America's Hidden History | Muhlenbergs
October 31, 2019
27:33
America's Hidden History
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America's Hidden History | Muhlenbergs
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- (dramatic music)
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- - [Narrator] Modern historians have revised, re-written,
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- and even deleted entire chapters of American history.
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- So what are we missing?
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- What happened to the history that didn't make the books?
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- Join Historian David Barton, Tim Barton,
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- and special guests as they uncover the facts
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- some historians don't want you to know.
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- This is America's Hidden History.
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- (intense music)
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- - We're in Woodstock, Virginia,
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- here to tell a story of two brothers,
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- John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg
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- and Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg.
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- Now, we're standing by the statue
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- of John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg,
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- and just looking at the statue,
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- looks like maybe he's wearing a military uniform.
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- Well, he was a military officer in the American Revolution.
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- However, he was much more than just
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- an officer in the revolution,
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- he was actually also a minister as was his brother
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- but that's only kind of the middle of the story.
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- - They come from a family of Lutherans,
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- in fact, their father's considered to be the founder
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- of the Lutheran Church in America.
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- And so the boys were raised as Lutherans,
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- and most of the Lutherans in America at that time
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- were German-speaking as was the family.
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- And so the father says we want to send you
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- to Germany to get a good education.
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- Now, Peter actually had had some education
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- at the University of Pennsylvania,
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- what they called the College of Philadelphia at the time,
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- so he's got some education
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- and then his dad sent him to Germany
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- and they started getting a German education.
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- - Yeah, actually the dad sends all three sons,
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- all three brothers over,
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- so Frederick, John Peter, and Henry all go overseas,
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- they're all getting a German education
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- but John Peter really didn't like education,
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- he didn't really like school,
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- he actually drops out of school,
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- he gets a job working over there
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- and really didn't like his job very much either, apparently.
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- He really just wanted to be
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- in the military was what he wanted
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- because he left his job and joined the German dragoons.
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- And what he did was learn to be a soldier
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- with these German dragoons, he did the drills with them,
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- and so when he finally leaves Germany,
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- he comes back to America,
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- his heart really is still to be a soldier,
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- although his father's a minister
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- and he starts working for his father at his father's church.
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- He does become an ordained Lutheran minister and starts
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- serving in Pennsylvania as a pastor of a church.
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- After serving at his father's church,
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- he's now a pastor and then,
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- here in Woodstock, Virginia, they need a pastor,
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- and so they call on John Peter
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- to come be a pastor here in Woodstock.
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- - And a lot of Woodstock at the time
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- was a German-speaking community,
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- so it makes sense to have a German-speaking pastor
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- and they were Lutherans here and so he came here
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- for that congregation, to minister to that congregation
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- but when you get here, you find out that Virginia
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- is a state that has a state established religion,
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- it is the Anglican religion
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- and therefore in the state of Virginia,
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- you can't do marriages, you can't do official funerals
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- and burials, you can't have anything on record
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- unless you're the Anglican minister doing that,
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- well, he's a Lutheran minister,
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- So in 1772, he goes to England and becomes ordained
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- so he ends up with two congregations.
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- He's a pastor of a German speaking Lutheran congregation,
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- but he's also the pastor of an English speaking
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- Anglican congregation.
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- - And as pastor of a church he was
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- a very influential citizen as well.
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- In those days, pastors were often looked to
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- as the ones who had the answers,
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- in fact you had to be fairly well educated to be a pastor.
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- There's records from early America when to be a doctor,
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- you went to school for three years
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- but to be a minister, you might go to school
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- for seven years, so they were very well educated people.
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- When their community is looking for someone
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- to be even a political leader,
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- John Peter Muhlenburg was the name that came to their mind
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- and so he goes to Williamsburg
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- to represent the people here of Shenandoah.
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- (dramatic music)
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- (intense music)
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- - Pastor John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg
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- is in charge of two churches there in Woodstock.
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- The community elects him to be a member
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- of the state legislature and the state legislature
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- meets here at the state capital in Williamsburg.
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- So, he comes here for legislative sessions
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- and that should be a good thing
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- except he's a patriot and the governor is a loyalist.
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- And the governor doesn't like what the patriots are doing
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- so from time to time the governor
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- just shuts down the legislature, sends them all home.
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- Well, they're not going home, they've been elected to serve
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- and so sometimes they meet in Williamsburg,
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- sometimes they have to find other places to meet.
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- And as a matter of fact the legislative session
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- that happened in December 1775 through January of of 1776,
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- they met in Williamsburg but it wasn't at the capital.
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- But they're here and at that point in time
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- there's a lot happening across America.
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- I mean, here in town, Patrick Henry's had
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- to confront the governor
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- because the governor's gone to the magazine
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- and taken the powder round.
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- - Yeah, the British have already come
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- and tried to get the military arms, the powder,
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- anything that can be used to oppose
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- what the king was doing in the British
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- but you can back up to Lexington Green
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- where the shot heard around the world happened
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- and that happened in front
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- of the Reverend Jonas Clarke's church
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- and so you have already Lexington Green
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- the same day the British march on Concord
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- trying to take the military guys from Concord.
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- - Yeah, that's up in Massachusetts
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- and even though it's away from here,
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- they've heard about it down here.
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- They see stuff going on all over America.
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- - So, you've already had several conflicts
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- so there's already a lot of tension that's building here
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- in America and so as now you're having the governor
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- opposing what's going on and then they try
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- to seize the military's supplies here in Williamsburg.
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- Patrick Henry's going okay, we've had enough,
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- we're not doing this anymore.
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- Well, John Peter gets fired up too.
