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00:00Previously on The Revolution, Washington's troops needed their French allies to defeat Cornwallis at Yorktown.
00:07General Rochambeau, the French commander, suggests a long-range siege of cannon and mortar.
00:12It's important to remember that France is in this conflict not to secure American independence.
00:17France is in this conflict to humiliate the British Empire.
00:20I have the mortification to inform Your Excellency that I have been forced to surrender the troops under my command.
00:27General Charles Cornwallis.
00:30Cornwallis is so humiliated by the defeat that he cannot surrender in person to George Washington.
00:36For the Americans, certainly there are euphoric feelings of victory.
00:40Now, though, the more difficult task of building a nation begins.
00:59October 1781.
01:01Tench Tillman, George Washington's aide, rides nonstop for four days and nights to bring glorious news from Yorktown, Virginia, to
01:09the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
01:12The Americans have decimated Britain's southern army and forced the surrender of its best general, Charles Cornwallis.
01:19This was a huge victory.
01:21Over 7,000 people taken prisoner.
01:23There are great celebrations, illuminations, they call them, fireworks, ringing of bells, and so on.
01:38But the joy in Philadelphia is anything but unanimous.
01:41Loyalists face a different kind of illumination.
01:45They would not have imagined this house to be illuminated last night, but it was.
01:50A mob surrounded it, broke the shutters and the glass of the windows, and were coming in.
01:56It was the most alarming scene I ever remember.
02:00Anna Rall.
02:01Loyalist daughter.
02:05Paris, November 19th.
02:08A month later, as fast as 18th century news can travel, a midnight message is delivered to Benjamin Franklin with
02:16the news of Yorktown.
02:18Franklin has been in France for five years to secure and hold on to French support.
02:24At long last, victory and peace may be at hand.
02:32London, six days later.
02:35Ironically, the British are the last to know.
02:38Prime Minister Lord Frederick North gets the dreadful news by way of a French source.
02:44My God, he cries, it's all over.
02:49The news stuns England.
02:52The last anyone had heard, Cornwallis, one of Britain's most able generals,
02:56had marched his army from Charleston to Virginia uncontested.
03:01There's been no warning that such a profound defeat was even possible.
03:06The capture of Cornwallis comes as a nasty shock.
03:11Britain's not supposed to lose.
03:13And it's not supposed to lose to its own people, to its own colonists.
03:21King George III has no intention of surrendering any part of his empire.
03:26He prepares a speech to steal the spine of Parliament.
03:30The late misfortune calls loudly for your firm concurrence and assistance.
03:36I have no doubt but that by the support of my Parliament,
03:40by the valour of my fleets and armies,
03:42and by a united exertion of my people,
03:45I shall be enabled to restore the blessing of a safe and honourable peace to all my dominions.
03:52King George III
03:57In New York, Britain's man in charge of the American war is still General Henry Clinton.
04:04His failure to reinforce Cornwallis at Yorktown
04:07has made his troubled command unbearable.
04:11I am fairly worn out.
04:13For God's sake, let me return to my little family while I have something of life left.
04:19General Henry Clinton.
04:21Henry Clinton makes a willing and ready scapegoat for this debacle.
04:26He has very few friends, legions of enemies.
04:30So back in England, immediately there are renewed calls to bring this war,
04:35at least against the Americans, to a speedy conclusion.
04:40While London weighs its next move,
04:42it orders Clinton to maintain all positions on the Atlantic seaboard.
04:48The British still have 12,000 troops in New York,
04:515,000 in Charleston, South Carolina,
04:54and over 1,000 in Savannah, Georgia.
04:57Britain still has substantial forces in North America,
05:01so no one is under any illusion that the war is over.
05:09Up in New Windsor, New York, Continental Commander George Washington
05:12has brought his 10,000-man army 60 miles up the Hudson River from New York
05:17to contain Clinton and his army.
05:21Washington's troops may be savoring their victory at Yorktown,
05:24but the general himself is not yet ready to celebrate.
05:29Because there is this exuberant feeling of victory that the Americans have won this great victory,
05:35a lot of the American soldiers at this point are inclined to hang them up
05:39and head back home and return to the business of peace.
05:42But the war is not yet over, and Washington recognizes this.
05:50Yorktown didn't end it.
05:52The British and the Loyalists in the Carolinas and in Georgia wouldn't lay their arms down.
