America's Hidden History | Independence Day
July 3, 2018
57:31
America's Hidden History
Closed captions
America's Hidden History | Independence Day
Show timecode
Hide timecode
- - Hi, I'm Tim Barton.
- 00:00:18.020 --> 00:00:18.290
- - And I'm David Barton.
- 00:00:18.290 --> 00:00:19.290
- - And we're here in Philadelphia,
- 00:00:19.290 --> 00:00:21.010
- behind us is Independence Hall.
- 00:00:21.010 --> 00:00:22.170
- This is the place where the Declaration of Independence
- 00:00:22.170 --> 00:00:24.210
- was actually constructed.
- 00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:26.020
- When we celebrate the Fourth of July
- 00:00:26.020 --> 00:00:27.190
- we're really celebrating the accomplishments
- 00:00:27.190 --> 00:00:29.140
- from the building right behind us.
- 00:00:29.140 --> 00:00:31.000
- - This is the birth place of national freedom.
- 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:33.150
- And we're going to go all across the northeast
- 00:00:33.150 --> 00:00:35.120
- looking at the stories of those who gave us that freedom.
- 00:00:35.120 --> 00:00:38.040
- We're going to look at their faith.
- 00:00:38.040 --> 00:00:39.150
- We're going to look at their family
- 00:00:39.150 --> 00:00:40.210
- and we're going to look at their sacrifice.
- 00:00:40.210 --> 00:00:42.110
- It's remarkable stories.
- 00:00:42.110 --> 00:00:43.280
- - This is America's Hidden History.
- 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:45.280
- - [Announcer] Modern historians have revised,
- 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:49.180
- rewritten and even deleted
- 00:00:49.180 --> 00:00:51.080
- entire chapters of American history.
- 00:00:51.080 --> 00:00:53.290
- So what are we missing?
- 00:00:53.290 --> 00:00:56.000
- What happened to the history that didn't make the books?
- 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.220
- Join historian David Barton, Tim Barton
- 00:00:59.220 --> 00:01:02.160
- and special guests as they uncover the facts
- 00:01:02.160 --> 00:01:05.120
- some historians don't want you to know.
- 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.170
- This is America's Hidden History.
- 00:01:08.230 --> 00:01:11.160
- (dramatic music)
- 00:01:11.160 --> 00:01:14.090
- (drum music)
- 00:01:16.080 --> 00:01:18.200
- - Behind me is Independence Hall
- 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:26.150
- and this is where the 56 men were together
- 00:01:26.150 --> 00:01:28.160
- when we did the Declaration
- 00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:30.060
- But you know today, so few Americans
- 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:32.000
- know who actually signed the Declaration,
- 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:33.280
- what the Declaration is even about.
- 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:35.090
- We thought, let's just go on the street
- 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:37.050
- and find out what people actually know.
- 00:01:37.050 --> 00:01:39.170
- Hey I'm Tim.
- 00:01:39.170 --> 00:01:40.120
- - Hi, I'm Susan.
- 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:41.100
- - Susan nice to meet you.
- 00:01:41.100 --> 00:01:42.240
- Okay, we're doing a survey on the Fourth of July.
- 00:01:42.240 --> 00:01:44.090
- Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July?
- 00:01:44.090 --> 00:01:47.000
- - Celebrate America's, celebrate America.
- 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.170
- - Greg.
- 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:50.120
- - Nice to meet you Greg.
- 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:51.260
- Okay, what do we celebrate on the Fourth of July.
- 00:01:51.260 --> 00:01:54.050
- - Independence.
- 00:01:54.050 --> 00:01:55.010
- - From?
- 00:01:55.010 --> 00:01:56.210
- - Slavery.
- 00:01:56.210 --> 00:01:57.160
- - Great Britain, slavery was a little later.
- 00:01:58.230 --> 00:02:00.260
- Hey man, I'm Tim.
- 00:02:00.260 --> 00:02:01.210
- - Hi, I'm Nick.
- 00:02:01.210 --> 00:02:02.200
- - Nick, nice to meet you.
- 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:03.280
- What do we celebrate on the Fourth of July?
- 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.250
- - Independence from the England, yeah.
- 00:02:05.250 --> 00:02:10.230
- - Okay, no, no, it's really good though.
- 00:02:11.290 --> 00:02:13.060
- Many people have not gotten that right.
- 00:02:13.060 --> 00:02:14.090
- My name's Tim.
- 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:15.030
- - I'm Marcus.