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- - He does and he decides, his church needs to know
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- what's happening so at the end of the legislative session,
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- he goes out, crawls on his horse, rides back to Woodstock
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- which is about 200 miles from here
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- which is maybe up to a week in the saddle
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- but he wants to go back and let his church know
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- exactly what the situation is,
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- not only in Virginia but also across America.
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- (dramatic music)
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- (intense music)
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- - So, after John Peter gets on his horse,
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- rides back to the community of Woodstock,
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- that's where he's from and he comes back here
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- to his church, now this is not his original church
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- but his original church was here.
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- This is the rebuilt one, so he gets back here
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- to the community in time to preach a sermon
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- on January the 21st, 1776.
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- That day he mounted the pulpit
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- and colonial churches back then
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- had an elevated pulpit that was kind of the PA system.
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- So, he's in the pulpit and like all ministers back then
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- he's wearing his clerical robes.
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- So, he's standing there in the pulpit
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- in front of the congregation, he has his Bible open
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- and he chooses to preach out of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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- Now that's the passage that says through everything
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- there's a time and a purpose and a season.
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- When he got to verse eight, it says there's a time of peace
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- and there's a time of war.
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- He closed his Bible, he looked up he said,
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- brethren, you know what's going on,
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- you know it's happening here in Virginia,
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- you've heard about what's happening up in Massachusetts.
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- He said, this is no longer the time of the peace,
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- this is now the time of war,
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- He starts undressing right there in front
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- of the congregation and when he gets that robe undone,
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- he jerks it open and underneath he's
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- wearing the full dress uniform of a colonel
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- in the Continental Army.
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- He now dismounts the pulpit and he walked down the isle
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- of the church preaching as he went.
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- He said, brethren, we came here to practice our liberties
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- and if we don't get involved, we won't have
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- any liberties left to practice.
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- He says now who's going with me to defend our liberties?
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- More than 160 men got up from the congregation,
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- met him at the back door.
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- By the next day it had swelled to over 300 men.
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- - Yeah and this wasn't something that maybe was flippant
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- that this pastor had this emotional moment
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- and he's charged and we're gonna do something,
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- he actually received a letter several weeks before
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- from George Washington where Washington said,
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- John Peter we really need some help,
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- would you raise a regiment?
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- Now, John Peter also had seen what happened in Williamsburg.
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- He seen what the British had done
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- so he probably is very passionate,
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- he's very motivated but he's also responding to
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- who was the Commander-in-Chief, George Washington,
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- the leader of the military.
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- So, John Peter does get involved,
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- he leads the men from his congregation
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- from the community and there on there
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- from the revolution from 1776 when he begins
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- all the way to 1783 when the peace treaty
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- is signed in the revolution.
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- And they go through all kinds of hardship,
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- they endure all kinds of persecution
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- and the persecution wasn't just from having
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- to fight the British, there were actually locals
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- who did not appreciate what they were doing,
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- didn't support what they're doing.
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- In fact, John Peter's brother Fredrick didn't even support
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- what he was doing.
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- - Frederick was a pastor in New York City
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- at the same time John Peter was pastoring here.
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- And when Frederick in New York heard what happened here
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- he wrote a scathing letter to his brother, John.
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- He said John, this is wrong, you're a pastor,
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- you're not a soldier.
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- You choose one or the other, you can't do both.
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- And that starts a series of letters
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- that go back and forth and back and forth
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- and so John replies and said wait a minute,
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- I am a pastor but I can be a soldier too
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- because I've got duties to God and to my country.
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- At times it gets pretty testy.
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- - Yeah, now Frederick actually did say
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- that he was a patriot.
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- He said I support the American cause,
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- I just don't think you should do that from the pulpit.
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- He says pastors should not be patriotic in that regard.
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- Pastors need to just preach the word of God,
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- they shouldn't be getting involved
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- in what's happening around them.
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- Well, he felt that way until the following year
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- when the British get to New York.
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- Now what the British understood is a lot of times
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- in these, especially, small communities,
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- the pastors are the ones stirring up the people's actions.
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- So, it was not unusual when the British would go to a town,
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- for the British to actually destroy the church.
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- Now maybe they desecrated, maybe they burned it
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- but they would do something to the church
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- to send a message maybe to the pastor,
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- maybe to the community that you should not oppose,
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- the British don't oppose the crown.
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- Well, when the British are coming to New York,
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- Fredrick senses there might be some danger.
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- He sends his wife and kids away,
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- he says it's better for you not to be here right now
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- but he stays.
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- Well, as the British arrives, he senses it's not safe
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- for me to be here anymore either, so Frederick leaves
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- but when the British get to New York
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- there were 19 churches in New York City at the time,
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- they burned 10 to the ground and the other nine
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- apparently they destroyed on some level, some capacity.
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- So, Frederick realizes his church has been destroyed
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- and at this point he has this epiphany
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- of maybe my brother was right.
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- Maybe pastors can be patriots too,
- 00:10:13.070 --> 00:10:15.110
- maybe they could take action more than just tell people
- 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:18.060
- that God loves them, maybe they can get involved
- 00:10:18.060 --> 00:10:20.090
- in the community and culture around them
- 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:22.020
- and especially against tyranny.
- 00:10:22.020 --> 00:10:23.250
- So Frederick does get involved,
- 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:25.030
- it actually becomes a state legislator
- 00:10:25.030 --> 00:10:26.190
- and then becomes apart a Continental Congress
- 00:10:26.190 --> 00:10:28.240
- and so this is kind of the beginning
- 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:30.020
- of Fredrick's political career.