06:02Once again, it falls to Rhode Island General Nathaniel Green,
06:06Washington's second-in-command, to continue his guerrilla war in the South.
06:11With only 1,000 men, Green cannot hope to capture Charleston or Savannah,
06:16but he relentlessly attacks British outposts in the Carolina and Georgia backwoods,
06:21forcing British soldiers back to the cities.
06:35Green and his men never let up on the enemy
06:37in some of the bitterest fighting of the entire war.
06:46The fighting in the backcountry is continuing.
06:49There's fighting on the frontier and then skirmishing in other places.
06:53There are more American deaths at the end of the war than at the beginning.
06:57The war is not necessarily over.
07:22London, February 1782.
07:26The war in North America may not be over,
07:28but it has grown increasingly unpopular with England's people and politicians.
07:34The feeling among almost everyone is,
07:37Perloss has been captured.
07:39This war has been expensive.
07:41It's been ruinous in terms of the loss of men.
07:45It's drawn us into a fight where we have no friends,
07:49no allies in Europe or anywhere else.
07:53Parliament's war opponents are determined to quit North America.
07:58They introduce a motion that the war in America be brought to a close.
08:03Initially, the motion is defeated by one vote.
08:07But in a revoke three days later, it carries by 19,
08:12effectively ousting Lord North and his pro-war regime.
08:21The king is furious.
08:24Now, with the opposition in power, he must agree to end the war,
08:28despite his firm belief that an independent America will weaken,
08:32perhaps destroy, his empire.
08:34He fumes, even contemplates resigning,
08:37as Parliament sets about the complex business of obtaining a workable peace.
08:45By spring, the major conflict moves from the battlefields in America
08:49to the peace table in France.
08:52Will Britain recognize American independence?
08:55What will the French demand for their contribution to the war?
08:59The future of America now rests on the shoulders of a negotiating team
09:04headed by the wise and cunning Benjamin Franklin.
09:12London, spring 1782.
09:16The six months of limbo after the American victory at Yorktown
09:19is starting to break.
09:21Parliament has voted to end the war in America
09:24and forced out its prime minister, Lord North.
09:27In New York, a worn-out General Henry Clinton gets his wish
09:31and is relieved of his command.
09:34He has been fighting this war nearly from the beginning,
09:37from Bunker Hill in 1775 to Yorktown.
09:42For the last four years, Clinton has served as Commander-in-Chief.
09:48His greatest moment was capturing Charleston in 1780.
09:54But he exits America forever tarnished
09:58by the catastrophic failure at Yorktown.
10:04Clinton's replacement, Sir Guy Carleton,
10:07the former Governor-General of Canada,
10:09is charged with ending hostilities
10:11and withdrawing British troops.
10:14George Washington, ever wary,
10:17keeps his army alert and ready for any British action.
10:21From the former infatuation, duplicity,
10:25and perverse system of British policy,
10:27I am induced to doubt everything,
10:29to suspect everything.
10:32General George Washington.
10:37In Paris, peace negotiations begin somewhat tentatively in April.
10:43The Continental Congress has instructed the venerable Benjamin Franklin
10:47to sort through the many political agendas
10:49of the French, British, Spanish, and Dutch
10:52whose recognition America will need to secure its independence.
10:59Franklin is the one sitting in Paris
11:01when the peace feelers are first put forward.
11:05So it's his job to begin to separate the valid ones
11:08from the sort of less serious ones
11:10to figure out which embassary is really bearing negotiating power,
11:13which is not as easy as it sounds.
11:15But he holds this whole mess of peace feelers in place
11:19until he's joined in Paris by John Jay
11:21and ultimately by John Adams.
11:23John Adams is currently in the Netherlands
11:26seeking Dutch recognition of the United States
11:28and is soon to join Franklin at the Paris peace table.
11:3337-year-old John Jay, a lawyer from New York
11:36and a former president of Continental Congress,
11:38is the youngest member of the American Peace Commission
11:41and plans to arrive in Paris by June.
11:45For now, Franklin is on his own,
11:48just the way he likes it.
11:50What Britain wanted out of negotiations
11:53more than anything else
11:54was to separate the United States from France
11:57because a persistent French-U.S. alliance
12:01would be a horrific prospect.
12:05Which is exactly what France is hoping for.
