic music)
00:16:03.170 --> 00:16:06.100
(drum music)
00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:15.170
I'm at Princeton University
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:18.180
and I'm standing in front of the house where
00:16:18.180 --> 00:16:20.110
the president of Princeton resides.
00:16:20.110 --> 00:16:21.270
Now the reason I'm standing here is
00:16:21.270 --> 00:16:23.230
because during the founding era
00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:25.040
one of the presidents of Princeton
00:16:25.040 --> 00:16:26.260
was actually a signer of the Declaration.
00:16:26.260 --> 00:16:27.270
His name was John Witherspoon.
00:16:27.270 --> 00:16:29.260
This is where he stayed during his term of as president.
00:16:29.260 --> 00:16:32.020
Actually John Witherspoon was a minster in Scotland.
00:16:32.020 --> 00:16:34.280
He was recruited by many founding fathers
00:16:34.280 --> 00:16:36.220
to come and be an influencer in America,
00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:38.190
specifically to come be the president here at Princeton.
00:16:38.190 --> 00:16:41.020
Now when he got here, not only was he the president,
00:16:41.020 --> 00:16:43.180
he led the theological seminary.
00:16:43.180 --> 00:16:45.170
He also was the pastor here on campus.
00:16:45.170 --> 00:16:48.040
He goes on to sign the Declaration,
00:16:48.040 --> 00:16:50.060
and in the midst of all he's doing
00:16:50.060 --> 00:16:51.130
to help promote things in America
00:16:51.130 --> 00:16:53.090
and help promote freedom, biblical values,
00:16:53.090 --> 00:16:55.060
he realized you know, a lot of people
00:16:55.060 --> 00:16:57.110
even in the state of New Jersey don't have their own bible.
00:16:57.110 --> 00:16:59.140
So he's largely responsible for this work right here.
00:16:59.140 --> 00:17:02.130
It was a bible done for every family
00:17:02.130 --> 00:17:04.240
in the state of New Jersey,
00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.010
so they could have their own copy of the bible.
00:17:06.010 --> 00:17:07.210
Well he goes on as a preacher.
00:17:07.210 --> 00:17:08.270
He continues preaching.
00:17:08.270 --> 00:17:10.040
This is one of his volumes of sermons.
00:17:10.040 --> 00:17:12.030
In fact, he has a four volume set.
00:17:12.030 --> 00:17:13.200
he had a 12 volume set.
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:14.150
He had a 15 volume set,
00:17:14.150 --> 00:17:16.080
he preached a lot of sermons.
00:17:16.080 --> 00:17:17.280
The reason I point that out is
00:17:17.280 --> 00:17:19.130
most people today don't know the founding fathers,
00:17:19.130 --> 00:17:21.080
but we often hear that they weren't religious.
00:17:21.080 --> 00:17:23.050
We have no idea that they were ministers of the Gospel
00:17:23.050 --> 00:17:26.150
who signed the Declaration.
00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:27.190
Well there sure were.
00:17:27.190 --> 00:17:29.010
In fact, they were presidents of universities
00:17:29.010 --> 00:17:30.100
and John Witherspoon personally trained
00:17:30.100 --> 00:17:32.080
more founding fathers than any single other individual
00:17:32.080 --> 00:17:34.250
than any other university
00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:36.080
and this is the place where he lived
00:17:36.080 --> 00:17:37.260
when he was president of Princeton.
00:17:37.260 --> 00:17:39.170
(drum music)
00:17:39.170 --> 00:17:42.000
- We're in Princeton, New Jersey
00:17:49.120 --> 00:17:50.240
and this is the home of Richard Stockton.
00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:52.190
He's one of the signers of the Declaration from New Jersey.
00:17:52.190 --> 00:17:55.230
He was one of the most effective attorneys
00:17:55.230 --> 00:17:57.180
in this part of the state.
00:17:57.180 --> 00:17:59.030
Actually was very wealthy, as you can tell from his home.
00:17:59.030 --> 00:18:01.190
But when he signed the Declaration
00:18:01.190 --> 00:18:03.050
the British were after him just like they were after
00:18:03.050 --> 00:18:05.060
the other signers.
00:18:05.060 --> 00:18:06.210
So when he believed that the British
00:18:06.210 --> 00:18:08.050
were coming through this area he gathered up his family,
00:18:08.050 --> 00:18:10.060
he too them about 30 miles away
00:18:10.060 --> 00:18:11.270
to were he thought they would be safe,
00:18:11.270 --> 00:18:13.150
but he ended up in the middle of a bunch of loyalist.
00:18:13.150 --> 00:18:15.240
That is British supporters.
00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:17.020
One night they captured him
00:18:17.020 --> 00:18:18.140
and they turned him over to the British.
00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:20.080
And the British put him in a prison ship.
00:18:20.080 --> 00:18:22.060
That prison ship he was tortured,
00:18:22.060 --> 00:18:23.290
and he was abused and mistreated and starved.
00:18:23.290 --> 00:18:27.090
And that prison ship had been a 64 gun British man-of-war,
00:18:27.090 --> 00:18:31.150
but they cut the masts off it,
00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:33.060
they took the cannons out of it,
00:18:33.060 --> 00:18:34.200
and they crammed 1200 prisoners down underneath,
00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:38.040
and he was there with the others.
00:18:38.040 --> 00:18:39.270
It was horrendous treatment.
00:18:39.270 --> 00:18:41.160
When Congress found out about it,
00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:43.060
they went to George Washington and said,
00:18:43.060 --> 00:18:44.280
"Hey, go talk to the British general
00:18:44.280 --> 00:18:46.240
"and see if that's the way they're going to treat prisoners,
00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.230
"because if it is, we'll start treating
00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:50.060
"the British prisoners that way."
00:18:50.060 --> 00:18:51.210
And the British said, "No, no, you can have them back."
00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:54.000
But when he got back,
00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.070
his library had been burned by the British.
00:18:55.070 --> 00:18:57.100
He had one of the greatest legal collections in the state.
00:18:57.100 --> 00:18:59.240
They had taken his horses.
00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:01.050
They butchered his livestock,
00:19:01.050 --> 00:19:02.200
he had nothing but desolation when he got back.
00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:05.210
So he's back and he has six kids,
00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:07.130
he's dying, he knows it.
00:19:07.130 --> 00:19:08.280
And he knows his kids are about to be fatherless.
00:19:08.280 --> 00:19:10.250
So what do you do?
00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:12.020
What he did was in his last will and testament
00:19:12.020 --> 00:19:14.060
he starts it, he says, "As my children shall have frequent
00:19:14.060 --> 00:19:16.220
"occasion of perusing this document,
00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:18.190
"and may wonder as to the beliefs of their father."
00:19:18.190 --> 00:19:21.120
He then went through and listed
00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:22.190
all the doctorates of Christianity,
00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:24.160
all the necessity of living a moral life,
00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:27.000
how it's important in this life
00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:28.130
and he just gave fatherly guidance to his kids
00:19:28.130 --> 00:19:30.190
that were able to be without their father.
00:19:30.190 --> 00:19:32.110
Great leader, great attorney,
00:19:32.110 --> 00:19:33.250
he was on the Supreme Court here in New Jersey,
00:19:33.250 --> 00:19:36.030
but a great story of Richard Stockton.
00:19:36.030 --> 00:19:38.070
(drum music)
00:19:38.070 --> 00:19:40.190
- We're in Quincy, Massachusetts,
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.050
actually at the home of John and Abigail Adams.
00:19:50.050 --> 00:19:52.260
Now John and Abigail Adams probably more notable names
00:19:52.260 --> 00:19:56.000
when it comes to the founding era.
00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.090
Although, probably most Americans couldn't tell
00:19:57.090 --> 00:19:59.140
a lot about their story.
00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:00.130
Well John Adams specifically,
00:20:00.130 --> 00:20:01.230
he was born in 1735, he was a descendant of both
00:20:01.230 --> 00:20:05.020
pilgrims and puritans,
00:20:05.020 --> 00:20:06.170
so really cool family history, fun family tree.
00:20:06.170 --> 00:20:08.280
As a young man, he was very engaged
00:20:08.280 --> 00:20:10.270
in the culture around him.
00:20:10.270 --> 00:20:11.260
Got involved in politics.
00:20:11.260 --> 00:20:13.080
Decides he wants to become a lawyer
00:20:13.080 --> 00:20:14.210
and becomes a lawyer.
00:20:14.210 --> 00:20:16.020
He meets a young woman named Abigail Smith
00:20:16.020 --> 00:20:18.000
and thinks this woman's really impressive.
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:19.220
I need to know her more.
00:20:19.220 --> 00:20:21.010
Well her father was one of the local pastors.
00:20:21.010 --> 00:20:23.050
John Adams becomes so impressed with Abigail
00:20:23.050 --> 00:20:25.130
they end up getting married.
00:20:25.130 --> 00:20:26.210
Together they have six children,
00:20:26.210 --> 00:20:28.020
although one daughter actually died
00:20:28.020 --> 00:20:29.260
when she was one year old,
00:20:29.260 --> 00:20:30.240
and one daughter was stillborn.
00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.180
So four that survived,
00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:34.010
one son goes on to become the sixth president
00:20:34.010 --> 00:20:36.140
of the United States, John Quincy Adams.
00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:38.070
But in 1770, was the infamous Boston Massacre.
00:20:38.070 --> 00:20:41.090
Now there was already some tension
00:20:41.090 --> 00:20:43.010
with the Americans and the British anyway,
00:20:43.010 --> 00:20:44.160
but when the massacre happened
00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:46.040
it really brought unrest between the Americans and British.
00:20:46.040 --> 00:20:49.080
And the Americans were so frustrated
00:20:49.080 --> 00:20:50.270
they wanted to execute he officer and the soldiers involved.
00:20:50.270 --> 00:20:53.130
Well John Adams was a lawyer,
00:20:53.130 --> 00:20:55.110
in fact, he was a lawyer tasked with defending
00:20:55.110 --> 00:20:58.220
the British in this scenario.
00:20:58.220 --> 00:21:00.040
Which no American was proud of.
00:21:00.040 --> 00:21:02.150
In fact, they were very frustrated
00:21:02.150 --> 00:21:04.090
but John Adams did it with great integrity.
00:21:04.090 --> 00:21:06.170
Now John Adams actually argued the case so well
00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:09.240
that the officer and the soldiers got off free.
00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:12.020
Which again, no American was happy about.
00:21:12.020 --> 00:21:14.080
Although they at least had the understanding and integrity
00:21:14.080 --> 00:21:16.090
to recognize it wasn't John Adams trying to defend them
00:21:16.090 --> 00:21:19.150
because he liked what they did.
00:21:19.150 --> 00:21:20.270
It was rather a condition of the law
00:21:20.270 --> 00:21:22.250
and John Adams wanted justice.