- 00:10:30.020 --> 00:10:31.230
- (dramatic music)
- 00:10:31.230 --> 00:10:34.160
- (intense music)
- 00:10:36.290 --> 00:10:39.190
- We're at Valley Forge which is where the Americans
- 00:10:45.150 --> 00:10:47.170
- spent the very tough winter of 1777 to 1778.
- 00:10:47.170 --> 00:10:50.270
- Valley Forge is a very notable winter.
- 00:10:50.270 --> 00:10:53.130
- Most history books reference it and talk about it.
- 00:10:53.130 --> 00:10:55.120
- You notice that we are standing beside barracks.
- 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.240
- This is exactly what they would have looked like
- 00:10:57.240 --> 00:10:59.270
- at that time frame, in fact, John Peter Muhlenberg,
- 00:10:59.270 --> 00:11:02.070
- his men would have built barracks
- 00:11:02.070 --> 00:11:03.200
- just like this during the revolution.
- 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.240
- In the winter at Valley Forge was noted
- 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:08.210
- as a very difficult winter, not because the winter
- 00:11:08.210 --> 00:11:10.290
- was necessarily colder than normal.
- 00:11:10.290 --> 00:11:12.170
- Just because the conditions the men had to go through
- 00:11:12.170 --> 00:11:15.090
- were so difficult.
- 00:11:15.090 --> 00:11:16.160
- - Yeah when the men arrived here,
- 00:11:16.160 --> 00:11:17.250
- there was really nothing here.
- 00:11:17.250 --> 00:11:19.030
- There was a little village close by
- 00:11:19.030 --> 00:11:21.090
- but the British had gone into Philadelphia.
- 00:11:21.090 --> 00:11:23.110
- They intended to capture Philadelphia,
- 00:11:23.110 --> 00:11:24.260
- which they did but they hoped to capture Congress as well.
- 00:11:24.260 --> 00:11:27.040
- Because in European warfare,
- 00:11:27.040 --> 00:11:28.240
- if you can capture the enemy's capital,
- 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.200
- then you win the war.
- 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:32.050
- The American Army stops here and Washington stops here
- 00:11:32.050 --> 00:11:34.240
- because it's high, it's elevated, you can defend this.
- 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:37.030
- It's within a days march of Philadelphia.
- 00:11:37.030 --> 00:11:39.050
- So this is where General Muhlenberg would have been.
- 00:11:39.050 --> 00:11:41.150
- These are the Muhlenberg barracks.
- 00:11:41.150 --> 00:11:42.260
- This is where his guys would have been.
- 00:11:42.260 --> 00:11:44.090
- The Virginia line was here.
- 00:11:44.090 --> 00:11:45.260
- But while they were here, things began to change.
- 00:11:45.260 --> 00:11:48.080
- Baron Von Steuben came in and he really
- 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:50.240
- helped the Continental Army with discipline.
- 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.240
- And he took 100 guys and started drilling them
- 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.070
- in European style discipline.
- 00:11:55.070 --> 00:11:56.280
- 'Cause we got a bunch of farmers and school teachers
- 00:11:56.280 --> 00:11:59.010
- and shopkeepers trying to take on the British.
- 00:11:59.010 --> 00:12:00.280
- Shortly after that you
- 00:12:00.280 --> 00:12:02.120
- have the young French General Marquis De Lafayette
- 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:04.160
- who arrives and he's a real boost to these guys.
- 00:12:04.160 --> 00:12:07.030
- As matter of fact before they left Valley Forge
- 00:12:07.030 --> 00:12:08.270
- they got word that France had joined us as an ally.
- 00:12:08.270 --> 00:12:11.270
- So, what happened was coming into Valley Forge
- 00:12:11.270 --> 00:12:15.100
- they had had a measurable year,
- 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:16.230
- they're losing battles like crazy.
- 00:12:16.230 --> 00:12:18.170
- They get into this training that happens here
- 00:12:18.170 --> 00:12:21.130
- and when they leave Valley Forge
- 00:12:21.130 --> 00:12:22.280
- over the next year suddenly they're almost on equal footing
- 00:12:22.280 --> 00:12:25.190
- with the British but they're able to compete
- 00:12:25.190 --> 00:12:27.160
- with these professional soldiers at a real different level.
- 00:12:27.160 --> 00:12:30.060
- And based on the training that the soldiers received
- 00:12:30.060 --> 00:12:33.080
- during the time here at Valley Forge,
- 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.020
- the Continental Army goes on to be a formidable force,
- 00:12:35.020 --> 00:12:38.010
- battle after battle after battle, they go forward
- 00:12:38.010 --> 00:12:40.210
- and General Muhlenberg actually ends up
- 00:12:40.210 --> 00:12:42.100
- in the final major battle of the American Revolution,
- 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:44.280
- the Battle of Yorktown.
- 00:12:44.280 --> 00:12:45.270
- (dramatic music)
- 00:12:45.270 --> 00:12:48.200
- (intense music)
- 00:12:51.150 --> 00:12:54.050
- - We're in Yorktown Virginia, where the last major battle
- 00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:02.180
- of the American Revolution was fought,
- 00:13:02.180 --> 00:13:04.040
- the Battle of Yorktown and this is actually a place
- 00:13:04.040 --> 00:13:06.090
- where John Peter Muhlenberg took part in the action.
- 00:13:06.090 --> 00:13:09.090
- As Cornwallis recognized that the American,
- 00:13:09.090 --> 00:13:11.030
- the French forces were coming down on him,
- 00:13:11.030 --> 00:13:13.020
- he said, I don't want them
- 00:13:13.020 --> 00:13:14.080
- to get to Yorktown, I'm in trouble.