12:09France has a great stake in the outcome.
12:13Franklin's ally, French foreign minister Comte de Vergennes,
12:17persuaded his king, Louis XVI,
12:19to declare war on Britain, his perennial enemy.
12:22Since joining the war in 1778,
12:25France has thrown its army and navy into the fight
12:28and has lent the Americans $31 million.
12:35Vergennes is anxious for a satisfying payoff
12:38to his investment,
12:39American independence
12:40that will decimate England's wealth, trade, and power.
12:50The Continental Congress has ordered Franklin
12:52to operate under the guidance and instructions
12:54of the French court.
12:57Over the next several months in Paris and Versailles,
13:01the old chess master takes care with every move.
13:05Franklin knew that the cardinal rule of diplomacy
13:07was never to speak unless you absolutely had to.
13:10The patience of an old man,
13:11coupled with the fact that he's naturally taciturn,
13:14makes him an enormously shrewd diplomat.
13:19Innumerable issues need to be ironed out with the British.
13:22The big one, of course, is independence.
13:25But there are other crucial items for both sides.
13:29Terms of trade,
13:31fishing rights off the coast of Canada
13:33and on the Mississippi River,
13:34payment of pre-war debts,
13:37who owns what North American territory
13:39outside the previous colonial borders.
13:42But no issue is more sensitive
13:44than the fate of the Americans
13:46who sided with the British,
13:48the Loyalists.
13:52There was a great sense of obligation
13:54to the American Loyalists.
13:56And there was a sense that
13:58having expended so much effort
14:01and drawn the Loyalists
14:03into public professions of allegiance,
14:06Britain couldn't simply abandon
14:09their flesh and blood this way.
14:10They have to be evacuated
14:12because they fought on the wrong side.
14:16They see no life left for them.
14:18Who knows?
14:19Their land is going to be confiscated probably.
14:21They may well be killed
14:22for fighting on the wrong side.
14:26July 1782, Savannah, Georgia.
14:29With hostilities brought to a halt
14:31by the peace talks,
14:33the exodus begins for those no longer welcome.
14:37Sir Guy Carlton,
14:39Britain's Commander-in-Chief,
14:40orders the evacuation of Savannah.
14:43As 1,000 British troops
14:45sail for New York
14:46to join the main army,
14:482,500 white Loyalists
14:49and 5,000 black slaves
14:51who joined the British
14:52set sail for British-controlled territory
14:55in Florida and the West Indies.
14:59A month later,
15:00in Charleston, South Carolina,
15:02the British post a general notice
15:04promising transport out
15:05for those who cast their lot
15:07with the crown.
15:09By the end of the year,
15:11Charleston will see 126 ships
15:14carry nearly 12,000 people,
15:16white and black,
15:18to Florida, the West Indies,
15:20New York and England.
15:22Whatever their uncertain future,
15:24they are almost certain
15:25to fare better
15:26than the Loyalists
15:27who stay behind.
15:31October 1782.
15:33John Adams finally arrives in Paris,
15:36a commercial treaty
15:37with the Dutch in hand.
15:40The peace talks begin in earnest.
15:43Franklin has prepared the ground
15:45for the younger,
15:46more aggressive Adams
15:47and John Jay
15:48to take over the reins.
15:50With their wildly
15:52different personalities,
15:53these three make a brilliant,
15:55though less than harmonious,
15:56team.
15:58Adams mistrusts
16:00Franklin's reserve,
16:01which he interprets as devious.
16:02and Adams' intensity
16:05rubs everyone the wrong way.
16:09Jay insists that American independence
16:12be a non-negotiable precondition
16:14to any serious talks.
16:17I think the United States
16:19were fortunate
16:20in having negotiators
16:22who had spent
16:24a fair amount of time in Europe,
16:25who were the intellectual peers
16:28of the men
16:29that they would be dealing with
16:30and were unusually
16:32sly and wily people.
16:35Jay and Adams
16:37trust no one
16:38to look after
16:38United States interests,
16:40including their French allies.
16:42Defying Congress's orders,
16:44they cut the French
16:45out of the process
16:46and deal only
16:47with the British.
16:49In the end,
16:49the three men
16:50work quite brilliantly together
16:51and pull off terms
16:53that are so
16:54extravagantly great
16:55for America
16:56that essentially
16:56the French will be reeling.