- 00:02:15.030 --> 00:02:16.170
- - Do you know where the Declaration of Independence
- 00:02:16.170 --> 00:02:17.140
- was signed?
- 00:02:17.140 --> 00:02:18.200
- - It was signed in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:22.140
- - It's not a bad guess.
- 00:02:22.140 --> 00:02:23.150
- Do you know where that was done?
- 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:25.010
- - No, I don't.
- 00:02:25.010 --> 00:02:26.200
- - I don't know.
- 00:02:26.200 --> 00:02:27.150
- I want to say Delaware.
- 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:28.230
- - It's a really good guess.
- 00:02:28.230 --> 00:02:29.200
- - Hi, I'm Catherine.
- 00:02:29.200 --> 00:02:30.200
- - Nice to meet you.
- 00:02:30.200 --> 00:02:31.160
- - Oh goodness.
- 00:02:31.160 --> 00:02:32.220
- No.
- 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:35.240
- - Okay, it's okay.
- 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:37.010
- Do you know where the Declaration was signed?
- 00:02:37.010 --> 00:02:39.230
- - I do, Pennsylvania.
- 00:02:39.230 --> 00:02:42.080
- Yes, Philadelphia.
- 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:43.090
- Okay, yeah, very good.
- 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:44.260
- - Tom Mullen.
- 00:02:44.260 --> 00:02:45.240
- - Hey Tom, nice to meet you.
- 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:46.220
- - Oh that's a really tough one.
- 00:02:46.220 --> 00:02:48.080
- So if it wasn't in Quincy, it had to be Philadelphia.
- 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.270
- - That's exactly right, Philadelphia.
- 00:02:50.270 --> 00:02:52.240
- - It was signed in Philadelphia.
- 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:54.120
- - Yes, do you know where in Philadelphia?
- 00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:57.120
- - Constitution Hall?
- 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:58.280
- - Okay, actually it was in that building right there.
- 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:00.270
- - Oh okay, this building right here.
- 00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:02.180
- - But you haven't been there yet right?
- 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:03.170
- - Right.
- 00:03:03.170 --> 00:03:04.160
- - So you're from out of town.
- 00:03:04.160 --> 00:03:05.080
- - Right.
- 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:06.070
- - You didn't know that yet.
- 00:03:06.070 --> 00:03:06.280
- - Okay.
- 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:08.130
- - So when you visit that you would get that right next time.
- 00:03:08.130 --> 00:03:10.020
- So it's apparent, there's a lot of things we don't know
- 00:03:10.020 --> 00:03:12.020
- about the signers of the Declaration
- 00:03:12.020 --> 00:03:13.210
- and a lot of things we need to learn.
- 00:03:13.210 --> 00:03:15.070
- So, there's a lot of ground we're going to cover today.
- 00:03:15.070 --> 00:03:16.280
- My dad's going one direction.
- 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.060
- I'm going another.
- 00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:19.040
- We literally are covering ground
- 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:20.200
- trying to learn and uncover some of these stories.
- 00:03:20.200 --> 00:03:23.100
- Join us today as we discover
- 00:03:23.100 --> 00:03:24.190
- this an American hidden history.
- 00:03:24.190 --> 00:03:26.000
- (drum music)
- 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.120
- - Just around the corner from Independence Hall
- 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.230
- is a small structure known as Carpenters Hall.
- 00:03:36.230 --> 00:03:39.140
- Carpenter's Hall is right behind me,
- 00:03:39.140 --> 00:03:41.110
- and this is where the founding fathers
- 00:03:41.110 --> 00:03:42.250
- first got together two years before
- 00:03:42.250 --> 00:03:44.270
- they signed the Declaration of Independence.
- 00:03:44.270 --> 00:03:47.030
- They met here at Carpenter's Hall
- 00:03:47.030 --> 00:03:48.180
- and they said, "All right, what are we going to do
- 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:49.290
- "with 13 colonies.
- 00:03:49.290 --> 00:03:51.080
- "We've been separate states.
- 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:52.210
- "How do we join together?
- 00:03:52.210 --> 00:03:53.290
- "How do we respond to Great Britain."
- 00:03:53.290 --> 00:03:55.220
- And so as they convened to do that
- 00:03:55.220 --> 00:03:57.200
- this was new for them because the guys from Georgia
- 00:03:57.200 --> 00:03:59.250
- had never met the guys from Pennsylvania,
- 00:03:59.250 --> 00:04:01.230
- and the guys from Massachusetts
- 00:04:01.230 --> 00:04:03.070
- didn't now the guys from Virginia.