00:21:22.250 --> 00:21:24.090
Well the people actually supported John Adams enough
00:21:24.090 --> 00:21:26.250
that John Adams was then elected to become
00:21:26.250 --> 00:21:29.140
part of their general assembly that same year.
00:21:29.140 --> 00:21:32.030
Well shortly after that, 1774 is when there's the first
00:21:32.030 --> 00:21:35.180
Continental Congress.
00:21:35.180 --> 00:21:37.020
This is where the very first time you have people
00:21:37.020 --> 00:21:38.280
from all 13 colonies coming together trying to figure out
00:21:38.280 --> 00:21:41.270
what's going on in the midst
00:21:41.270 --> 00:21:43.110
of the problems with the British.
00:21:43.110 --> 00:21:44.290
Well it's during these congresses,
00:21:44.290 --> 00:21:46.160
as they were meeting together, John Adams actually proposes
00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.180
that George Washington be the commander-in-chief.
00:21:49.180 --> 00:21:52.000
He says that men from Virginia opt to be our commander.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:55.160
Well as John Adams continues on he stays involved
00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:58.000
in this political realm.
00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.170
In fact, he becomes known as one of the sons of liberty.
00:21:59.170 --> 00:22:02.090
In the midst of this in 1776,
00:22:02.090 --> 00:22:04.080
he was put on the committee of five
00:22:04.080 --> 00:22:05.270
that was tasked with drafting
00:22:05.270 --> 00:22:07.090
the Declaration of Independence.
00:22:07.090 --> 00:22:08.220
And although Thomas Jefferson really is the guy
00:22:08.220 --> 00:22:10.250
who did the writing of the Declaration,
00:22:10.250 --> 00:22:12.210
when they brought back the Declaration
00:22:12.210 --> 00:22:14.130
and presented it to the rest of Congress,
00:22:14.130 --> 00:22:16.030
John Adams was the chief advocate.
00:22:16.030 --> 00:22:17.270
He was the one encouraging the rest of the congressmen
00:22:17.270 --> 00:22:20.000
we have to get this done.
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:21.070
We need the declaration, we need this now.
00:22:21.070 --> 00:22:23.180
So he became the leader on the floor
00:22:23.180 --> 00:22:25.140
of actually getting the Declaration passed.
00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:27.180
The following year in 1777,
00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:29.130
he was appointed by Congress
00:22:29.130 --> 00:22:30.290
to go over to Europe and actually spend
00:22:30.290 --> 00:22:32.150
the next many years in Europe trying to negotiate
00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:34.250
an end to the war with Britain,
00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:36.030
working with France, working in Holland.
00:22:36.030 --> 00:22:38.060
In 1788, he resigned his post in Europe
00:22:38.060 --> 00:22:40.140
and came back to America.
00:22:40.140 --> 00:22:41.120
Now while he was in Europe
00:22:41.120 --> 00:22:42.240
they actually did the Constitution.
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.290
So he had nothing to do with the Constitution
00:22:44.290 --> 00:22:47.000
although when he returned he did right in favor
00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.130
supporting Constitutions,
00:22:49.130 --> 00:22:50.160
and as great as we need to do.
00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:52.050
Well the following year he becomes the first
00:22:52.050 --> 00:22:54.000
Vice President of the United States
00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:55.210
under the first president, George Washington.
00:22:55.210 --> 00:22:58.070
And he served in that post for eight years.
00:22:58.070 --> 00:23:00.140
At the end of eight years,
00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:01.210
he had been chosen to be the second president
00:23:01.210 --> 00:23:03.280
of the United States.
00:23:03.280 --> 00:23:05.070
Now his vice president was Thomas Jefferson.
00:23:05.070 --> 00:23:07.210
And it was unique because at that point,
00:23:07.210 --> 00:23:09.120
you didn't pick your vice president.
00:23:09.120 --> 00:23:11.040
The vice president was the person
00:23:11.040 --> 00:23:12.170
who had the second most votes.
00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:14.030
So Thomas Jefferson had run against him
00:23:14.030 --> 00:23:15.260
so they were not political friends.
00:23:15.260 --> 00:23:17.270
Well at the end of his first term
00:23:17.270 --> 00:23:19.150
Thomas Jefferson decides that he wants
00:23:19.150 --> 00:23:21.150
to be president and runs.
00:23:21.150 --> 00:23:22.210
And so John Adams loses in is bid to become
00:23:22.210 --> 00:23:25.050
a president for a second term.
00:23:25.050 --> 00:23:27.000
At this point, he decides 1801 he's going to retire
00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:29.220
from public life.
00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:30.200
He's served for so many years.
00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:32.090
He comes back to this home again in Quincy, Massachusetts.
00:23:32.090 --> 00:23:35.170
Well even though they had great disagreements
00:23:35.170 --> 00:23:37.110
throughout their political career,
00:23:37.110 --> 00:23:38.260
at the end of their life, he and Jefferson became friends.
00:23:38.260 --> 00:23:40.290
Quite uniquely, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration,
00:23:40.290 --> 00:23:44.080
July 4, 1826, he and Thomas Jefferson both being friends,
00:23:44.080 --> 00:23:48.140
both died on that day.
00:23:48.140 --> 00:23:51.020
On the morning of the 50th anniversary,
00:23:51.020 --> 00:23:52.290
John Adams wasn't able to get out of bed.
00:23:52.290 --> 00:23:54.180
His family, friends recognized this is probably
00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:56.180
the end of his life.
00:23:56.180 --> 00:23:57.190
They gathered around the bed
00:23:57.190 --> 00:23:59.040
and they asked if he would like to propose a toast.
00:23:59.040 --> 00:24:01.120
So John Adams raised his glass
00:24:01.120 --> 00:24:03.170
and his last words were, "Independence forever."
00:24:03.170 --> 00:24:06.200
(drum music)
00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.030
- We're in Hopewell, New Jersey,
00:24:15.100 --> 00:24:16.250
and this is the home of John Hart,
00:24:16.250 --> 00:24:18.240
one of the signers of the Declaration from New Jersey.
00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:21.070
He was actually one of the older signers.
00:24:21.070 --> 00:24:23.090
He was in his upper 60s when he signed the Declaration,
00:24:23.090 --> 00:24:25.270
and he was a favorite of all of his neighbors.
00:24:25.270 --> 00:24:28.040
Now he had a farm here, there's 400 acres here.
00:24:28.040 --> 00:24:30.130
He loved farming, he loved being outdoors.
00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:32.140
And his neighbors loved him
00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:33.230
because he always did what was right.
00:24:33.230 --> 00:24:35.200
As a matter of fact they called him Honest John Hart.
00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:37.280
And they so trusted him,
00:24:37.280 --> 00:24:39.100
that for nearly 20 years they elected him
00:24:39.100 --> 00:24:41.050
to local offices and the state legislature,
00:24:41.050 --> 00:24:43.060
and he just did what was right, time after time.
00:24:43.060 --> 00:24:45.180
Well when he signed the Declaration of Independence,
00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:47.250
that certainly made the British mad at him
00:24:47.250 --> 00:24:49.240
and so they wanted him and they wanted him bad.
00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:52.230
When word came that the British were coming,
00:24:52.230 --> 00:24:55.000
he was in his house at the bedside of his wife
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:57.280
who was sick and was dying.
00:24:57.280 --> 00:24:59.230
He had 13 kids.
00:24:59.230 --> 00:25:01.040
He had all the responsibilities of the farm
00:25:01.040 --> 00:25:02.170
but the neighbors come and say,
00:25:02.170 --> 00:25:04.020
"You got to leave, the British are just around the corner.
00:25:04.020 --> 00:25:05.270
"You've got to go."
00:25:05.270 --> 00:25:07.100
And his friends and neighbors get him out of the house
00:25:07.100 --> 00:25:09.020
just before the British arrive.
00:25:09.020 --> 00:25:10.220
And so as it turns out his wife actually ended up dying.
00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:13.190
He wasn't there when she did
00:25:13.190 --> 00:25:15.040
and the British hunted him for the next several months
00:25:15.040 --> 00:25:17.240
all over the state.
00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:19.120
And amazingly, he never spent two nights in a row
00:25:19.120 --> 00:25:22.160
in the same place.
00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:24.010
He would sleep in a cave or sleep under a creek bank.
00:25:24.010 --> 00:25:26.220
He even said that there were times he would crawl in
00:25:26.220 --> 00:25:28.280
where dogs were sleeping and sleep there with the dogs
00:25:28.280 --> 00:25:30.290
like in a dog house.
00:25:30.290 --> 00:25:32.090
And for a year, this man in his upper 60s
00:25:32.090 --> 00:25:34.210
was living in all this rough area
00:25:34.210 --> 00:25:36.110
and the British were chasing him.
00:25:36.110 --> 00:25:37.190
Well when the British finally left the area,
00:25:37.190 --> 00:25:39.160
he returns home.
00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:41.060
His kids had been scattered.
00:25:41.060 --> 00:25:42.210
His estate has been pillaged.
00:25:42.210 --> 00:25:45.120
All of his livestock has been butchered.
00:25:45.120 --> 00:25:47.190
It's just been desolated,
00:25:47.190 --> 00:25:49.180
and his wife is now gone.
00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:51.160
And it hurt him so much and really just weighed on him
00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:55.050
that he never recovered from it.
00:25:55.050 --> 00:25:56.260
He died before the end of the American Revolution,
00:25:56.260 --> 00:26:00.020
but he was a strong Christian man
00:26:00.020 --> 00:26:01.290
as well as a strong patriot.
00:26:01.290 --> 00:26:03.070
He was a baptist and that was pretty unusual
00:26:03.070 --> 00:26:05.080
in this part of the country at the time.
00:26:05.080 --> 00:26:06.280
And he actually gave the land to the baptist church
00:26:06.280 --> 00:26:10.010
for them to have their meeting house
00:26:10.010 --> 00:26:11.140
and for them to have their cemetery.
00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:13.040
He's actually buried in that cemetery.
00:26:13.040 --> 00:26:15.070
It turns out that the first baptist meeting house
00:26:15.070 --> 00:26:17.190
that's built in America for a place of worship.
00:26:17.190 --> 00:26:20.040
So with John Hart, you have a signer of the Declaration
00:26:20.040 --> 00:26:22.220
who's a great patriot, strong family man,
00:26:22.220 --> 00:26:25.120
has a great sacrifice that he paid,
00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:27.260
and he's a strong man of faith.
00:26:27.260 --> 00:26:29.280
This is like many of the founding fathers.
00:26:29.280 --> 00:26:31.260
(drum music)
00:26:31.260 --> 00:26:34.090
- Can you name anybody that signed the Declaration?
00:26:40.030 --> 00:26:42.070
- John Hancock.
00:26:42.070 --> 00:26:43.020
- Exactly.