16:57How did these babes
16:59in the woods
16:59manage to pull this off?
17:01The French,
17:01to put it mildly,
17:03are outraged.
17:04Without them,
17:05the revolution
17:05would have surely failed.
17:07Yet these upstarts
17:09have dared to exclude them.
17:11We have essentially
17:12violated our contract
17:13with the French
17:13and the French feel
17:14understandably
17:15cheated,
17:16traduced,
17:17those treacherous Americans.
17:18We knew we couldn't
17:18trust them
17:19in the first place.
17:21It becomes Franklin's job
17:23to not only repair
17:24the insult,
17:25but to extract
17:26yet another loan
17:27from France's
17:28depleted treasury.
17:31He goes off
17:32to see the French
17:33foreign minister,
17:33the Count de Vergen,
17:34and says to him
17:36two things.
17:36First of all,
17:37we're babes in the woods.
17:38We made a mistake.
17:39We didn't know
17:39how to do this properly,
17:41which of course
17:41was completely
17:41the opposite of the truth.
17:43And secondly,
17:44the British really
17:45would like to divide us.
17:46They love the idea
17:47that they've divided us.
17:48Let's not give them
17:49that satisfaction.
17:50He does that masterfully,
17:52as only Franklin could have.
17:53He's extremely subtle.
17:55And Vergen is dumbstruck
17:57by the speech,
17:57but really can't do
17:58anything about it.
17:59And essentially,
18:00jumps on board.
18:03On November 30th,
18:05the British sign
18:06a tentative agreement
18:07that for the first time
18:08acknowledges
18:09the former colonies
18:10as the United States
18:12of America.
18:13Almost all of its provisions
18:15prove favorable
18:16to the Americans.
18:17Britain will recognize
18:19the 13 free
18:20and sovereign states.
18:21The states get guaranteed
18:23fishing rights
18:24off of Newfoundland.
18:25The western boundary
18:26of the United States
18:27will be defined
18:28by the Mississippi River,
18:29with navigation
18:30and fishing rights
18:31shared by America
18:32and Britain,
18:33but not France or Spain.
18:37The provisional treaty
18:38is sent back to America
18:40for approval.
18:43Parliament hoped
18:44to make a generous peace
18:46that would create goodwill
18:49in the United States,
18:50and the United States
18:51emerged from the peace conference
18:52with far more
18:53than they could have
18:55had right to expect.
18:58But even among
18:59the winners
18:59of this generous peace,
19:01there are losers.
19:03Many Americans
19:04will soon find out
19:05they have been left out.
19:06As the war with Britain
19:08draws to a close,
19:10discontent within
19:11the new nation
19:11threatens its very survival.
19:17Winter, 1783.
19:19A year and a half
19:21after the climactic battle
19:22of Yorktown,
19:23General George Washington
19:24is still waiting
19:25for an end to the war.
19:27A provisional treaty
19:29has been signed.
19:30Hostilities have all but ceased,
19:31but an official peace
19:33is not yet declared.
19:36With too much time
19:37on their hands
19:38and nothing to do but drill,
19:40discontent festers.
19:41At the New Windsor,
19:43New York encampment,
19:44mutiny is once again
19:45in the air.
19:46The officers
19:48of the Continental Army
19:49were extremely frustrated.
19:52Peace negotiations
19:53were dragging on.
19:55Congress had promised them
19:56officers pensions.
19:57Years ago,
19:59they had still not
20:01approved that.
20:02There was months
20:03of back pay
20:04they were owed
20:05that had not been collected.
20:07They were enraged.
20:10Though they're on the verge
20:12of going home,
20:13furious officers
20:14threaten not to disarm,
20:16until Congress
20:17honors its financial obligations
20:18to its fighting men.
20:21It was not outside
20:23the realm of feasibility
20:24that the Army
20:24might have in fact
20:25marched on Philadelphia
20:27and tried to depose
20:28the government.
20:29March 15th,
20:31Newburgh, New York.
20:33Hundreds of officers
20:34assemble at a meeting hall
20:35near the camp.
20:36A coup against Congress
20:38is becoming
20:39a serious threat.
20:41They pile in
20:42and they jam the hall.
20:43It's an airing
20:44of grievances.
20:45It's pretty obvious
20:46that they're going to
20:46decide to march on Congress
20:48and force the end.