- 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:15.150
- Let's put small forts around Yorktown
- 00:13:15.150 --> 00:13:18.030
- and these small forts can try to hold them off
- 00:13:18.030 --> 00:13:20.050
- before they get here and they were known as redoubts.
- 00:13:20.050 --> 00:13:22.100
- This is readout number nine, readout number 10
- 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:24.120
- is just over the hill, so we're standing kind of
- 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.160
- in the middle of some of these small forts.
- 00:13:26.160 --> 00:13:28.050
- You go in through the side they would have spikes
- 00:13:28.050 --> 00:13:29.220
- on the edge maybe to stop the advance and charge
- 00:13:29.220 --> 00:13:31.230
- of a troop.
- 00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:33.080
- And so what the Americans recognize is in order for us
- 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:34.250
- to get close enough to Yorktown,
- 00:13:34.250 --> 00:13:36.180
- to really put a siege like we wanna put a siege on Yorktown,
- 00:13:36.180 --> 00:13:39.110
- to really try to bottle up and cause Cornwallis,
- 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:42.190
- ultimately to be defeated or surrender,
- 00:13:42.190 --> 00:13:44.130
- they said we need to get closer.
- 00:13:44.130 --> 00:13:45.270
- These are the ones that are on the far outside edge,
- 00:13:45.270 --> 00:13:48.010
- number nine and number 10, 10 is closest to the water
- 00:13:48.010 --> 00:13:50.210
- and so they came up with a plan
- 00:13:50.210 --> 00:13:52.170
- that they're gonna come at night,
- 00:13:52.170 --> 00:13:53.230
- kind of like a Navy SEAL operation,
- 00:13:53.230 --> 00:13:56.230
- where they're gonna do this invasion.
- 00:13:56.230 --> 00:13:58.020
- And so 400 Americans came
- 00:13:58.020 --> 00:13:59.230
- and they went after readout number 10,
- 00:13:59.230 --> 00:14:01.290
- 400 French came and they came after readout number nine,
- 00:14:01.290 --> 00:14:04.020
- they were able to capture both of those.
- 00:14:04.020 --> 00:14:05.170
- Now, John Peter Muhlenberg was part of the American forces
- 00:14:05.170 --> 00:14:08.180
- that captured readout number 10 just over the hill,
- 00:14:08.180 --> 00:14:10.260
- so he was responsible or partly responsible
- 00:14:10.260 --> 00:14:13.100
- with the guys that actually captured and did that
- 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:15.220
- and was on General Lafayette's staff
- 00:14:15.220 --> 00:14:17.280
- and so he was assigned a brigade as the Siege of Yorktown
- 00:14:17.280 --> 00:14:22.110
- is taking place and this ended up being a pretty long
- 00:14:22.110 --> 00:14:24.270
- but significant siege and battle.
- 00:14:24.270 --> 00:14:26.210
- - Once they take these redoubts it enabled them
- 00:14:26.210 --> 00:14:28.280
- to their cannons up and now they can shell the British
- 00:14:28.280 --> 00:14:32.070
- and so they kind of did this little leap frog thing
- 00:14:32.070 --> 00:14:34.090
- across the way and really they did a great job
- 00:14:34.090 --> 00:14:37.150
- but they had a lot of help winning this?
- 00:14:37.150 --> 00:14:39.130
- There's a lot of providential intervention
- 00:14:39.130 --> 00:14:41.080
- that came into this.
- 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:42.220
- - Yeah, so it was interesting is Cornwallis recognizing
- 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:44.080
- that he's getting bottled up, recognizes the French
- 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.130
- and the American forces are closing in.
- 00:14:46.130 --> 00:14:48.090
- He actually sends a message up to New York
- 00:14:48.090 --> 00:14:50.170
- which is where the Royal fleet was,
- 00:14:50.170 --> 00:14:52.060
- the British fleet says I need ships down here,
- 00:14:52.060 --> 00:14:54.160
- otherwise, if the French get here they're going to
- 00:14:54.160 --> 00:14:56.170
- block the harbor then I'm totally surrounded
- 00:14:56.170 --> 00:14:58.130
- and as they're looking to move the British fleet down
- 00:14:58.130 --> 00:15:02.070
- there's what we would know as providential weather
- 00:15:02.070 --> 00:15:04.220
- whereas they're trying to sail south,
- 00:15:04.220 --> 00:15:07.000
- the wind is blowing them north,
- 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:08.130
- they're not able to come down in a timely manner.
- 00:15:08.130 --> 00:15:10.180
- The French on the other hand are able to come in
- 00:15:10.180 --> 00:15:12.270
- and bottle this thing up and actually
- 00:15:12.270 --> 00:15:14.220
- as Cornwallis realizes he's getting bottled up
- 00:15:14.220 --> 00:15:16.180
- he says okay I need to get off the edge of this peninsula,
- 00:15:16.180 --> 00:15:18.130
- let me get across the water to the other side
- 00:15:18.130 --> 00:15:20.220
- of this land and then we can kind of escape
- 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:22.170
- and maybe survive and then this huge storm comes in,
- 00:15:22.170 --> 00:15:25.080
- huge waves, turning these little ships over.
- 00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:27.060
- So, he calls off the evacuation but when he calls it off,
- 00:15:27.060 --> 00:15:30.130
- about half his men have now left the fort
- 00:15:30.130 --> 00:15:33.030
- and they're on the other side.
- 00:15:33.030 --> 00:15:34.120
- So now his forces are cut in half
- 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.020
- and it doesn't take very long
- 00:15:36.020 --> 00:15:37.170
- before he realizes that we are going to have to surrender.