00:26:43.020 --> 00:26:44.060
Yeah, and who was John Hancock?
00:26:44.060 --> 00:26:45.260
- He was the President of Congress.
00:26:45.260 --> 00:26:47.060
- You're brilliant, right.
00:26:47.060 --> 00:26:48.010
You're so smart.
00:26:48.010 --> 00:26:49.150
Do you know anybody else who signed the Declaration.
00:26:49.150 --> 00:26:51.020
- Benjamin Franklin.
00:26:51.020 --> 00:26:52.020
- Benjamin Franklin did sign.
00:26:52.020 --> 00:26:53.170
Okay so we have two, there's 54 left.
00:26:53.170 --> 00:26:55.180
Can you name anybody that signed it?
00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:57.120
- George Washington.
00:26:58.180 --> 00:27:00.130
- Was the commander of the military.
00:27:00.130 --> 00:27:02.020
- George Washington.
00:27:02.020 --> 00:27:03.000
- That's a really good guess.
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:04.060
He was the commander of the military.
00:27:04.060 --> 00:27:05.270
- Well Hancock.
00:27:05.270 --> 00:27:07.090
- Yeah.
00:27:07.090 --> 00:27:08.040
- Franklin.
00:27:10.260 --> 00:27:11.210
- He did.
00:27:11.210 --> 00:27:12.160
- G. Dubs, George Washington, was he involved?
00:27:15.030 --> 00:27:17.090
- He actually signed the Constitution.
00:27:17.090 --> 00:27:18.200
Can you name any people that signed it?
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:20.200
- John Hancock.
00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:21.150
- [Tim] Of course.
00:27:21.150 --> 00:27:22.190
- Thomas Jefferson.
00:27:22.190 --> 00:27:23.150
- [Tim] Of course.
00:27:23.150 --> 00:27:24.100
- John Adams.
00:27:24.100 --> 00:27:25.060
- [Tim] Yes.
00:27:25.060 --> 00:27:26.010
- George Washington, no?
00:27:26.010 --> 00:27:27.120
- [Tim] Did the Constitution.
00:27:27.120 --> 00:27:28.120
- Hancock.
00:27:28.120 --> 00:27:29.070
- John Hancock, yeah.
00:27:29.070 --> 00:27:30.050
- John Hancock.
00:27:31.010 --> 00:27:31.260
- Absolutely.
00:27:31.260 --> 00:27:32.210
- John Hancock.
00:27:34.280 --> 00:27:35.230
- Absolutely.
00:27:35.230 --> 00:27:36.290
- John Hancock, who was born about 100 yards
00:27:36.290 --> 00:27:39.090
up the street from here.
00:27:39.090 --> 00:27:40.030
- Absolutely.
00:27:40.030 --> 00:27:41.080
- As we know, Robert Treat Paine.
00:27:41.080 --> 00:27:42.190
A fellow named Fairfield.
00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:45.140
I don't know if Benji signed it.
00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:49.280
I'm sure John Adams signed it.
00:27:49.280 --> 00:27:51.180
- Absolutely.
00:27:51.180 --> 00:27:52.160
(dramatic music)
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:55.080
(audience applause)
00:27:57.180 --> 00:27:59.240
All right we want to welcome you guys watching today.
00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:01.290
Welcome the audience, thank you guys for being here.
00:28:01.290 --> 00:28:04.030
We're going to start talking about
00:28:04.030 --> 00:28:05.180
signers of the Declaration as we celebrate Fourth of July.
00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:08.100
Probably the most famous signature
00:28:08.100 --> 00:28:11.020
on the Declaration is this guy's up here,
00:28:11.020 --> 00:28:13.200
John Hancock, right.
00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:15.060
John Hancock's name, most people have seen the signature.
00:28:15.060 --> 00:28:18.060
Most people have a general understanding of the name
00:28:18.060 --> 00:28:20.220
but probably not a lot about the person or the character.
00:28:20.220 --> 00:28:23.170
John Hancock was the President of Congress
00:28:23.170 --> 00:28:25.230
during the Revolution.
00:28:25.230 --> 00:28:27.080
He was one of the guys who was part of the Sons of Liberty,
00:28:27.080 --> 00:28:29.100
but he also became the first governor
00:28:29.100 --> 00:28:31.060
of the state of Massachusetts.
00:28:31.060 --> 00:28:32.220
Under the king, the king appointed all the governors.
00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:35.020
So once we separated in 1776,
00:28:35.020 --> 00:28:37.090
at that point all the state begin electing
00:28:37.090 --> 00:28:39.120
their own leaders.
00:28:39.120 --> 00:28:40.140
John Hancock was chosen to be
00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:42.080
the first governor of Massachusetts.
00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:43.260
And one of the things he did was a practice
00:28:43.260 --> 00:28:46.010
actually that goes all the way back
00:28:46.010 --> 00:28:47.030
to the time of the pilgrims
00:28:47.030 --> 00:28:48.130
and every Spring the pilgrims would do
00:28:48.130 --> 00:28:51.030
a day of prayer and fasting.
00:28:51.030 --> 00:28:52.290
Asking for God to send the rain, right.
00:28:52.290 --> 00:28:54.250
Help grow the crops.
00:28:54.250 --> 00:28:56.110
Well every single Fall they would do a thanksgiving day
00:28:56.110 --> 00:28:59.120
and let's thank God for what he's done.
00:28:59.120 --> 00:29:01.040
Well John Hancock follows that up.
00:29:01.040 --> 00:29:03.030
In fact, this is one of the original
00:29:03.030 --> 00:29:05.130
John Hancock Thanksgiving proclamations.
00:29:05.130 --> 00:29:07.220
He had 22 different prayer proclamations as governor,
00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:11.000
calling on people to recognize God,
00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:13.080
to thank God for God's provision
00:29:13.080 --> 00:29:14.250
for what God had done for them.
00:29:14.250 --> 00:29:16.100
Well this one is actually a unique Thanksgiving proclamation
00:29:16.100 --> 00:29:19.210
because in this proclamation it actually happens in,
00:29:19.210 --> 00:29:23.080
at the bottom it says, "On the eighth day of November
00:29:23.080 --> 00:29:26.050
"in the year of our Lord 1780."
00:29:26.050 --> 00:29:28.240
So it's 1780, what happened that year prior to this
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:33.190
was actually the revelation of the traitor Benedict Arnold,
00:29:33.190 --> 00:29:38.090
where they find out that the mission is going on.
00:29:38.090 --> 00:29:40.050
His plot to overthrow Washington and Westpoint
00:29:40.050 --> 00:29:42.200
and really try to end the Revolution.
00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:44.130
Well one of the things he says is that,
00:29:44.130 --> 00:29:46.060
"We are thankful for the watchful providence
00:29:46.060 --> 00:29:48.040
"and the rescuing the person of our Commander-in-Chief,
00:29:48.040 --> 00:29:50.140
"and the army from immanent danger
00:29:50.140 --> 00:29:52.010
"at the moment when treason was ripe and for execution."
00:29:52.010 --> 00:29:54.230
On he goes, what's interesting to me though
00:29:54.230 --> 00:29:57.020
is this isn't some thing that every Fall
00:29:57.020 --> 00:30:01.020
we have this arbitrary thanksgiving to God.
00:30:01.020 --> 00:30:03.050
He's actually noting specific details,
00:30:03.050 --> 00:30:06.200
so even like we would talk about in our life.
00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:08.220
What can we be thankful for?
00:30:08.220 --> 00:30:09.240
What has God done for us?
00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:11.090
He's literally looking at things happening around him
00:30:11.090 --> 00:30:13.190
and saying, "We need to thank God for what God is doing."
00:30:13.190 --> 00:30:16.170
Well that's what happened in the Fall.
00:30:16.170 --> 00:30:18.250
- They did that with prayer and fasting.
00:30:18.250 --> 00:30:20.110
This is one of his prayer and fasting proclamations.
00:30:20.110 --> 00:30:22.190
You go through, he's got the state of Massachusetts
00:30:22.190 --> 00:30:25.070
praying and fasting for specific things.
00:30:25.070 --> 00:30:27.120
I mean, that's what you see
00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:28.200
in the fasting proclamations as well.
00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:30.150
- This is one of the fasting proclamations.
00:30:30.150 --> 00:30:32.020
And this is also interesting to me,
00:30:32.020 --> 00:30:33.200
because not only is he calling in the fast,
00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:35.160
which certainly is a spiritual thing
00:30:35.160 --> 00:30:37.260
that Christians we're kind of called to do at times.
00:30:37.260 --> 00:30:40.140
One of the things he says about this is that we need to,
00:30:40.140 --> 00:30:43.010
"Implore the Divine forgiveness,
00:30:43.010 --> 00:30:44.160
"through the Merits and Mediation
00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:45.220
"of Jesus Christ, our Savior."
00:30:45.220 --> 00:30:47.210
- Oh, now that sounds Christian.
00:30:47.210 --> 00:30:49.250
- That's a big deal because right today,
00:30:49.250 --> 00:30:52.060
everybody knows the name John Hancock,
00:30:52.060 --> 00:30:54.010
but most people have heard the founding fathers
00:30:54.010 --> 00:30:55.220
were atheist, or they're agnostics, or they're deists.
00:30:55.220 --> 00:30:58.220
Well atheist, agnostics, and deists
00:30:58.220 --> 00:31:00.090
don't talk about the fact that we need
00:31:00.090 --> 00:31:02.210
the forgiveness through the merits and mediation
00:31:02.210 --> 00:31:04.140
of Jesus Christ our Savior.
00:31:04.140 --> 00:31:06.220
Not only does he believe in Jesus,
00:31:06.220 --> 00:31:08.150
he's saying that we need Jesus in our life.
00:31:08.150 --> 00:31:11.010
We need that and recognizes him as savior.
00:31:11.010 --> 00:31:13.260
Well John Hancock is one of those names
00:31:13.260 --> 00:31:15.210
that certainly is well known.
00:31:15.210 --> 00:31:17.140
People don't know a lot about him.
00:31:17.140 --> 00:31:18.210
One of the cool things we actually have is,
00:31:18.210 --> 00:31:21.020
there's been a reprint of a lot of those
00:31:21.020 --> 00:31:22.180
original prayer proclamations.
00:31:22.180 --> 00:31:24.050
So really fun, right.
00:31:24.050 --> 00:31:25.130
So if parents want to help their kids
00:31:25.130 --> 00:31:27.130
see some of these old things,
00:31:27.130 --> 00:31:28.220
or if you're a teach or a homeschool parent.
00:31:28.220 --> 00:31:31.030
But there's a lot of these proclamations.
00:31:31.030 --> 00:31:33.050
So actually at wallbuilders.com you can go
00:31:33.050 --> 00:31:35.050
and you can see some of these.