20:50Washington has a dilemma.
20:52He's the commander
20:53of the Army.
20:54He has to defend Congress
20:55against his own men.
20:59How can he do that?
21:05They're mad at him.
21:07He hasn't helped them
21:08in this.
21:09He said he would
21:10and nothing has happened.
21:11He told them
21:12that things take time.
21:14The wheels of Congress
21:15move slowly.
21:16They didn't want to hear that.
21:17So they're angry at him.
21:20All of a sudden
21:20as the meeting starts
21:21the commander-in-chief arrives
21:24alone.
21:27He walks to the front
21:28of the hall
21:28and he makes a speech.
21:33As I have never
21:34left your side
21:35one moment
21:36as I have been
21:37the constant companion
21:38and witness
21:39of your distresses
21:41it can scarcely be supposed
21:43at this late stage of war
21:45that I am indifferent
21:46to its interests.
21:48This dreadful alternative
21:50of either deserting
21:51our country
21:51in the extremest hour
21:52of her distress
21:53or turning our arms
21:55against it
21:55has something shocking
21:57to it that humanity
21:58revolts at the idea.
22:00My God!
22:06He says wonderful things
22:09but the speech
22:10goes over
22:10like lead.
22:14Then he says
22:15he's going to read
22:16a letter
22:16from a member
22:17of Congress
22:17to add to what
22:18he has to say.
22:21He picks up the letter
22:23he can't read the letter
22:26he takes out his glasses
22:28and he tells the men
22:30that
22:30I've got to read
22:31this letter
22:32with my glasses
22:33because
22:35like you
22:35in addition
22:36to growing gray
22:38I have gone blind
22:39in the service
22:40to my country.
22:43this ad-libbed line
22:44that he didn't intend
22:45to say
22:47hits these men
22:48like a punch
22:49to the stomach
22:49and then all of a sudden
22:51these tough
22:53hard soldiers
22:55they begin to weep
22:57uncontrollably.
22:59This admiration
23:01for the commander
23:02he never took a vacation
23:04he's been at the front lines
23:06being shot at like us
23:07he's held us together
23:09for eight years
23:10everywhere we've been
23:11he's been with us
23:12there's this unbelievable
23:13connection
23:14between the officers
23:16and him.
23:20That was the end
23:20of the rebellion.
23:23There was no rebellion.
23:29I think that moment
23:31in 1783
23:32is one of the great moments
23:34in American history
23:36and Washington
23:37at his finest.
23:39It was a moment
23:40of real danger.
23:42Americans had always
23:43suspected
23:44a standing army
23:46suspected what it might do
23:47suspected that it might
23:48actually take power
23:49and this is the moment
23:51where it might actually
23:52have occurred.
23:57a month later
23:59in April
24:00Congress receives
24:01England's official
24:02declaration
24:03to end all hostilities.
24:05One after another
24:07the European countries
24:08have recognized
24:09the United States
24:10of America
24:10as a sovereign nation.
24:14By June
24:15most of the Continental Army
24:16disbands
24:17and Washington awaits
24:19the peaceful evacuation
24:20of Britain's last stronghold
24:23New York City
24:26New York has become
24:27the last safe place
24:28for loyalists.
24:31As the British military
24:32prepares to leave
24:33the city is overrun
24:35by thousands of black
24:36and white refugees
24:37who desperately need
24:38to get out.
24:40Some 100,000 blacks
24:42who had thrown in
24:43their lot with the British
24:44had been offered protection.
24:47Now the question is
24:48will the British
24:49make good
24:50on their promise?
24:53Washington
24:54was demanding
24:55that the British
24:56restore slaves
24:58to their masters
24:58and so there was
24:59a lot of concern
25:00but by and large
25:01the British
25:02didn't do that.
25:03By and large
25:04the former slaves
25:06left America
25:08with the British.
25:09The fate of the slaves
25:10who escaped
25:10is mixed.
25:11We know that 3,000
25:13went from New York
25:14up to Canada.
25:15A few hundred
25:16went to England.
25:18Lots of them
25:19were sent
25:20to the Bahamas
25:21and other places
25:23as slaves
25:24and some
25:25were returned forcibly.
25:30By the fall
25:31the Treaty of Paris
25:32is signed.
25:35in November
25:36the last
25:37of the British
25:37soldiers
25:38leave New York.