- 00:04:03.070 --> 00:04:04.230
- I mean this is the first time they get together
- 00:04:04.230 --> 00:04:06.130
- so they started the meeting, they opened it up,
- 00:04:06.130 --> 00:04:08.130
- they convened make sure they had all the people they needed.
- 00:04:08.130 --> 00:04:11.040
- And one of the very first acts they did
- 00:04:11.040 --> 00:04:12.210
- was they opened with prayer.
- 00:04:12.210 --> 00:04:14.180
- But it's not the dinky little prayer
- 00:04:14.180 --> 00:04:16.030
- like we would use at a city council meeting,
- 00:04:16.030 --> 00:04:18.050
- this was serious stuff.
- 00:04:18.050 --> 00:04:19.200
- They went right around the corner to Christ Church
- 00:04:19.200 --> 00:04:21.230
- and got the Reverend Jacob Duché to come pray
- 00:04:21.230 --> 00:04:24.180
- and according to historical records
- 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:26.070
- it looks like that opening prayer session
- 00:04:26.070 --> 00:04:27.290
- ran for about two hours.
- 00:04:27.290 --> 00:04:29.240
- But they didn't just pray.
- 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:31.070
- When you look at the writings of those who were there
- 00:04:31.070 --> 00:04:32.240
- like John Adams who wrote his wife Abigail.
- 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.160
- He said that they also studied
- 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:37.020
- four chapters of the bible the morning,
- 00:04:37.020 --> 00:04:38.250
- and that God so spoke to them out of one of those chapters,
- 00:04:38.250 --> 00:04:41.200
- out of Psalm 35 and changed their whole attitude
- 00:04:41.200 --> 00:04:44.080
- on what might occur.
- 00:04:44.080 --> 00:04:45.200
- So this is the starting place
- 00:04:45.200 --> 00:04:47.050
- of what two years later led to
- 00:04:47.050 --> 00:04:48.280
- the Declaration of Independence.
- 00:04:48.280 --> 00:04:50.150
- And it starts with a strong active prayer and faith.
- 00:04:50.150 --> 00:04:53.210
- (drum music)
- 00:04:53.210 --> 00:04:56.040
- - Aaron.
- 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:03.040
- - Aaron, hey nice to meet you.
- 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:03.280
- What was your name?
- 00:05:03.280 --> 00:05:04.210
- - Alexis.
- 00:05:04.210 --> 00:05:05.280
- - Alexis, okay, thank you guys for doing this.
- 00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:06.260
- Do you all know people signed
- 00:05:06.260 --> 00:05:08.090
- the Declaration of Independence?
- 00:05:08.090 --> 00:05:09.270
- - 22?
- 00:05:13.150 --> 00:05:14.250
- - It's a little more.
- 00:05:14.250 --> 00:05:16.090
- Do you know how many people signed the Declaration?
- 00:05:16.090 --> 00:05:18.210
- - No.
- 00:05:19.230 --> 00:05:21.060
- - Do you know how many people signed the Declaration?
- 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:22.230
- - I'm going to guess five.
- 00:05:24.250 --> 00:05:26.050
- - 13?
- 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.100
- - 13?
- 00:05:30.100 --> 00:05:31.080
- - There were 13 colonies,
- 00:05:31.080 --> 00:05:32.270
- but every colony sent people to sign it.
- 00:05:32.270 --> 00:05:34.270
- - 12.
- 00:05:37.250 --> 00:05:38.240
- - Several. - Yeah.
- 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.050
- - I think a dozen, I'm not sure.
- 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:43.210
- - Under 20.
- 00:05:43.210 --> 00:05:44.280
- - Okay, that's a good one.
- 00:05:44.280 --> 00:05:46.240
- Probably close to 60.
- 00:05:51.070 --> 00:05:52.280
- - 50.
- 00:05:52.280 --> 00:05:53.230
- - No, how about, can I guess.
- 00:05:56.170 --> 00:05:58.190
- - Absolutely.
- 00:05:58.190 --> 00:05:59.150
- - 54.
- 00:06:00.270 --> 00:06:01.240
- - You are so close.
- 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:03.080
- Do you know how many people signed the Declaration?
- 00:06:03.080 --> 00:06:06.000
- - It seems like 56 people.
- 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.020
- - Now, we also should probably point out where are you from?
- 00:06:08.020 --> 00:06:11.000
- - I'm from Russia.
- 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:12.060
- - From Russia, and you already know more
- 00:06:12.060 --> 00:06:14.070
- than most Americans do, that's great.