00:31:35.050 --> 00:31:37.010
But this is one of the examples from founding fathers
00:31:37.010 --> 00:31:40.080
certainly names we recognize,
00:31:40.080 --> 00:31:42.170
but don't know much of their story.
00:31:42.170 --> 00:31:43.240
- We don't know much of the story,
00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:45.000
or even the culture back then what happened.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:46.290
Because as governor of the state of Massachusetts,
00:31:46.290 --> 00:31:49.140
where he issued these 22 proclamations,
00:31:49.140 --> 00:31:51.270
this is not quite as big as those proclamations
00:31:51.270 --> 00:31:54.280
but right up top, it's got the big title that says sermon.
00:31:54.280 --> 00:31:58.120
And then right under that is says John Hancock.
00:31:58.120 --> 00:32:00.260
It's not that he preaches sermon,
00:32:01.250 --> 00:32:03.100
it's that every year the governor,
00:32:03.100 --> 00:32:05.250
Governor Hancock, would bring in a preacher
00:32:05.250 --> 00:32:07.270
to preach to the entire state government.
00:32:07.270 --> 00:32:10.000
And so he and Lieutenant Governor,
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:12.060
and the House, and the Senate they all get together
00:32:12.060 --> 00:32:15.060
and that's how they started every legislative session
00:32:15.060 --> 00:32:17.280
was with a preacher giving them guidance on,
00:32:17.280 --> 00:32:20.060
oh if you're looking at education this year,
00:32:20.060 --> 00:32:21.270
here's what you need to know out of the scriptures.
00:32:21.270 --> 00:32:23.100
You're looking at taxes, here's what you need to know.
00:32:23.100 --> 00:32:25.080
You're looking at military.
00:32:25.080 --> 00:32:26.220
So there's a lot of sermons with John Hancock's name on them
00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:30.100
because he brought preachers in
00:32:30.100 --> 00:32:31.240
and had preachers preach
00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:33.040
which was a custom in Massachusetts
00:32:33.040 --> 00:32:34.260
and a lot of the Northeastern colonies.
00:32:34.260 --> 00:32:36.120
- So not only was he a guy who was obviously
00:32:36.120 --> 00:32:38.170
open to faith and religion
00:32:38.170 --> 00:32:39.230
and doing proclamations as governor.
00:32:39.230 --> 00:32:41.280
He's a guy who says I want to know what the Bible says.
00:32:41.280 --> 00:32:45.020
I want pastors come teach me,
00:32:45.020 --> 00:32:46.290
so he's also being mentored by pastors
00:32:46.290 --> 00:32:48.240
which is also kind of a cool deal.
00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:50.140
We don't hear about today,
00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:51.180
but John Hancock again,
00:32:51.180 --> 00:32:52.250
it's a name we know,
00:32:52.250 --> 00:32:54.020
we just don't always know a lot about him.
00:32:54.020 --> 00:32:55.230
Another name that is really well known today is Sam Adams.
00:32:55.230 --> 00:33:00.020
Although probably the reason he's most known today
00:33:00.020 --> 00:33:03.230
is probably not really who he was and what he did.
00:33:03.230 --> 00:33:07.000
What do you know about Sam Adams?
00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:09.130
- Today?
00:33:09.130 --> 00:33:10.190
- What's kind of the number one thing
00:33:10.190 --> 00:33:11.170
with the name association.
00:33:11.170 --> 00:33:12.070
Alcohol right?
00:33:12.070 --> 00:33:13.050
He's the beer guy, right.
00:33:13.050 --> 00:33:14.230
That's what he's known as,
00:33:14.230 --> 00:33:16.060
although he had a different title for generations.
00:33:16.060 --> 00:33:20.280
He was known as the Father of the Revolution.
00:33:22.090 --> 00:33:23.260
The reason he was known as the Father of the Revolution
00:33:23.260 --> 00:33:26.040
he was the guy back early 1770s,
00:33:26.040 --> 00:33:28.280
he's already saying,
00:33:28.280 --> 00:33:30.050
"We need to get the British off our backs.
00:33:30.050 --> 00:33:31.230
"We need some freedom, this tyrannical king."
00:33:31.230 --> 00:33:33.210
He's already fighting for freedom on a lot of levels.
00:33:33.210 --> 00:33:36.140
In fact, one of the things that he was
00:33:36.140 --> 00:33:38.230
very heavily involved in,
00:33:38.230 --> 00:33:40.080
he's one of the guys who leads the Sons of Liberty.
00:33:40.080 --> 00:33:42.250
Now the Sons of Liberty were well known
00:33:42.250 --> 00:33:44.170
for things like the Boston Tea Party, which actually-
00:33:44.170 --> 00:33:47.180
- And everybody knows what a tea bag is,
00:33:47.180 --> 00:33:49.080
and we think the Boston Tea Party
00:33:49.080 --> 00:33:50.180
they through a bunch of tea bags in the harbor.
00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:52.280
That's tea.
00:33:52.280 --> 00:33:54.130
- This is a tea block.
00:33:54.130 --> 00:33:56.070
So on the back you actually can break off a block of it
00:33:56.070 --> 00:33:59.160
and then you would scrap to get the amount of tea you need.
00:33:59.160 --> 00:34:02.210
You can take that tea,
00:34:02.210 --> 00:34:04.100
so the Sons of Liberty they dressed up as Indians,
00:34:04.100 --> 00:34:08.110
so as not to identify themselves.
00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:09.290
Although I don't know how well they disguised themselves,
00:34:09.290 --> 00:34:11.270
like probably like, "Well he took off his shirt,
00:34:11.270 --> 00:34:14.070
"but that's still Sam Adams."
00:34:14.070 --> 00:34:16.110
Probably they still could find you.
00:34:16.110 --> 00:34:18.110
Nonetheless, they dress up
00:34:18.110 --> 00:34:20.030
and they're throwing blocks of tea into the harbor.
00:34:20.030 --> 00:34:22.200
Well most people have heard of the Boston Tea Party.
00:34:22.200 --> 00:34:25.060
Well Sam Adams, he and John Hancock,
00:34:25.060 --> 00:34:27.150
were both leaders of the Sons of Liberty,
00:34:27.150 --> 00:34:29.030
but Sam Adams is really the guy helping lead a lot of this.
00:34:29.030 --> 00:34:32.110
- And you mentioned Hancock and Adams together,
00:34:32.110 --> 00:34:35.020
and they were both governors of Massachusetts,
00:34:35.020 --> 00:34:37.090
but there's a big difference between these guys.
00:34:37.090 --> 00:34:39.180
You got them here side by side,
00:34:39.180 --> 00:34:41.090
he's one of the wealthiest guys in America, hands down.
00:34:41.090 --> 00:34:45.090
Not him.
00:34:45.090 --> 00:34:46.230
I mean, he is so poor that when he got elected to
00:34:46.230 --> 00:34:48.280
the Continental Congress,
00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:50.050
he didn't even have a suit of clothes.
00:34:50.050 --> 00:34:52.040
His neighbors got together and took up a collection,
00:34:52.040 --> 00:34:54.120
said, "Let's buy Sam some socks and some new pants,
00:34:54.120 --> 00:34:57.110
"and a shirt.
00:34:57.110 --> 00:34:58.090
"I mean he's going to Congress."
00:34:58.090 --> 00:34:59.240
- Yeah so literally, they said he's our best speaker.
00:34:59.240 --> 00:35:02.110
He's the one that will represent us the best,
00:35:02.110 --> 00:35:04.010
but the only suit he had is what he wore,
00:35:04.010 --> 00:35:06.190
and had holes in it.
00:35:06.190 --> 00:35:08.010
He had a pair of stockings with holes in it.
00:35:08.010 --> 00:35:09.040
So they took up a collection.
00:35:09.040 --> 00:35:10.110
They bought him five pair of new stockings.
00:35:10.110 --> 00:35:12.220
They bought him a new suit,
00:35:12.220 --> 00:35:14.030
but then the problem is
00:35:14.030 --> 00:35:15.210
he's still got to get from Massachusetts
00:35:15.210 --> 00:35:17.160
down to where Congress is meeting.
00:35:17.160 --> 00:35:19.040
So they actually wrote to his cousin, John Adams
00:35:19.040 --> 00:35:21.210
and said, "Could you cousin borrow a horse?"
00:35:21.210 --> 00:35:24.030
Apparently they didn't even have a horse in the town
00:35:24.030 --> 00:35:25.170
they could loan him.
00:35:25.170 --> 00:35:26.230
They're using them to work on the farms.
00:35:26.230 --> 00:35:28.030
So he has to borrow a horse
00:35:28.030 --> 00:35:29.160
just to be able to not have to walk
00:35:29.160 --> 00:35:31.270
to get to the Continental Congress.
00:35:31.270 --> 00:35:33.190
So yeah, he's an example of we often hear today,
00:35:33.190 --> 00:35:35.240
well there were these really rich white guys.
00:35:35.240 --> 00:35:37.120
Well there were some guys that were rich,
00:35:37.120 --> 00:35:38.260
but certainly that's a stereotype that's not accurate
00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:41.150
to all of them.
00:35:41.150 --> 00:35:42.280
- The founding fathers really were typical Americans.
00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:44.120
They were rich, they were poor,
00:35:44.120 --> 00:35:46.120
some were old, some were young,
00:35:46.120 --> 00:35:48.140
they were all sorts of denominations.
00:35:48.140 --> 00:35:50.030
- Lawyers, doctors, teachers, farmers, across the board.
00:35:50.030 --> 00:35:53.160
- So what happens is on the Fourth of July
00:35:53.160 --> 00:35:55.010
is when Congress approved the Declaration of Independence.
00:35:55.010 --> 00:35:58.210
But the copy we see with all their signatures on it,
00:35:58.210 --> 00:36:01.250
that wasn't done until August 2nd.
00:36:01.250 --> 00:36:03.120
Because they said, "Let's do a big one.
00:36:03.120 --> 00:36:06.030
"We can all sign."
00:36:06.030 --> 00:36:07.110
Because the one on the Fourth of July
00:36:07.110 --> 00:36:08.120
only has two names on it.
00:36:08.120 --> 00:36:09.160
And that's the President of Congress
00:36:09.160 --> 00:36:10.180
and Secretary of Congress,
00:36:10.180 --> 00:36:11.280
but then they do this big one.
00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:13.090
And on the day they did that, August 2,
00:36:13.090 --> 00:36:15.260
this piece is released.
00:36:15.260 --> 00:36:17.210
And this is a piece that is done by Sam Adams,
00:36:17.210 --> 00:36:20.230
a tribute to Sam Adams, just read you hear it says,
00:36:20.230 --> 00:36:23.140
"An Oration delivered at the State House in Philadelphia."
00:36:23.140 --> 00:36:26.220
Which is where they did the Declaration.