25:40After seven
25:41long years
25:42General George Washington
25:43with what remains
25:44of his army
25:45returns triumphant
25:47to New York City
25:48the scene
25:49of his most
25:50humiliating defeat.
25:52One eyewitness
25:53observes
25:55The troops
25:56that marched in
25:57were ill-clad
25:58and weather-beaten
25:59and made a
26:00forlorn appearance
26:01but then
26:02they were
26:02our troops
26:03and as I looked
26:05at them
26:05and thought
26:06upon all
26:06they had done
26:07for us
26:08my heart
26:08and my eyes
26:09were full
26:10and I admired
26:11and gloried
26:12in them the more.
26:17Americans
26:18can finally celebrate.
26:20After a war
26:21that's inflicted
26:2225,000 military deaths
26:241% of the U.S. population
26:26the people
26:27are ready
26:28to leave war behind
26:29and look
26:30to the future.
26:31everyone realizes
26:32that something
26:33momentous
26:34has happened
26:34but the joy
26:36will be short-lived.
26:38The war
26:39is at an end
26:40but the American
26:41revolution
26:42is far from over.
26:43We've only seen
26:44the first act.
26:45The political
26:46and social
26:47sorting out
26:49was far from over.
26:51The revolution's
26:53second act
26:53will be every bit
26:54as perilous
26:55for the new nation
26:56as the first.
26:57The war's aftermath
26:59is about to bring
27:00the fragile alliance
27:01of states
27:01dangerously close
27:03to disintegration.
27:09The Continental Congress
27:11December 23rd, 1783
27:15having now finished
27:16the work assigned me
27:18I retire from
27:19the great theater
27:20of action
27:21and bidding
27:22an affectionate farewell
27:23to this august body
27:25under whose orders
27:25I have so long acted
27:27I here offer
27:28my commission
27:29and take my leave
27:31of all the employment
27:32of public life.
27:35George Washington.
27:37At this moment
27:39if he wanted to
27:40George Washington
27:41could rule
27:41the new United States.
27:44but he walks away.
27:47He submits
27:48$100,000
27:49for expenses
27:50asks no payment
27:52for his services
27:53and he goes home
27:54to Mount Vernon.
27:57George Washington's
27:58decision
27:59startled
28:00everyone.
28:01What happens
28:02in revolutions
28:03is that the head
28:04of the revolutionary
28:05army that wins
28:06takes over.
28:08You become a king
28:10or a dictator
28:11for life
28:11you take over.
28:13You don't leave
28:14and go home.
28:16He never really
28:17thought about it.
28:18It was time to go
28:19and he went.
28:24The war is finally over.
28:27The British
28:27and their loyalists
28:28both white and black
28:29are gone.
28:31The American army
28:32has for the most part
28:33disbanded.
28:35But many in America
28:36will soon realize
28:37that the long-awaited peace
28:39is anything but.
28:41For American Indians
28:43the revolution
28:44was a disaster.
28:46They were on
28:47the losing side
28:48and the British
28:49walked away
28:50from the Indian
28:51allies.
28:53The same American
28:54weapons,
28:55the same American
28:56officers,
28:57the same American
28:58enlisted men
28:59in many cases
29:00turned their guns
29:02west
29:02against the Native
29:04Americans
29:04and a long war
29:06of national expansion
29:08into the west
29:09occurred.
29:12But it's not just
29:13the Indians
29:14who suffer.
29:15Gone!
29:16The end of the war
29:17brings political
29:18and economic chaos.
29:20Fear and anger
29:22spread through
29:22all 13 states
29:24at every level.
29:27People are tired out.
29:29The economy
29:30was in shambles.
29:32There was no currency
29:33at the end of the war.
29:35It had lost
29:35all its value.
29:36There's serious
29:37economic problems.
29:39The new United States
29:40is really a very
29:42fragile country.
29:43A lot of their leaders
29:44are very worried.
29:45Exactly how
29:46they're going to keep
29:47this group of states
29:48together is always
29:49a question.
29:51The only thing
29:52binding the states
29:54into a union
29:54are the Articles
29:56of Confederation,
29:57a very weak compact
29:58that assigns
29:59joint policymaking
30:00power to the
30:01Continental Congress.
30:04The Congress
30:05cannot, however,
30:06regulate trade,
30:07levy taxes,
30:08or issue currency.