- 00:15:37.170 --> 00:15:40.040
- We're not gonna be able to make it.
- 00:15:40.040 --> 00:15:41.160
- So, when they decide to surrender
- 00:15:41.160 --> 00:15:42.270
- that they raise the white flag,
- 00:15:42.270 --> 00:15:44.030
- he sends out an officer and a drummer boy,
- 00:15:44.030 --> 00:15:45.200
- they come meet the Americans
- 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.000
- and they're trying to work this out.
- 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:48.150
- Okay, so tomorrow let's have our officers get together
- 00:15:48.150 --> 00:15:51.040
- and let's negotiate the terms of surrender.
- 00:15:51.040 --> 00:15:53.010
- So, the following day, some officers of each side
- 00:15:53.010 --> 00:15:55.170
- met at a house, they began negotiating the terms
- 00:15:55.170 --> 00:15:57.230
- of surrender and the following day the surrender
- 00:15:57.230 --> 00:15:59.190
- was enacted.
- 00:15:59.190 --> 00:16:00.200
- There's a very famous painting
- 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:02.050
- of the surrender of Cornwallis in the U.S. Capitol building
- 00:16:02.050 --> 00:16:05.080
- in the Rotunda and in this the depiction
- 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:07.230
- of Cornwallis surrendering, there's a general
- 00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:10.100
- off to the side who
- 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:11.250
- is General John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg
- 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:14.280
- but the Battle of Yorktown was the last major battle
- 00:16:14.280 --> 00:16:17.070
- and this is where John Peter Muhlenberg
- 00:16:17.070 --> 00:16:19.000
- really saw the last action as an officer
- 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:21.140
- of the American forces.
- 00:16:21.140 --> 00:16:22.120
- (dramatic music)
- 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:25.050
- (dramatic music)
- 00:16:34.270 --> 00:16:37.200
- (intense music)
- 00:16:44.170 --> 00:16:47.070
- We're in New York City standing outside of Federal Hall
- 00:16:51.180 --> 00:16:53.110
- and Federal Hall becomes very significant
- 00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:54.260
- in this story of America really becoming a nation.
- 00:16:54.260 --> 00:16:56.260
- So, 1783 is when the peace treaty is finally negotiated.
- 00:16:56.260 --> 00:16:59.150
- Now, after 1783, it takes a few years
- 00:16:59.150 --> 00:17:02.210
- for the states to figure out what they're gonna do
- 00:17:02.210 --> 00:17:05.110
- to really become a nation.
- 00:17:05.110 --> 00:17:06.260
- So 1797 is when we realize we need a constitution.
- 00:17:06.260 --> 00:17:09.080
- They write the Constitution but one of the provisions
- 00:17:09.080 --> 00:17:11.270
- that many states had before it was ratified,
- 00:17:11.270 --> 00:17:14.090
- before we move on is they said we need a bill of rights.
- 00:17:14.090 --> 00:17:17.040
- And the Bill of Rights
- 00:17:17.040 --> 00:17:18.120
- is what limited the federal government,
- 00:17:18.120 --> 00:17:19.250
- so there's certain things you can never touch.
- 00:17:19.250 --> 00:17:21.250
- You can't touch the freedom of religion
- 00:17:21.250 --> 00:17:23.140
- or the freedom of speech or the press
- 00:17:23.140 --> 00:17:25.130
- or the right of self defense and our private property,
- 00:17:25.130 --> 00:17:27.140
- so it goes through things the government's
- 00:17:27.140 --> 00:17:29.100
- not supposed to mess with.
- 00:17:29.100 --> 00:17:30.170
- Well, as it goes to states to be ratified,
- 00:17:30.170 --> 00:17:33.020
- finally it's ratified, George Washington
- 00:17:33.020 --> 00:17:34.270
- is chosen as president
- 00:17:34.270 --> 00:17:36.090
- and this is where John Peter Muhlenberg
- 00:17:36.090 --> 00:17:38.080
- and Fredrick Augustus Muhlenberg
- 00:17:38.080 --> 00:17:39.160
- kind of enter back into the scene.
- 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:41.020
- - This building is actually the first capital
- 00:17:41.020 --> 00:17:43.070
- of the United States of America,
- 00:17:43.070 --> 00:17:44.200
- long before we went to Washington D.C. we met here.
- 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:47.030
- This is where George Washington was inaugurated.
- 00:17:47.030 --> 00:17:48.280
- This is where the first Senate and the first Congress met
- 00:17:48.280 --> 00:17:51.270
- and among the members of the very first Congress
- 00:17:51.270 --> 00:17:54.260
- who met here were the two Muhlenberg brothers.
- 00:17:54.260 --> 00:17:57.180
- Now when they're here you have the President,
- 00:17:57.180 --> 00:18:00.110
- so that's established, you have the Senate,
- 00:18:00.110 --> 00:18:02.110
- they need a leader, that's going to be the Vice President,
- 00:18:02.110 --> 00:18:04.210
- which is John Adams and the House needs it's own leader
- 00:18:04.210 --> 00:18:08.030
- and they choose Speaker of the House of Representatives.
- 00:18:08.030 --> 00:18:10.160
- And the man they chose was Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg,
- 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.240
- first ever Speaker of the House and he was really qualified
- 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:16.200
- for that, he'd been the Speaker of the House
- 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:18.010
- back in Pennsylvania.
- 00:18:18.010 --> 00:18:19.070
- He actually led the ratification convention
- 00:18:19.070 --> 00:18:21.040
- for Pennsylvania to ratify the Constitution,
- 00:18:21.040 --> 00:18:23.050
- so, he's had that experience.