00:36:26.220 --> 00:36:28.160
"A very numerous audience on Thursday
00:36:28.160 --> 00:36:30.190
"the 1st of August, 1776, by Samuel Adams,
00:36:30.190 --> 00:36:33.180
"member of the General Congress."
00:36:33.180 --> 00:36:35.060
This is the day before the big Declaration
00:36:35.060 --> 00:36:37.220
is generally signed.
00:36:37.220 --> 00:36:39.090
I want to read to you what Sam says here.
00:36:39.090 --> 00:36:41.210
What are they saying about this day
00:36:41.210 --> 00:36:43.000
and about the specialness of the day?
00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:44.240
He said, "We have this day,"
00:36:44.240 --> 00:36:47.070
and think of the significance of that day.
00:36:47.070 --> 00:36:49.080
"We have this day restored
00:36:49.080 --> 00:36:50.240
"the sovereign to home alone men ought to be obedient.
00:36:50.240 --> 00:36:54.030
"He reigns in Heaven and with a propitious eye
00:36:54.030 --> 00:36:57.090
"behold his subjects affirming that freedom of thought
00:36:57.090 --> 00:37:00.110
"and dignity of self direction,
00:37:00.110 --> 00:37:01.250
"which he bestowed on them.
00:37:01.250 --> 00:37:03.140
"From the rising to the setting of the sun
00:37:03.140 --> 00:37:06.080
"may his kingdom come."
00:37:06.080 --> 00:37:09.070
Pretty powerful statement for what they did on that day
00:37:09.070 --> 00:37:12.000
and what they were doing at that period of time.
00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:14.040
I mean that's a really-
00:37:14.040 --> 00:37:15.090
- Especially recognizing that at that time
00:37:15.090 --> 00:37:17.030
the king was generally recognized as being the sovereign.
00:37:17.030 --> 00:37:20.010
Appointed by God, representing God
00:37:20.010 --> 00:37:21.210
and he says, "No, no, we've put
00:37:21.210 --> 00:37:22.270
"the actual sovereign back in place.
00:37:22.270 --> 00:37:25.090
"That's who we are actually submitting to."
00:37:25.090 --> 00:37:27.040
- [David] Well the other founding fathers
00:37:27.040 --> 00:37:28.190
said that Sam Adams was the most openly Christian
00:37:28.190 --> 00:37:31.200
of all the founding fathers.
00:37:31.200 --> 00:37:32.280
I mean he wore it on his sleeve, literally.
00:37:32.280 --> 00:37:35.020
He was what today we would call an evangelical
00:37:35.020 --> 00:37:38.040
and people know that he was the beer guy
00:37:38.040 --> 00:37:40.010
but they don't know about his faith.
00:37:40.010 --> 00:37:41.170
- Although it's very evident when you see their writings.
00:37:41.170 --> 00:37:43.160
- Yeah, another guy that's really key
00:37:43.160 --> 00:37:45.070
among the founding fathers is this one.
00:37:45.070 --> 00:37:47.170
This is Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
00:37:47.170 --> 00:37:50.000
Now interesting he signs the Declaration
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:52.150
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
00:37:52.150 --> 00:37:54.000
and that's because there were nine Charles Carrolls
00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:56.180
living at the time and his area.
00:37:56.180 --> 00:37:58.090
So he's the one from Carrollton.
00:37:58.090 --> 00:38:00.090
And that's the town and area, that's his place.
00:38:00.090 --> 00:38:03.140
And this is one of the documents from him.
00:38:03.140 --> 00:38:05.250
This actually says Mr. Charles Carroll of Carrollton
00:38:05.250 --> 00:38:10.130
to the trustees of the Catholic Cathedral Church.
00:38:10.130 --> 00:38:13.090
He's the only Catholic signer
00:38:13.090 --> 00:38:15.000
of the Declaration of Independence.
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:16.280
Not this actually is, he's renting his pew.
00:38:16.280 --> 00:38:20.030
One of the ways you help fund the church back then
00:38:20.030 --> 00:38:21.240
was not only tithes, today we have customs.
00:38:21.240 --> 00:38:25.120
If you go to church much
00:38:25.120 --> 00:38:26.170
you know where people generally sit.
00:38:26.170 --> 00:38:28.110
Well back then you actually kind of bought
00:38:28.110 --> 00:38:29.250
the seat where you sat.
00:38:29.250 --> 00:38:31.030
- So literally that is my seat get out.
00:38:31.030 --> 00:38:32.220
- That is my seat, I paid for that seat, leave.
00:38:32.220 --> 00:38:35.170
So that's one of the ways they funded.
00:38:35.170 --> 00:38:37.130
This is for three months pew rental
00:38:37.130 --> 00:38:39.260
for a particular pew,
00:38:39.260 --> 00:38:41.110
but back then often again hear the narrative today
00:38:41.110 --> 00:38:44.200
that oh there was so much bigotry back then,
00:38:44.200 --> 00:38:46.160
and they were anti-Catholic.
00:38:46.160 --> 00:38:48.000
The anti-Catholic sentiment was really because
00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:50.170
these guys will be against what we're trying to do
00:38:50.170 --> 00:38:53.040
by giving people the freedom to choose their leaders.
00:38:53.040 --> 00:38:55.210
Well he certainly wasn't.
00:38:55.210 --> 00:38:57.060
He's a guy who signed the Declaration of Independence,
00:38:57.060 --> 00:38:59.120
who stood up against the king
00:38:59.120 --> 00:39:00.260
and so he kind of broke the barriers and said,
00:39:00.260 --> 00:39:02.270
"Oh look, there is a Catholic
00:39:02.270 --> 00:39:04.170
"that is a pro Republican Catholic",
00:39:04.170 --> 00:39:06.220
they want elected government
00:39:06.220 --> 00:39:08.060
and so by the time we get to the Constitution
00:39:08.060 --> 00:39:10.070
we have more Catholics actually signing the Constitution.
00:39:10.070 --> 00:39:13.000
So he kind of breaks through some things
00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:15.070
and he lives to be really old.
00:39:15.070 --> 00:39:18.180
He died at the age of 95.
00:39:18.180 --> 00:39:21.220
Now age of 95 is not that impressive today,
00:39:21.220 --> 00:39:25.050
but you need to know that the average lifespan
00:39:25.050 --> 00:39:27.230
back when they signed the Declaration was 33 years old.
00:39:27.230 --> 00:39:32.050
So he lives to be 95 and it's interesting
00:39:32.050 --> 00:39:35.100
that he kind outlives his kids and grandkids.
00:39:35.100 --> 00:39:37.220
Late in life they're kind of talking to him and said,
00:39:37.220 --> 00:39:40.190
"Charles you're going to die some day,
00:39:40.190 --> 00:39:42.130
"and when you do die are you ready to meet God?"
00:39:42.130 --> 00:39:45.060
- Which is a good question.
00:39:45.060 --> 00:39:46.230
- This is his answer.
00:39:46.230 --> 00:39:48.170
This is a letter, Charles Carroll 1825,
00:39:48.170 --> 00:39:51.270
which makes him 89 years old at the time.
00:39:51.270 --> 00:39:54.100
Am I ready to meet God?
00:39:54.100 --> 00:39:55.230
And he says, of course I am.
00:39:55.230 --> 00:39:57.090
He says, "On the mercy of my redeemer
00:39:57.090 --> 00:39:59.200
"I rely for salvation and on his merits
00:39:59.200 --> 00:40:03.030
"Not any works I've done
00:40:03.030 --> 00:40:04.270
in obedience to his precepts."
00:40:04.270 --> 00:40:06.200
That's Ephesians 2:8-9, by grace or you saved through faith.
00:40:06.200 --> 00:40:09.220
And it's interesting he was the wealthiest guy in America,
00:40:09.220 --> 00:40:14.070
hands down, wealthier than John Hancock.
00:40:14.070 --> 00:40:17.170
Interesting to see what he did with his wealth.
00:40:17.170 --> 00:40:19.120
He lived in a rural part of Maryland
00:40:19.120 --> 00:40:21.120
where they didn't have a lot of people
00:40:21.120 --> 00:40:23.100
so you didn't have enough tithes
00:40:23.100 --> 00:40:25.050
to be able to have preachers all the time at the churches.
00:40:25.050 --> 00:40:28.070
So he took his wealth and he endowed a church there
00:40:28.070 --> 00:40:32.020
permanently endowed the church
00:40:32.020 --> 00:40:33.150
and permanent endowed a preacher
00:40:33.150 --> 00:40:35.010
so that you would have a preacher
00:40:35.010 --> 00:40:36.190
to preach the Gospel even when there's not enough
00:40:36.190 --> 00:40:38.270
people to be able to afford to get a preacher in.
00:40:38.270 --> 00:40:41.010
So he put his money in the Gospel stuff as well.
00:40:41.010 --> 00:40:44.020
Again, great guy, great founding father.
00:40:44.020 --> 00:40:46.080
- And certainly another one of those guys
00:40:46.080 --> 00:40:47.180
who kind of breaks that religious narrative.
00:40:47.180 --> 00:40:49.090
That the founding fathers weren't people of faith.
00:40:49.090 --> 00:40:51.030
And one of the guys who certainly was a man of faith,
00:40:51.030 --> 00:40:53.210
at the time of the founding fathers,
00:40:53.210 --> 00:40:55.080
he was probably one of the most
00:40:55.080 --> 00:40:57.200
significant founding fathers.
00:40:57.200 --> 00:40:58.270
At least according to John Adams.
00:40:58.270 --> 00:41:00.210
John Adams said that this founding father
00:41:00.210 --> 00:41:03.000
was one of the three most notable.
00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:04.240
He said the three most notable were
00:41:04.240 --> 00:41:06.030
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin
00:41:06.030 --> 00:41:08.110
and this guy right here, Dr. Benjamin Rush.
00:41:08.110 --> 00:41:11.180
Now today, Dr. Benjamin Rush is not a name
00:41:11.180 --> 00:41:13.270
that probably any American can tell you very much about.
00:41:13.270 --> 00:41:17.060
Unless they have specifically studied
00:41:17.060 --> 00:41:18.280
the signers of the Declaration and then they know his name.
00:41:18.280 --> 00:41:21.090
But he actually served on three different
00:41:21.090 --> 00:41:23.060
presidential administrations.
00:41:23.060 --> 00:41:24.190
He was director of the US man.
00:41:24.190 --> 00:41:25.270
He started five universities,
00:41:25.270 --> 00:41:27.140
three of them still go today.
00:41:27.140 --> 00:41:29.070
He actually was known as the father of public schools
00:41:29.070 --> 00:41:32.230
under the Constitution.
00:41:32.230 --> 00:41:34.000
He was the father of American medicine.
00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:36.000
He came up with medical cures over 200 years ago
00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:39.120
that are still in use today.
00:41:39.120 --> 00:41:40.230
He was a very significant founding father.