30:10The Articles
30:11were drafted
30:12at the same time
30:13as the Declaration
30:13of Independence
30:14in 1776.
30:16But it took
30:17five years
30:18for the fiercely
30:19independent states
30:20to agree to
30:21even this
30:21feeble central authority.
30:24The government
30:25under the Articles
30:25of Confederation
30:26failed badly.
30:28There was no
30:29central chief executive.
30:31Congress had no
30:32power to tax.
30:33There were rebellions
30:34against authority.
30:37The revolution
30:38that started
30:39over British taxes
30:40has ended up
30:41with new conflicts
30:42over state taxes.
30:44Returning veterans
30:45are losing their farms
30:46to bankers
30:47and tax collectors.
30:50This is not
30:51what they fought for,
30:52and many are ready
30:53to take action.
30:54Take the farmer
30:55in Massachusetts.
30:57At the end of the war,
30:58in a broken economy,
31:00he can't pay his taxes.
31:02And the legislature
31:03says we can't retire
31:05the revolutionary debt,
31:07which is huge,
31:08without imposing taxes.
31:10So, we have a very
31:12difficult situation here.
31:14It leads to
31:15Shays' Rebellion
31:16in 1786.
31:20Daniel Shays
31:21is a fed-up veteran
31:22and farmer
31:23from western Massachusetts.
31:25In August 1786,
31:27he leads 4,000 men
31:29on an armed insurrection
31:30against county
31:31and state courts
31:32to halt farm foreclosures.
31:35The same men
31:37who fought
31:37in the Massachusetts line
31:39in the revolution
31:41are now fighting
31:42against their own government.
31:43They're closing courthouses.
31:46In September,
31:47Shays' rebels
31:48force closure
31:49of Massachusetts'
31:50highest court,
31:51the Supreme Court
31:52in Springfield.
31:54The Massachusetts governor
31:56sends 4,400 state militiamen
31:58to put down the rebellion.
32:11The soldiers
32:12easily route
32:13Shays and his men
32:14with cannon fire
32:15and grave shot.
32:16Four of Shays' men
32:18die,
32:18but the rebellion
32:19has made its point.
32:21The states are in chaos
32:22and they had better unite
32:24behind some kind
32:25of central government.
32:29Fast.
32:30As a whole,
32:31this unit
32:32doesn't work yet.
32:34And if it doesn't
32:36find a way to work,
32:38what's going to be
32:39the mechanism
32:40that's going to ensure
32:42that that independence
32:43is preserved
32:45and secured?
32:46We, the people
32:47of the United States,
32:49in order to form
32:50a more perfect union,
32:52establish justice,
32:54ensure domestic tranquility.
32:55In the coming months,
32:56provide for the common defense.
32:58The quest for a more
32:59perfect union
33:00will begin.
33:02Do ordain
33:03and establish
33:03this Constitution
33:05of the United States.
33:09These are the grand words
33:11that will soon introduce
33:12a brand new Constitution
33:14to the people
33:15of a floundering nation.
33:18But finding grand words
33:20will be the easy part.
33:21The hard part
33:22will be coming up
33:23with a compact
33:24to satisfy
33:25all the competing interests
33:27before the whole
33:28noble experiment
33:29falls apart.
33:33May, 1787,
33:35Philadelphia.
33:37It's now or never
33:39for the anything
33:40but United States
33:41of America.
33:42If they don't come up
33:43with a Constitution
33:44to establish
33:45a functioning
33:45central government,
33:46the new nation
33:48will most certainly
33:49implode.
33:51The states send
33:5255 delegates
33:54to a Constitutional Convention
33:55to repair
33:56the woefully inadequate
33:57Articles of Confederation.
33:59There are all kinds
34:00of questions about
34:01what's going to be
34:02the direction
34:02for this new nation.
34:04And you can't have
34:0513 different answers.
34:06You need to have
34:06one answer.
34:07These men are charged
34:08with nothing less
34:09than devising
34:10a whole new system
34:12of government.
34:13The one thing
34:14they can agree on
34:15is to keep
34:15the proceedings secret,
34:16to ensure candor
34:17and allow
34:18a full range
34:19of argument.
34:21Among the group
34:22are both new
34:23and old faces,
34:24including the most
34:26revered man
34:27in America.