- 00:06:14.070 --> 00:06:16.010
- (drum music)
- 00:06:16.010 --> 00:06:18.140
- - We talked earlier about Carpenter Hall,
- 00:06:25.250 --> 00:06:27.170
- and that Carpenter Hall we mentioned that
- 00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:29.020
- they opened that original session of Congress with prayer.
- 00:06:29.020 --> 00:06:32.040
- And they did so with the Reverend Jacob Duche
- 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:34.020
- of Christ Church coming over to pray.
- 00:06:34.020 --> 00:06:36.140
- Christ Church is where so many
- 00:06:36.140 --> 00:06:37.180
- of the founding fathers attended church.
- 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:39.160
- As a mater of fact, seven signers of the Declaration
- 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:41.200
- are buried here at Christ Church.
- 00:06:41.200 --> 00:06:43.250
- And one of those signers is Francis Hopkinson,
- 00:06:43.250 --> 00:06:46.040
- a signer of the Declaration from New Jersey.
- 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:48.120
- Francis, in addition to designing an early American flag
- 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:51.080
- that didn't catch on,
- 00:06:51.080 --> 00:06:52.220
- he also was a federal judge appointed by George Washington.
- 00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:55.180
- And on top of that he's a church music director,
- 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:57.270
- he's a choir leader,
- 00:06:57.270 --> 00:06:59.040
- he played the organ here at Christ Church.
- 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.050
- And this is actually a hymn book that he did.
- 00:07:01.050 --> 00:07:03.040
- It's the first hymn book in American history
- 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.040
- to have musical notation in it.
- 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.020
- It's the Book of Psalms.
- 00:07:07.020 --> 00:07:08.080
- He set the entire Book of Psalms to music
- 00:07:08.080 --> 00:07:10.100
- and this is the product of a signer of the Declaration
- 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:12.180
- who was a strong patriot and a strong Christian.
- 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:15.160
- (drum music)
- 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:17.280
- - Do you know the difference between
- 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:25.110
- the Declaration and the Constitution?
- 00:07:25.110 --> 00:07:26.290
- - The Declaration and the Constitution,
- 00:07:26.290 --> 00:07:28.240
- I have no clue.
- 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:29.290
- - What's the difference between
- 00:07:29.290 --> 00:07:31.060
- the Declaration and the Constitution?
- 00:07:31.060 --> 00:07:34.070
- - Um?
- 00:07:34.070 --> 00:07:35.020
- - What's the difference between
- 00:07:39.210 --> 00:07:41.060
- the Declaration and the Constitution?
- 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:43.160
- - Well isn't the Declaration about life, liberty and.
- 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:48.150
- - What's the different between
- 00:07:49.270 --> 00:07:51.040
- the Declaration and the Constitution?
- 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:52.290
- - Well one was, the Constitution
- 00:07:56.090 --> 00:08:00.200
- was our own statehood
- 00:08:02.290 --> 00:08:04.030
- when we separated from England.
- 00:08:04.030 --> 00:08:06.090
- And the other one was.
- 00:08:06.090 --> 00:08:07.150
- - What's the difference between
- 00:08:10.170 --> 00:08:11.240
- the Declaration and the Constitution?
- 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.060
- - I mean I know the Constitution has certain
- 00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:18.110
- I guess way of life.
- 00:08:18.110 --> 00:08:19.190
- - Well the Declaration came before the Constitution.
- 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:24.050
- - Absolutely.
- 00:08:24.050 --> 00:08:25.120
- - I know that, it was signed before that.
- 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.140
- The Constitution was just the official,
- 00:08:27.140 --> 00:08:32.120
- it seemed like the Declaration was the rough draft.
- 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:35.060
- - What's the difference between
- 00:08:35.060 --> 00:08:36.130
- the Declaration and the Constitution?
- 00:08:36.130 --> 00:08:37.240
- - Well the Declaration of Independence,
- 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.100
- we came independent from Great Britain.
- 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:43.110
- - Yes.
- 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:44.260
- - The Constitution is more of once we were independent
- 00:08:44.260 --> 00:08:47.260
- like what our rules and regulations or goals were, I guess.
- 00:08:47.260 --> 00:08:51.280
- - Absolutely, this was how we were
- 00:08:51.280 --> 00:08:52.280
- going to operate as a government.
- 00:08:52.280 --> 00:08:54.060
- - Okay. - Okay, perfect.
- 00:08:54.060 --> 00:08:55.140
- (dramatic music)
- 00:08:55.140 --> 00:08:58.060
- (drum music)
- 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.020
- - We're in Virginia, which is were the final battle
- 00:09:12.040 --> 00:09:14.200
- of the American Revolution took place.