00:41:40.230 --> 00:41:42.290
But today we just know so little about him.
00:41:42.290 --> 00:41:45.070
- He is a strong Christian founding father.
00:41:45.070 --> 00:41:47.150
In every sense of the word he would be evangelical.
00:41:47.150 --> 00:41:50.030
Benjamin Rush was from Pennsylvania.
00:41:50.030 --> 00:41:51.120
Now Pennsylvania is largely a quaker state.
00:41:51.120 --> 00:41:53.180
And so in 1774, they pass a law
00:41:53.180 --> 00:41:56.040
that says we're anti-slavery.
00:41:56.040 --> 00:41:58.240
Well the king vetoed that law as well.
00:41:58.240 --> 00:42:01.120
And so when the king vetoed that law
00:42:01.120 --> 00:42:03.010
he said, "Look guys you're part of the British empire,
00:42:03.010 --> 00:42:05.240
"you can't end slavery."
00:42:05.240 --> 00:42:07.230
That's when Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin said
00:42:07.230 --> 00:42:12.180
lets not be part of the British empire anymore.
00:42:12.180 --> 00:42:14.170
We want to end slavery.
00:42:14.170 --> 00:42:16.050
This actually is really an act of civil disobedience.
00:42:16.050 --> 00:42:19.280
This is the Constitution for the first abolition society
00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:23.010
ever found in America, goes back to 1774.
00:42:23.010 --> 00:42:26.270
We're still a British colony,
00:42:26.270 --> 00:42:29.000
but these guys were saying we're not doing this.
00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.150
Now Benjamin Rush not only helps found this society
00:42:31.150 --> 00:42:34.090
with Benjamin Franklin,
00:42:34.090 --> 00:42:35.070
he goes on to be the leader of
00:42:35.070 --> 00:42:37.000
the national abolition movement.
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:39.010
They started abolition societies all over the United States,
00:42:39.010 --> 00:42:42.060
states everywhere, they want slavery ended.
00:42:42.060 --> 00:42:44.140
So Benjamin Rush is a huge anti-slavery guy.
00:42:44.140 --> 00:42:47.170
He's also a guy how like many founding fathers back then
00:42:47.170 --> 00:42:50.270
would read through the bible once every year.
00:42:50.270 --> 00:42:52.220
Go through it from cover to cover.
00:42:52.220 --> 00:42:54.110
And this happens to be his notes that he kept
00:42:54.110 --> 00:42:57.150
as he would read through the bible,
00:42:57.150 --> 00:42:58.280
the Lord would show him things out of the scriptures.
00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:00.250
He would make these notes and write down verses.
00:43:00.250 --> 00:43:03.160
It's on various topics, so he's got verses
00:43:03.160 --> 00:43:05.210
that deal with animals.
00:43:05.210 --> 00:43:07.000
He's got verses that deal with salvation
00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:08.130
and the efficacy of prayer and forgiveness.
00:43:08.130 --> 00:43:11.200
So he's just in the word all the time.
00:43:11.200 --> 00:43:14.180
And because he's in the word all the time
00:43:14.180 --> 00:43:17.030
he wants everybody else to have the word.
00:43:17.030 --> 00:43:19.200
So he's a founder of the Sunday school movement.
00:43:19.200 --> 00:43:22.080
This is a newspaper form 1791
00:43:22.080 --> 00:43:25.150
and it talks about the new Sunday school movement
00:43:25.150 --> 00:43:27.250
and Benjamin Rush is one of the guys
00:43:27.250 --> 00:43:29.150
running Sunday school movement.
00:43:29.150 --> 00:43:31.120
But he still wants that word of God out there for everybody.
00:43:31.120 --> 00:43:34.250
So another way to do it
00:43:34.250 --> 00:43:36.110
is like John Witherspoon wanted the bible
00:43:36.110 --> 00:43:38.290
that has everybody New Jersey.
00:43:38.290 --> 00:43:41.030
Benjamin Rush said, "Let's just create a society
00:43:41.030 --> 00:43:43.290
"that can give bibles to everybody."
00:43:43.290 --> 00:43:46.060
And that's the Constitution for the very first bible society
00:43:46.060 --> 00:43:49.170
ever started in America
00:43:49.170 --> 00:43:51.070
and it's Benjamin Rush who has written
00:43:51.070 --> 00:43:53.100
the address there for all the people.
00:43:53.100 --> 00:43:55.270
And then in looking for a way to make sure
00:43:55.270 --> 00:43:58.050
that they could get bibles
00:43:58.050 --> 00:43:59.160
he came up with a new way to print bibles,
00:43:59.160 --> 00:44:01.260
called stereotype printing, kind of mass production.
00:44:01.260 --> 00:44:04.190
That's the first mass produced bible
00:44:04.190 --> 00:44:06.160
done in the Unites States.
00:44:06.160 --> 00:44:07.280
That's done again with Benjamin Rush's bible society,
00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:10.260
so really cool stuff he did
00:44:10.260 --> 00:44:12.220
in trying to propagate faith throughout the Unites States.
00:44:12.220 --> 00:44:15.220
- Well one of the essays he wrote is this essay right here.
00:44:15.220 --> 00:44:18.080
It's called A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools.
00:44:18.080 --> 00:44:21.230
You can guess from the title
00:44:21.230 --> 00:44:22.250
exactly what he's talking about.
00:44:22.250 --> 00:44:24.150
It was why we need the bible in schools.
00:44:24.150 --> 00:44:26.200
Actually in this essay he gave a dozen or so reasons
00:44:26.200 --> 00:44:29.150
why the bible was a necessity for the next generation.
00:44:29.150 --> 00:44:32.130
In fact, he warned that if we removed the bible
00:44:32.130 --> 00:44:34.270
we would spend time and money punishing crimes
00:44:34.270 --> 00:44:37.200
that we could have prevented had we instructed
00:44:37.200 --> 00:44:39.090
young people in morals.
00:44:39.090 --> 00:44:40.240
In fact he goes on to write several essays
00:44:40.240 --> 00:44:43.060
and a lot of them deal with education.
00:44:43.060 --> 00:44:44.140
This is a book of his essays.
00:44:44.140 --> 00:44:46.150
So in this he talks a lot about the bible
00:44:46.150 --> 00:44:48.140
and in various other topics
00:44:48.140 --> 00:44:49.220
but when he talks about the bible
00:44:49.220 --> 00:44:51.090
one of the things he says is that
00:44:51.090 --> 00:44:53.000
in America he says the only useful education
00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:56.020
has to be laid in religion, specifically the bible.
00:44:56.020 --> 00:44:59.060
Because without religion there can be no virtue.
00:44:59.060 --> 00:45:01.240
Without virtue there can be no liberty.
00:45:01.240 --> 00:45:04.030
And liberty is the object of our government.
00:45:04.030 --> 00:45:06.220
The point he makes that we want to be free as Americans
00:45:06.220 --> 00:45:09.290
but freedom only works if we have virtue or morality.
00:45:09.290 --> 00:45:12.280
But you only have virtue or morality
00:45:12.280 --> 00:45:14.200
if you go back to the bible.
00:45:14.200 --> 00:45:16.120
And so he says without the bible
00:45:16.120 --> 00:45:19.090
America will never be a free nation.
00:45:19.090 --> 00:45:21.070
But if we would teach the bible
00:45:21.070 --> 00:45:22.290
we can always enjoy freedom.
00:45:22.290 --> 00:45:24.270
And this is one of the things that's fun looking back
00:45:24.270 --> 00:45:26.240
on these guys.
00:45:26.240 --> 00:45:28.020
When you start to see their stories
00:45:28.020 --> 00:45:29.090
and get beyond just the generalization of
00:45:29.090 --> 00:45:31.100
well those old guys or whatever the generalizations are.
00:45:31.100 --> 00:45:34.180
When you actually start studying their stories
00:45:34.180 --> 00:45:36.170
you see not only these real people
00:45:36.170 --> 00:45:38.280
who actually dealt with real things in their life.
00:45:38.280 --> 00:45:41.130
The vast majority of them were so pro God,
00:45:41.130 --> 00:45:44.040
so pro faith, knew we need the bible in America,
00:45:44.040 --> 00:45:46.230
and knew that ultimately the bible
00:45:46.230 --> 00:45:48.260
is the basis of freedom.
00:45:48.260 --> 00:45:50.180
(drum music)
00:45:50.180 --> 00:45:53.000
- Do you know anything about their faith?
00:45:58.290 --> 00:46:00.250
- No.
00:46:02.110 --> 00:46:03.100
- No?
00:46:03.100 --> 00:46:04.160
- Do you know anything about their faith?
00:46:04.160 --> 00:46:06.270
- Oh.
00:46:08.020 --> 00:46:09.200
- Like did they believe in God?
00:46:09.200 --> 00:46:11.120
Because we hear a lot today that they were
00:46:11.120 --> 00:46:12.100
atheist, agnostics, and deists.
00:46:12.100 --> 00:46:14.240
Do you know anything about their faith?
00:46:14.240 --> 00:46:17.250
- No I don't, but I would guess
00:46:17.250 --> 00:46:20.200
Presbyterian or Episcopalian.
00:46:20.200 --> 00:46:22.130
It's what I would guess.
00:46:22.130 --> 00:46:23.210
- There were a lot of them that were.
00:46:23.210 --> 00:46:24.110
- Okay.
00:46:24.110 --> 00:46:25.250
- So actually we can say even the majority of them were.
00:46:25.250 --> 00:46:27.250
What do you know about their faith?
00:46:27.250 --> 00:46:29.180
- Well the Quakers are pretty big involved right?
00:46:29.180 --> 00:46:32.020
- There were some Quakers.
00:46:32.020 --> 00:46:33.070
So Steven Hopkinson was a Quaker.
00:46:33.070 --> 00:46:34.260
He as a governor actually.
00:46:34.260 --> 00:46:36.030
- And the Puritans obviously right?
00:46:36.030 --> 00:46:37.110
- The Puritans were, yup their ancestors.
00:46:37.110 --> 00:46:38.190
- And the Catholics were in Maryland.
00:46:38.190 --> 00:46:40.140
- So do you think some of the founding fathers
00:46:41.240 --> 00:46:43.120
were people of faith?
00:46:43.120 --> 00:46:44.100
Would you make that deduction?
00:46:44.100 --> 00:46:46.110
- One nation under God, so yeah right.
00:46:49.050 --> 00:46:51.030
(dramatic music)
00:46:51.030 --> 00:46:53.250
(audience applause)
00:46:56.000 --> 00:46:59.000
- Okay we're talking about
00:47:00.180 --> 00:47:02.020
the Declaration of Independence,
00:47:02.020 --> 00:47:03.060
specifically the Fourth of July.