- 00:18:23.050 --> 00:18:24.270
- Well, he becomes the first Speaker of the House,
- 00:18:24.270 --> 00:18:26.230
- that's a position he actually holds twice
- 00:18:26.230 --> 00:18:28.200
- while George Washington is president
- 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:30.060
- and so one of the first tasks they have to do
- 00:18:30.060 --> 00:18:32.190
- is okay, we've got the message from that the states,
- 00:18:32.190 --> 00:18:34.140
- we've got to have a Bill of Rights, let's get it done.
- 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:37.080
- Well, 200 proposals have come in from the states
- 00:18:37.080 --> 00:18:39.110
- saying hey, these are changes we ought to make
- 00:18:39.110 --> 00:18:41.070
- in the Constitution.
- 00:18:41.070 --> 00:18:42.210
- They take all that, they boil it down to 12 amendments.
- 00:18:42.210 --> 00:18:45.160
- These are the 12 proposed amendments that Congress says
- 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:48.030
- we should give to the states,
- 00:18:48.030 --> 00:18:49.100
- see if they want to protect these rights.
- 00:18:49.100 --> 00:18:51.030
- Of those 12 the states ratified 10 of the 12.
- 00:18:51.030 --> 00:18:54.110
- Those 10 amendments is what is now
- 00:18:54.110 --> 00:18:56.180
- called the Bill of Rights, that is what guarantees
- 00:18:56.180 --> 00:18:59.110
- to us the government is not gonna touch certain
- 00:18:59.110 --> 00:19:01.190
- specific personal rights and at the bottom of that document
- 00:19:01.190 --> 00:19:05.070
- when they get it all done and it's all ratified
- 00:19:05.070 --> 00:19:07.010
- by the states, you'll find
- 00:19:07.010 --> 00:19:08.170
- that there's two signatures there.
- 00:19:08.170 --> 00:19:09.290
- The head of the Senate signed it, John Adams
- 00:19:09.290 --> 00:19:11.260
- and the head of the House also signed it,
- 00:19:11.260 --> 00:19:14.170
- Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg.
- 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:16.230
- Now think about that for a second, the Bill of Rights,
- 00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:18.200
- the work that was done on the House was led by a pastor,
- 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:21.190
- Frederick Muhlenberg, his signature is on it
- 00:19:21.190 --> 00:19:24.190
- and think about just for a second,
- 00:19:24.190 --> 00:19:26.090
- what if pastors were the ones leading the nation again.
- 00:19:26.090 --> 00:19:29.170
- They're the ones in Congress, well this is how it was.
- 00:19:29.170 --> 00:19:31.260
- In fact, of the 90 members of the first Congress,
- 00:19:31.260 --> 00:19:34.160
- roughly 10 of them were pastors, which is kind of crazy
- 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.040
- to think about and yet very cool,
- 00:19:37.040 --> 00:19:38.250
- when you think about the Bill of Rights.
- 00:19:38.250 --> 00:19:40.030
- Today a lot of people think about separation
- 00:19:40.030 --> 00:19:41.190
- of church and state were the first amendment,
- 00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:43.110
- actually, they were protecting the freedom of religion
- 00:19:43.110 --> 00:19:45.280
- and the rights of conscious because we wanted to make sure
- 00:19:45.280 --> 00:19:48.060
- in America that the government could never tell us
- 00:19:48.060 --> 00:19:50.160
- what we could or couldn't do with our religion
- 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.020
- and that's between us and God and Frederick Muhlenberg
- 00:19:52.020 --> 00:19:55.040
- is one of the guys leading to make sure that happens.
- 00:19:55.040 --> 00:19:57.110
- Now remember, when his church was burned down
- 00:19:57.110 --> 00:19:59.250
- he decides, I need to get involved,
- 00:19:59.250 --> 00:20:01.120
- when his church was destroyed.
- 00:20:01.120 --> 00:20:02.150
- And this epiphany comes to him,
- 00:20:02.150 --> 00:20:03.240
- I've gotta do something, he is the guy
- 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:06.060
- that helps do the Bill of Rights,
- 00:20:06.060 --> 00:20:07.220
- he's the first Congress, he got involved in a big way.
- 00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:09.290
- And this is what's cool looking at their story
- 00:20:09.290 --> 00:20:12.140
- is these are two brothers who definitely
- 00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:15.040
- love God the whole time but they decided to get involved
- 00:20:15.040 --> 00:20:18.110
- in different ways, like John Peter and the military.
- 00:20:18.110 --> 00:20:20.280
- Frederick finally in political life,
- 00:20:20.280 --> 00:20:22.270
- John Peter joins him in political life
- 00:20:22.270 --> 00:20:24.290
- and at the end of Washington's presidency, Frederick,
- 00:20:24.290 --> 00:20:27.150
- he kind of at that point retires,
- 00:20:27.150 --> 00:20:29.020
- resigns back to private life but John Peter
- 00:20:29.020 --> 00:20:31.170
- continues serving for just a little bit longer.
- 00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:34.100
- (dramatic music)
- 00:20:34.100 --> 00:20:37.020
- - Hey, everybody, I'm down here in Wallbuilders collection
- 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:43.270
- again, this time I'm going through the archives
- 00:20:43.270 --> 00:20:46.120
- looking for artifacts relating to the Muhlenberg brothers.
- 00:20:46.120 --> 00:20:49.050
- We actually have a lot of different ones
- 00:20:49.050 --> 00:20:51.120
- and I'll start here.
- 00:20:51.120 --> 00:20:53.010
- This is, it's got Frederick Muhlenberg's signature on it
- 00:20:53.010 --> 00:20:56.190
- and this is actually a certificate for one of his people
- 00:20:56.190 --> 00:20:59.260
- in his church receiving communion.