- 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:16.100
- And this is the home of signer of the Declaration,
- 00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:18.260
- Thomas Nelson Jr., who was key in that final battle
- 00:09:18.260 --> 00:09:22.230
- and winning American independence.
- 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:24.160
- He was actually one of
- 00:09:24.160 --> 00:09:25.240
- the younger signers of the Declaration,
- 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:27.090
- about 38 years old when he signed the Declaration.
- 00:09:27.090 --> 00:09:29.290
- But he was a very wealthy man.
- 00:09:29.290 --> 00:09:31.170
- I mean this is a very elegant house
- 00:09:31.170 --> 00:09:33.050
- for that period of time.
- 00:09:33.050 --> 00:09:34.160
- And he was willing to use his wealth
- 00:09:34.160 --> 00:09:37.090
- to help advance American independence.
- 00:09:37.090 --> 00:09:39.020
- And it really cost him a lot of his fortune.
- 00:09:39.020 --> 00:09:41.020
- Interestingly in the early part of the Revolution,
- 00:09:41.020 --> 00:09:43.120
- the British fleet is coming up the Chesapeake,
- 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.090
- and that's real close here.
- 00:09:45.090 --> 00:09:46.270
- And they thought well they're going to attack Virginia.
- 00:09:46.270 --> 00:09:49.060
- Well what happened the fleet went up to Philadelphia.
- 00:09:49.060 --> 00:09:51.150
- So the first part of the Revolution
- 00:09:51.150 --> 00:09:52.260
- was really in the Northern states.
- 00:09:52.260 --> 00:09:54.160
- But by the later part of the Revolution
- 00:09:54.160 --> 00:09:56.060
- the British Army is coming here toward Yorktown,
- 00:09:56.060 --> 00:09:59.070
- and at the same time the American general
- 00:09:59.070 --> 00:10:02.080
- who became a trader, Benedict Arnold,
- 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:04.040
- he has now switched over to the British,
- 00:10:04.040 --> 00:10:05.220
- he's got a fleet of ships and they're coming
- 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:08.000
- up from the other direction.
- 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.100
- So you've got all of the British forces
- 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:11.190
- amassing here at Virginia.
- 00:10:11.190 --> 00:10:13.210
- And as that's happening the call goes out
- 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:16.040
- that we need help, we need military,
- 00:10:16.040 --> 00:10:17.290
- we need troops, we don't have enough
- 00:10:17.290 --> 00:10:19.140
- in the Continental Army.
- 00:10:19.140 --> 00:10:20.220
- You got to remember that at the time of
- 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:22.070
- The American Revolution, when you have all these Americans
- 00:10:22.070 --> 00:10:24.150
- say, "Hey, let's take on the British."
- 00:10:24.150 --> 00:10:26.140
- And the British are the greatest power in the world,
- 00:10:26.140 --> 00:10:28.200
- nobody thought they could win.
- 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:30.000
- I mean we didn't have our own military.
- 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.200
- We had a bunch of farmers and shop keepers
- 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.180
- and store owners and we'll grab out squirrel guns
- 00:10:33.180 --> 00:10:36.000
- and do what we can,
- 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.050
- but nobody thought they were going to win.
- 00:10:37.050 --> 00:10:38.180
- So nobody loaned them any money,
- 00:10:38.180 --> 00:10:40.060
- and so as they're running short of troops and supplies
- 00:10:40.060 --> 00:10:42.210
- one of the calls go out from the Continental Congress
- 00:10:42.210 --> 00:10:44.220
- that says, "We're asking young men across the colonies,
- 00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:48.140
- "young men who have any kind of wealth or fortune
- 00:10:48.140 --> 00:10:50.200
- "to start being banker."
- 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:52.070
- And bank rolling some groups of artillery
- 00:10:52.070 --> 00:10:55.010
- and groups of calvary etc.
- 00:10:55.010 --> 00:10:57.130
- So what young Thomas Nelson did
- 00:10:57.130 --> 00:10:59.220
- was he got here in Virginia
- 00:10:59.220 --> 00:11:01.030
- and got a bunch of young men together
- 00:11:01.030 --> 00:11:02.170
- and they brought their horses
- 00:11:02.170 --> 00:11:04.030
- and he bankrolled the entire regiment of calvary here.
- 00:11:04.030 --> 00:11:06.260
- Came out of his pocket.
- 00:11:06.260 --> 00:11:08.110
- 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