00:47:03.060 --> 00:47:04.200
The signing of the Declaration,
00:47:04.200 --> 00:47:06.020
things associated that we celebrate.
00:47:06.020 --> 00:47:08.120
And as we look at independence,
00:47:08.120 --> 00:47:09.280
a lot of people don't know a lot of the founding fathers.
00:47:09.280 --> 00:47:12.250
In fact, when I had the chance
00:47:12.250 --> 00:47:14.110
to speak in schools or colleges
00:47:14.110 --> 00:47:16.040
I'll show a picture of the signers of the Declaration
00:47:16.040 --> 00:47:19.060
and we'll say okay who can you name.
00:47:19.060 --> 00:47:21.020
And generally there's two names that stand out
00:47:21.020 --> 00:47:23.020
above all the others.
00:47:23.020 --> 00:47:24.170
And that's Benjamin Franklin and it's Thomas Jefferson.
00:47:24.170 --> 00:47:27.010
And generally we recognized them because there known as
00:47:27.010 --> 00:47:29.040
kind of the least religious founding fathers.
00:47:29.040 --> 00:47:31.030
It's the way they're painted.
00:47:31.030 --> 00:47:32.180
But even for being the least religious founding fathers
00:47:32.180 --> 00:47:35.050
they really weren't anti-religious.
00:47:35.050 --> 00:47:36.210
- No, you take Jefferson for example.
00:47:36.210 --> 00:47:38.240
Jefferson undeniably, I don't dispute
00:47:38.240 --> 00:47:40.220
he's one of the least religious founding fathers
00:47:40.220 --> 00:47:42.120
but least is a comparative term.
00:47:42.120 --> 00:47:44.170
Least as compared to what?
00:47:44.170 --> 00:47:46.060
I mean if you have a room of preachers together
00:47:46.060 --> 00:47:48.000
one of them is the least religious
00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:49.070
That doesn't mean he's anti-religious.
00:47:49.070 --> 00:47:51.040
And so Jefferson, if you take Jefferson
00:47:51.040 --> 00:47:53.170
and say okay let's just look at public actions that he did.
00:47:53.170 --> 00:47:57.030
For example, while he's in office in federal office
00:47:57.030 --> 00:48:01.270
under George Washington is a great example.
00:48:01.270 --> 00:48:03.230
When he's under George Washington
00:48:03.230 --> 00:48:05.050
and they're building the capital, Jefferson is secretary,
00:48:05.050 --> 00:48:08.010
the state starts church services
00:48:08.010 --> 00:48:10.060
at the building of the capital.
00:48:10.060 --> 00:48:11.210
So that on Sunday you're actually
00:48:11.210 --> 00:48:14.030
government folks are going to church
00:48:14.030 --> 00:48:15.230
where they're building the capital.
00:48:15.230 --> 00:48:17.060
Well he then gets elected to be vice president
00:48:17.060 --> 00:48:19.260
under John Adams and when he becomes President
00:48:19.260 --> 00:48:22.040
he does an interesting practice.
00:48:22.040 --> 00:48:23.270
He goes to church for eight years
00:48:23.270 --> 00:48:25.280
to the church at the capital
00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:27.210
that he helped start when he was vice president.
00:48:27.210 --> 00:48:30.120
So as vice president they take every Sunday
00:48:30.120 --> 00:48:33.090
and they take the hall of the House of Representatives
00:48:33.090 --> 00:48:35.220
in Congress and turn it into a church building.
00:48:35.220 --> 00:48:38.070
And that's where Jefferson went to church for eight years.
00:48:38.070 --> 00:48:41.140
And so Jefferson helps start church there.
00:48:41.140 --> 00:48:43.220
Well when he becomes President,
00:48:43.220 --> 00:48:45.060
he also starts Sunday church services at the war department,
00:48:45.060 --> 00:48:48.240
at the Navy yard, at the treasury.
00:48:48.240 --> 00:48:50.290
Now image this, you want to go to church in Washington D.C.,
00:48:50.290 --> 00:48:53.210
do I want to go to the Capital,
00:48:53.210 --> 00:48:55.000
do I want to go to the war department.
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:57.160
Jefferson's the one who starts
00:48:57.160 --> 00:48:58.280
churches in government buildings.
00:48:58.280 --> 00:49:00.080
- Isn't he the guy who wrote a letter
00:49:00.080 --> 00:49:01.180
about the separation of church and state?
00:49:01.180 --> 00:49:03.250
- Yeah but nobody reads that letter anymore.
00:49:03.250 --> 00:49:05.190
- I think we've misunderstood what he meant.
00:49:05.190 --> 00:49:08.080
- If we read the letter we would see that
00:49:08.080 --> 00:49:10.050
separation church and state means
00:49:10.050 --> 00:49:11.250
the government can't stop a religious activity.
00:49:11.250 --> 00:49:14.170
- Or it can't compel you to a certain denomination, right.
00:49:14.170 --> 00:49:17.140
It can't compel you and say you have to be Catholic,
00:49:17.140 --> 00:49:19.140
you have to Anglican, you have to be Baptist or Episcopal.
00:49:19.140 --> 00:49:22.020
But it also can't stop you from your religious activity.
00:49:22.020 --> 00:49:24.050
- Can't stop you.
00:49:24.050 --> 00:49:25.120
- Is how the First Amendment reads.
00:49:25.120 --> 00:49:26.190
When you look at the Declaration,
00:49:26.190 --> 00:49:28.020
okay the Declaration was written by a 33 year old man.
00:49:28.020 --> 00:49:31.190
So if you're younger that might not seem impressive.
00:49:33.030 --> 00:49:34.130
If you're older like that's more impressive.
00:49:34.130 --> 00:49:36.150
A 33 year old is where Jefferson is
00:49:36.150 --> 00:49:38.240
when he goes into Congress.
00:49:38.240 --> 00:49:40.090
He's the one in the committee of five
00:49:40.090 --> 00:49:41.220
largely responsible for drafting
00:49:41.220 --> 00:49:43.090
the Declaration of Independence
00:49:43.090 --> 00:49:44.250
and in it he put a lot of unique thoughts and ideas
00:49:44.250 --> 00:49:47.190
that were not common practice of the time.
00:49:47.190 --> 00:49:50.030
Where he says that all men are created equal.
00:49:50.030 --> 00:49:53.120
Well under the king, under a monarch,
00:49:53.120 --> 00:49:55.240
that's not a common belief.
00:49:55.240 --> 00:49:57.060
But he said these are self evident truths.
00:49:57.060 --> 00:49:59.010
Well there only self evident truths
00:49:59.010 --> 00:50:01.020
if you know what the bible teaches.
00:50:01.020 --> 00:50:02.260
Right that we are all God's kids,
00:50:02.260 --> 00:50:04.150
and therefore we've all been created equal
00:50:04.150 --> 00:50:06.240
in God's sight.
00:50:06.240 --> 00:50:08.090
Even thought world and culture Jefferson lived in
00:50:08.090 --> 00:50:11.060
largely didn't recognize that it.
00:50:11.060 --> 00:50:12.250
I mean Jefferson is just not the guy
00:50:12.250 --> 00:50:14.120
we often hear and think about.
00:50:14.120 --> 00:50:16.040
- And faith was a part of so many of these guys.
00:50:16.040 --> 00:50:19.150
I find it interesting there is a set of books here
00:50:19.150 --> 00:50:22.190
this is from 1825, and it's the writings of
00:50:22.190 --> 00:50:25.270
Richard Henry Lee.
00:50:25.270 --> 00:50:27.150
Now Richard Henry Lee is this guy right here.
00:50:27.150 --> 00:50:31.010
That on the 7th of June, he's the guy who said,
00:50:31.010 --> 00:50:34.160
"Let's separate from Great Britain.
00:50:34.160 --> 00:50:36.070
"Let's not be British colonies anymore."
00:50:36.070 --> 00:50:37.130
- He makes the official congressional motion
00:50:37.130 --> 00:50:39.230
we're separating from Great Britain.
00:50:39.230 --> 00:50:41.060
- And so, it's interesting because at that time
00:50:41.060 --> 00:50:44.060
several things happened.
00:50:44.060 --> 00:50:45.140
One is Congress calls for a time of prayer.
00:50:45.140 --> 00:50:47.180
And by the way, Congress often called times of prayer.
00:50:47.180 --> 00:50:50.260
These happen to be national calls to prayer
00:50:50.260 --> 00:50:53.090
from the Continental Congress.
00:50:53.090 --> 00:50:54.270
So the Congress is calling the people to prayer.
00:50:54.270 --> 00:50:57.240
This is one, here is another
00:50:57.240 --> 00:50:59.250
with Congress calling people.
00:50:59.250 --> 00:51:01.180
Congress called the nation to prayer 15 different times
00:51:01.180 --> 00:51:04.180
in the American Revolution.
00:51:04.180 --> 00:51:05.250
We have all these guys together working
00:51:05.250 --> 00:51:08.000
and their faith is very evident.
00:51:08.000 --> 00:51:09.120
And then Richard Henry Lee says,
00:51:09.120 --> 00:51:11.040
"Let's just go ahead and separate
00:51:11.040 --> 00:51:12.140
"and be a separate nation."
00:51:12.140 --> 00:51:13.250
And at that point Congress says,
00:51:13.250 --> 00:51:15.100
okay, let us back away from this a little bit.
00:51:15.100 --> 00:51:17.180
If we're going to write a Declaration
00:51:17.180 --> 00:51:19.010
let's get together on what we're going to say to the world.
00:51:19.010 --> 00:51:20.240
So they get that prepared.
00:51:20.240 --> 00:51:22.120
And it's interesting that we voted to separate eventually
00:51:22.120 --> 00:51:25.100
and the Declaration came out.
00:51:25.100 --> 00:51:27.050
But years later, the letters of Richard Henry Lee
00:51:27.050 --> 00:51:30.240
were collected by the grandson.
00:51:30.240 --> 00:51:32.200
And the grandson has all the granddad's letters.
00:51:32.200 --> 00:51:35.090
He brings it out in this two volume set.
00:51:35.090 --> 00:51:36.270
This is from 1825, and in reading the letters
00:51:36.270 --> 00:51:40.110
of Richard Henry Lee, he's reading letters from
00:51:40.110 --> 00:51:42.280
Richard Henry Lee to Washington,
00:51:42.280 --> 00:51:44.150
to Jefferson, to Benjamin Rush,
00:51:44.150 --> 00:51:46.270
to John Adams, or Francis Hopkins.
00:51:46.270 --> 00:51:48.210
And after he's gone through so many of the letters
00:51:48.210 --> 00:51:51.200
of the founding fathers,
00:51:51.200 --> 00:51:52.270
I want you to hear what the grandson concludes
00:51:52.270 --> 00:51:55.280
in having gone through all these letters.
00:51:55.280 --> 00:51:58.140
He says, "The wise and great men of those days."