- 00:20:59.260 --> 00:21:01.200
- So, it's got sacrament of a Lord's supper
- 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:04.060
- and it's a certificate, right.
- 00:21:04.060 --> 00:21:05.200
- Imagine going to church and you take communion
- 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:07.220
- and then before they leave they stop you like,
- 00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:09.240
- oh, you forgot your certificate.
- 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:11.080
- So, really interesting, over here, we got some more
- 00:21:11.080 --> 00:21:14.250
- from Frederick, this is while he was in the Legislature.
- 00:21:14.250 --> 00:21:18.060
- And right here we've got two kind of parallel documents
- 00:21:18.060 --> 00:21:21.000
- for the two brothers.
- 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:22.020
- So we've got one of Peter
- 00:21:22.020 --> 00:21:24.090
- and then we've got one of Frederick.
- 00:21:24.090 --> 00:21:26.080
- And what these are are pay receipts
- 00:21:26.080 --> 00:21:27.250
- for while they were serving in Congress.
- 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:30.060
- And so right here, he's being paid
- 00:21:30.060 --> 00:21:32.040
- for his days in attendance and also his mileage.
- 00:21:32.040 --> 00:21:35.220
- So, right as he's writing back and forth on his horse,
- 00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:39.020
- he's got to stop, fill it up with oats,
- 00:21:39.020 --> 00:21:40.230
- so they're gonna compensate for that too.
- 00:21:40.230 --> 00:21:42.150
- And over here we've got more artifacts from Peter.
- 00:21:42.150 --> 00:21:46.240
- So, I'll pick this one up and I'll pick this one up
- 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.100
- and as you're looking you can kind of tell,
- 00:21:49.100 --> 00:21:51.060
- they're actually written on two different materials.
- 00:21:51.060 --> 00:21:53.240
- So, this one right here is while he was,
- 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:55.190
- port authority, kind of after he is retired
- 00:21:55.190 --> 00:21:57.180
- in his later years, winding down,
- 00:21:57.180 --> 00:21:59.150
- doing things closer to home but you look,
- 00:21:59.150 --> 00:22:01.160
- this is written on the same paper.
- 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:02.270
- But this one is written on what's called vellum.
- 00:22:02.270 --> 00:22:05.200
- If you were here I'd hand it to you
- 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.040
- but obviously not so you can't, so I'll feel it for you
- 00:22:07.040 --> 00:22:09.270
- but as you feel it, it feels like skin.
- 00:22:09.270 --> 00:22:13.080
- Well, it's actually animal skin so they would take it,
- 00:22:13.080 --> 00:22:15.160
- this is extremely durable, it'll last for hundreds of years.
- 00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:19.090
- As it already has lasted a hundred years
- 00:22:19.090 --> 00:22:20.270
- and you can see it's basically no worse for wear.
- 00:22:20.270 --> 00:22:23.000
- So, they would do their official documents,
- 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.210
- their really important documents on vellum,
- 00:22:24.210 --> 00:22:26.220
- so this is a land dead, something that's meant to be
- 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:28.290
- passed down through the generations.
- 00:22:28.290 --> 00:22:30.240
- So, we've got a bunch of different artifacts
- 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.110
- from two extremely important brothers
- 00:22:32.110 --> 00:22:34.110
- during the Revolutionary period.
- 00:22:34.110 --> 00:22:35.220
- (dramatic music)
- 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:38.150
- (intense music)
- 00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:49.020
- - We're here at the statute
- 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:52.000
- of the John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg in Washington D.C.
- 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.200
- Now we're in New York City but then the federal capital
- 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:56.180
- moves to Philadelphia where he becomes the Congressman
- 00:22:56.180 --> 00:22:59.040
- of Philadelphia and then the federal capital
- 00:22:59.040 --> 00:23:01.090
- moves here to Washington D.C. and he's the Congressman
- 00:23:01.090 --> 00:23:04.070
- here at Washington D.C.,
- 00:23:04.070 --> 00:23:05.130
- he served under President John Adams.
- 00:23:05.130 --> 00:23:06.290
- Then when Thomas Jefferson becomes president,
- 00:23:06.290 --> 00:23:09.030
- by the way he had a lot to do with the election
- 00:23:09.030 --> 00:23:11.080
- of Thomas Jefferson as president.
- 00:23:11.080 --> 00:23:13.030
- When Jefferson becomes president,
- 00:23:13.030 --> 00:23:14.140
- he appoints John Peter Gabriel back
- 00:23:14.140 --> 00:23:16.210
- to a position in Pennsylvania.
- 00:23:16.210 --> 00:23:19.130
- He finishes his political career and his life there
- 00:23:19.130 --> 00:23:22.020
- but it was a great life, he and his brother both.
- 00:23:22.020 --> 00:23:24.220
- And I love what it says on the monument,
- 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:26.130
- he served his church, his country and his state.
- 00:23:26.130 --> 00:23:31.020
- And he did, he had a huge impact in all three areas.
- 00:23:31.020 --> 00:23:34.030
- - Yeah and the legacy of Frederick and John Peter
- 00:23:34.030 --> 00:23:36.030
- certainly is significant in American history.