00:51:58.140 --> 00:52:01.050
All these founding fathers.
00:52:01.050 --> 00:52:02.220
"The wise and great men of those days were not ashamed
00:52:02.220 --> 00:52:05.180
"publicly to confess the name of our blessed
00:52:05.180 --> 00:52:07.190
"Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
00:52:07.190 --> 00:52:09.250
"In behalf of the people,
00:52:09.250 --> 00:52:11.080
"as their representatives and rulers
00:52:11.080 --> 00:52:13.080
"they acknowledged the sublime doctrine of his mediation."
00:52:13.080 --> 00:52:16.220
Now wait a minute, when I read all the writings
00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:20.100
of the founding fathers, man are these guys Jesus guys.
00:52:20.100 --> 00:52:24.010
On behalf of the entire nation they talked about Jesus,
00:52:25.120 --> 00:52:27.150
so on Fourth of July which where we are now.
00:52:27.150 --> 00:52:29.270
We celebrate independence day.
00:52:29.270 --> 00:52:31.110
We celebrate the principles in the Declaration.
00:52:31.110 --> 00:52:33.260
And how do you do that.
00:52:33.260 --> 00:52:35.050
How's the best way to celebrate
00:52:35.050 --> 00:52:37.100
and really to take responsibility
00:52:37.100 --> 00:52:40.100
for preserving those principles.
00:52:40.100 --> 00:52:42.150
It's interesting.
00:52:42.150 --> 00:52:43.290
That was the discussion that happened 200 years ago.
00:52:43.290 --> 00:52:46.080
When they approved the Declaration of Independence,
00:52:46.080 --> 00:52:49.040
John Adams wrote this wife Abigail two letters.
00:52:49.040 --> 00:52:52.200
Here are letters from John Adams to Abigail.
00:52:52.200 --> 00:52:56.000
And what happened on the day they did this,
00:52:56.000 --> 00:52:59.040
he was thinking ahead.
00:52:59.040 --> 00:53:00.170
How will future generations
00:53:00.170 --> 00:53:02.020
see what we just did today?
00:53:02.020 --> 00:53:04.080
And he starts predicting that
00:53:04.080 --> 00:53:05.280
I think they're gonna want to celebrate what we did today.
00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:08.240
Now here we are 200 and something years later
00:53:08.240 --> 00:53:11.060
we celebrate what they did.
00:53:11.060 --> 00:53:12.120
But back day on the day they did it
00:53:12.120 --> 00:53:13.250
he's saying, I think future generations
00:53:13.250 --> 00:53:16.240
will want to celebrate this.
00:53:16.240 --> 00:53:18.060
And so listen to what he told his wife Abigail
00:53:18.060 --> 00:53:21.140
about how to celebrate this independence day.
00:53:21.140 --> 00:53:25.100
He says, "I'm apt to believe that this day
00:53:25.100 --> 00:53:27.080
"will be celebrated by succeeding generations
00:53:27.080 --> 00:53:29.180
"as the great anniversary Festival."
00:53:29.180 --> 00:53:31.180
He was right, he was a prophet.
00:53:31.180 --> 00:53:33.020
That's what we do now.
00:53:33.020 --> 00:53:34.080
He said, "This day ought to be commemorated.
00:53:34.080 --> 00:53:36.230
He said, "It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade,
00:53:36.230 --> 00:53:40.060
"with shows, and games, and sports, and guns,
00:53:40.060 --> 00:53:43.230
"and bells, and bonfires, and illuminations
00:53:43.230 --> 00:53:46.220
"from one end of this continent to the other.
00:53:46.220 --> 00:53:48.270
"From this time forward forever more."
00:53:48.270 --> 00:53:51.020
Make a big deal out of this.
00:53:51.020 --> 00:53:52.160
You know fireworks, everything.
00:53:52.160 --> 00:53:54.250
Listen to this.
00:53:54.250 --> 00:53:56.000
He said, "This day ought to be commemorated
00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:58.280
"as the day of deliverance
00:53:58.280 --> 00:54:00.140
"by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty."
00:54:00.140 --> 00:54:04.260
the way you ought to celebrate the Fourth of July
00:54:04.260 --> 00:54:07.070
is as a religious holiday.
00:54:07.070 --> 00:54:09.050
A day of devotion to God Almighty.
00:54:09.050 --> 00:54:11.030
- Well still we celebrate,
00:54:11.030 --> 00:54:12.170
we have the barbecue, maybe we go to the lake,
00:54:12.170 --> 00:54:14.270
we view fireworks, we celebrate
00:54:14.270 --> 00:54:17.120
but ultimately not only do we celebrate freedom.
00:54:17.120 --> 00:54:19.290
The way to appreciate and enjoy freedom
00:54:19.290 --> 00:54:21.240
he says make sure we thank God
00:54:21.240 --> 00:54:23.190
for the fact that we have freedom.
00:54:23.190 --> 00:54:25.060
Right, living in arguably the freest nation on earth.
00:54:25.060 --> 00:54:28.160
Certainly one of the freest nations
00:54:28.160 --> 00:54:30.020
in the history of the world.
00:54:30.020 --> 00:54:31.270
That ought to be something every Fourth of July.
00:54:31.270 --> 00:54:33.160
No only shoot off fireworks,
00:54:33.160 --> 00:54:35.010
we go Lord thank you that you've allowed me to be
00:54:35.010 --> 00:54:37.230
in a place were I have freedom.
00:54:37.230 --> 00:54:39.180
- Now that was 1776.
00:54:39.180 --> 00:54:41.130
Here's a Fourth of July oration given in 1837.
00:54:41.130 --> 00:54:45.190
So now we're 61 years later,
00:54:45.190 --> 00:54:48.010
and this is given by John Quincy Adams,
00:54:48.010 --> 00:54:50.080
the son of John Adams.
00:54:50.080 --> 00:54:51.210
So now 61 years later,
00:54:51.210 --> 00:54:53.210
how do we celebrate the Fourth of July?
00:54:53.210 --> 00:54:56.030
What's the big deal about the Fourth of July?
00:54:56.030 --> 00:54:58.220
This is what John Quincy Adams said,
00:54:58.220 --> 00:55:00.180
"Is it not the in the chain of human events,
00:55:00.180 --> 00:55:03.100
"the birthdate of the nation, Fourth of July,
00:55:03.100 --> 00:55:05.290
"is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior."
00:55:05.290 --> 00:55:10.140
Fourth of July and Christmas go together?
00:55:10.140 --> 00:55:12.120
He says, "It forms a leading event in the progress
00:55:12.120 --> 00:55:15.000
"of the gospel dispensation.
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:16.290
"Is it not that the Declaration of Independence
00:55:16.290 --> 00:55:19.170
"first organized the social compact
00:55:19.170 --> 00:55:22.080
"on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission on earth?
00:55:22.080 --> 00:55:25.160
"That it laid the corner stone of human government
00:55:25.160 --> 00:55:27.230
"on the first precepts of Christianity."
00:55:27.230 --> 00:55:30.290
He says the Fourth of July took what Jesus did on his birth
00:55:30.290 --> 00:55:35.030
and we've now brought it to America.
00:55:35.030 --> 00:55:37.100
So the principles that Jesus brought into the world
00:55:37.100 --> 00:55:39.140
is what the Fourth of July brought to America.
00:55:39.140 --> 00:55:41.160
They saw the Fourth of July as one of
00:55:41.160 --> 00:55:44.030
our top two religious holidays in America.
00:55:44.030 --> 00:55:47.150
That's a good thing to remember on the Fourth of July.
00:55:47.150 --> 00:55:49.290
- Amidst everything we do on the Fourth of July,
00:55:49.290 --> 00:55:52.150
one thing we ought to remember is
00:55:52.150 --> 00:55:54.120
what the founding fathers pointed to.
00:55:54.120 --> 00:55:56.260
John Adams says that we ought to be celebrating
00:55:56.260 --> 00:55:59.110
this as a day of deliverance.
00:55:59.110 --> 00:56:00.280
Almost like when Moses lead the Israelites out.
00:56:00.280 --> 00:56:03.020
Right, what did we do?
00:56:03.020 --> 00:56:04.080
We're going to stop and thank God
00:56:04.080 --> 00:56:05.150
that we now get to enjoy something
00:56:05.150 --> 00:56:07.240
not everybody in history has enjoyed.
00:56:07.240 --> 00:56:09.190
We're enjoying freedom
00:56:09.190 --> 00:56:11.040
and so on Fourth of July say God thank you for freedom.
00:56:11.040 --> 00:56:14.280
(dramatic music)
00:56:14.280 --> 00:56:17.210
As we celebrate independence day
00:56:20.230 --> 00:56:22.160
just like John Adams at the end of his life
00:56:22.160 --> 00:56:24.150
he was able to raise a glass and offer a toast.
00:56:24.150 --> 00:56:27.140
I would suggest that as we celebrate Independence Day
00:56:27.140 --> 00:56:30.090
that maybe it would be appropriate for us
00:56:30.090 --> 00:56:32.020
to raise a glass and toast independence forever.
00:56:32.020 --> 00:56:35.190
(drum music)
00:56:35.190 --> 00:56:38.010
- Today we've uncovered the individual
00:56:39.210 --> 00:56:41.180
and very personal stories of several signers
00:56:41.180 --> 00:56:43.290
of the Declaration of Independence.
00:56:43.290 --> 00:56:46.010
We discovered they were honorable men
00:56:46.010 --> 00:56:47.260
who sacrificed their fortunes,
00:56:47.260 --> 00:56:49.160
their families, their homes,
00:56:49.160 --> 00:56:51.010
and even their lives
00:56:51.010 --> 00:56:52.200
to secure for everyone of use the freedoms we now enjoy
00:56:52.200 --> 00:56:55.210
and so often take for granted.
00:56:55.210 --> 00:56:57.170
But what we've seen and heard only scratches the surface.
00:56:57.170 --> 00:57:00.280
For more information about any of today's topics
00:57:00.280 --> 00:57:03.230
or to get resources you can personally study for yourself
00:57:03.230 --> 00:57:06.290
go to our website wallbuilders.com
00:57:06.290 --> 00:57:09.100
or got to the app store and download the Wall Builders app.
00:57:09.100 --> 00:57:12.010
You can also like us on Facebook
00:57:12.010 --> 00:57:14.040
or go to our YouTube channel and other social media.
00:57:14.040 --> 00:57:17.000
And be sure to stay tuned to TBN
00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:18.240
for more exciting chapters in America's Hidden History.
00:57:18.240 --> 00:57:23.000
(dramatic music)
00:57:23.000 --> 00:57:25.230

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America's Hidden History | Independence Day

America's Hidden History | Independence Day

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Menu Top

America's Hidden History | Independence Day

America's Hidden History | Independence Day

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