- 00:23:36.030 --> 00:23:37.260
- And talk about hidden heroes, these are guys that say
- 00:23:37.260 --> 00:23:40.040
- almost nobody knows and yet every American
- 00:23:40.040 --> 00:23:42.120
- should celebrate these guys,
- 00:23:42.120 --> 00:23:43.210
- what John Peter did in the military
- 00:23:43.210 --> 00:23:45.210
- and then coming out and he and his brother for the Congress
- 00:23:45.210 --> 00:23:47.020
- and the Bill of Rights and Frederick
- 00:23:47.020 --> 00:23:48.180
- being the Speaker of the House
- 00:23:48.180 --> 00:23:50.050
- these are huge names in American history
- 00:23:50.050 --> 00:23:52.240
- and yet, today so few people know them
- 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:55.070
- which is why we are doing this
- 00:23:55.070 --> 00:23:56.260
- to help more people know some of these hidden heroes
- 00:23:56.260 --> 00:23:59.160
- from American's history.
- 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:01.080
- (slow music)
- 00:24:01.080 --> 00:24:03.210
- I think apart from George Washington,
- 00:24:14.210 --> 00:24:15.290
- my favorite story from early America
- 00:24:15.290 --> 00:24:20.190
- has to be the Muhlenberg brothers.
- 00:24:20.190 --> 00:24:22.120
- Their relationship, their story,
- 00:24:22.120 --> 00:24:25.010
- one of my favorite stories in history.
- 00:24:25.010 --> 00:24:26.240
- - When you look at how close they were as a family
- 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:29.050
- and yet the really almost vicious disagreements
- 00:24:29.050 --> 00:24:32.260
- they get into with each other.
- 00:24:32.260 --> 00:24:34.110
- I was thinking about them in terms of even scriptures,
- 00:24:34.110 --> 00:24:36.150
- because to be a good leader,
- 00:24:36.150 --> 00:24:38.210
- you've got to be pretty strong willed in a lot ways,
- 00:24:38.210 --> 00:24:41.010
- as a Speaker of the House-- - You have to have resolve.
- 00:24:41.010 --> 00:24:43.050
- - You've got to have a drive.
- 00:24:43.050 --> 00:24:45.290
- And so you've got two type A personalities here
- 00:24:45.290 --> 00:24:48.150
- and I kind of look at the Muhlenberg brothers,
- 00:24:48.150 --> 00:24:50.080
- like a Paul and Barnabus almost.
- 00:24:50.080 --> 00:24:52.000
- There was a lot of friction but in their case,
- 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.040
- they really came back to join together
- 00:24:54.040 --> 00:24:56.230
- and now you've got the stronger brother, Peter
- 00:24:56.230 --> 00:24:59.090
- who had the more stronger opinion at the beginning,
- 00:24:59.090 --> 00:25:01.170
- he's actually serving under his brother
- 00:25:01.170 --> 00:25:03.070
- who's Speaker of the House and so the ability
- 00:25:03.070 --> 00:25:06.150
- to have strong, disagreements and then not get bitter
- 00:25:06.150 --> 00:25:10.050
- and hateful over it and not turn your back.
- 00:25:10.050 --> 00:25:12.080
- And I think that's a tendency we have today
- 00:25:12.080 --> 00:25:14.010
- is if we get challenged in our opinion,
- 00:25:14.010 --> 00:25:16.140
- we just pick up our stuff and go home.
- 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:18.120
- I'm not gonna talk to you anymore because you're mean.
- 00:25:18.120 --> 00:25:20.240
- And I look at what they worked through back then
- 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.170
- and it's the same kind of stuff that really
- 00:25:23.170 --> 00:25:25.200
- broke the New Testament and broke the New Testament church.
- 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.240
- - Well and recognizing too, that they were both Christians
- 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.240
- and this is a significant theological difference.
- 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.170
- When Frederick saying you can't be a pastor
- 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:36.220
- and be a soldier, those are incompatible
- 00:25:36.220 --> 00:25:39.130
- and Peter's going what are you talking about?
- 00:25:39.130 --> 00:25:42.060
- This is as natural as anything in life
- 00:25:42.060 --> 00:25:45.020
- and ultimately when Frederick encounters the British
- 00:25:45.020 --> 00:25:48.130
- and goes, oh, wow, okay.
- 00:25:48.130 --> 00:25:49.270
- - Epiphany time. - Right, I think my brother
- 00:25:49.270 --> 00:25:52.170
- might have been right.
- 00:25:52.170 --> 00:25:53.260
- At this moment you see that he's catching up
- 00:25:53.260 --> 00:25:56.210
- to what his brother was arguing.
- 00:25:56.210 --> 00:25:58.050
- Now I don't know if he ever fundamentally changed
- 00:25:58.050 --> 00:26:00.190
- to match where his brother was.
- 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:03.020
- So much of what we enjoy in America today
- 00:26:03.020 --> 00:26:04.290
- is because of the legacy of these two guys.
- 00:26:04.290 --> 00:26:06.180
- I mean, look at the Bill of Rights,
- 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:08.080
- largely the Muhlenberg brothers
- 00:26:08.080 --> 00:26:09.290
- are two people you can point to.
- 00:26:09.290 --> 00:26:11.160
- And to think for the reason we have the freedom of religion
- 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:13.210
- the freedom of speech, the reason we're able to do so much,
- 00:26:13.210 --> 00:26:16.150
- I think these two guys are not appreciated nearly enough
- 00:26:16.150 --> 00:26:19.070
- in history but it's why they're two of my favorite people
- 00:26:19.070 --> 00:26:22.050
- from early America.
- 00:26:22.050 --> 00:26:23.080
- (dramatic music)
- 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:27.120
- - [Narrator] We hope you're enjoying TBN's exclusive series,
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- America's Hidden History.
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- Thrilling stories of ordinary and unsung Americans,
- 00:26:34.150 --> 00:26:37.130
- God used in extraordinary ways to shape our nation.
- 00:26:37.130 --> 00:26:40.290
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