34:28Washington is
34:29the presiding
34:31chairman,
34:31president
34:32of the Constitutional
34:33Convention.
34:34His presence
34:34is very important
34:35for the legitimacy
34:37of this new
34:38Constitution.
34:40The last thing
34:41George Washington
34:42wanted to do
34:43after eight
34:43grueling years
34:44of war
34:45was leave his
34:46beloved Mount Vernon
34:47home.
34:48At 55,
34:49he is tempted
34:50to rest on his
34:50laurels,
34:51but he is keenly
34:52aware that all
34:53his efforts
34:54could be undone
34:54if government
34:56doesn't change.
34:57I think Washington
34:59is nervous
35:00about what's going
35:00to happen
35:01to the country
35:01if they don't
35:03have a new
35:03form of government.
35:04He has a national
35:05vision of America.
35:07That's why he's
35:08important to be
35:09in that room.
35:11There are other
35:12visions in the room.
35:13Alexander Hamilton
35:14from New York
35:15is a brilliant
35:1632-year-old war
35:17veteran and attorney.
35:20Benjamin Franklin,
35:21the great negotiator,
35:22now old,
35:23frail,
35:24but ever wise
35:25and reliable,
35:26joins the
35:26Pennsylvania delegation.
35:28Among the missing
35:29are two of the
35:30revolution's
35:30most forceful voices,
35:32John Adams
35:33and Thomas Jefferson,
35:34who are serving
35:35as foreign ministers
35:36in England
35:37and France.
35:39Adams and Jefferson
35:40just, I think,
35:41are frantic
35:43with the fact
35:44that a new
35:45government's
35:45being written about
35:46and they're
35:46not there.
35:49In their place,
35:50the man with
35:51the plan,
35:52the Virginia plan,
35:53is James Madison,
35:55a 36-year-old
35:56career politician
35:57from Virginia.
35:59Madison knew
36:00this moment
36:00would come
36:01and has spent
36:02years formulating
36:03a new governing
36:04structure.
36:05His Virginia plan,
36:07with a foundation
36:08as old as the Greeks
36:09and as recent
36:10as the state's
36:11own constitutions,
36:12proposes three branches
36:14of government,
36:15an executive,
36:16a two-house legislature,
36:17and a judiciary,
36:20with each branch
36:21serving as a check
36:22on the power
36:22of the others.
36:26Throughout the hot
36:28summer of 1787,
36:30arguments rage
36:31about the balance
36:32of power between
36:33large states
36:34and small states,
36:35between south
36:36and north,
36:37between civilian
36:38and military authority.
36:40There's a real concern
36:41about democracy
36:43run amok.
36:44There's a real concern
36:45about monarchism
36:46returning.
36:47There's a concern
36:49about the states
36:49having too much power.
36:51There's a concern
36:51about this new
36:53national government
36:54having too much power.
36:56And so there's
36:56really a balancing act
36:58to make sure
36:59that there's a structure
37:01that does not let
37:02anyone monopolize power.
37:04A lot of folks
37:05in the country
37:06fear a new
37:07democratic federal
37:08government
37:09just as they fear
37:10the power of the crown.
37:12Another big issue,
37:14how are you going
37:14to represent people?
37:16You can have two houses,
37:17but do you count
37:18the small states
37:20the same as the big states
37:21or the big states
37:22overwhelm the small states?
37:23How are you going
37:24to get around that?
37:28The months wear on
37:29and tempers wear thin.
37:31Some delegates go home
37:33and some states
37:34threaten to bolt.
37:35I fear,
37:36worries Alexander Hamilton,
37:38that we shall let slip
37:39the golden opportunity
37:40of rescuing
37:41the American empire
37:42from disunion,
37:44anarchy,
37:44and misery.
37:48But under Washington's
37:50patient hand,
37:51the delegates
37:51stay the course
37:52and the long days
37:54and nights of argument
37:55and compromise
37:56produce a workable draft.
37:59It is only four pages,
38:01made up of a preamble
38:03and seven articles
38:04that outline the structure
38:05of a new national government.
38:08Article 1, Section 1.
38:10All legislative powers
38:12shall be vested
38:13in a Congress
38:13of the United States,
38:15which shall consist
38:16of a Senate
38:17and a House of Representatives.
38:19You can have two senators
38:21from each state,
38:22and they'll be
38:23sort of where the brains are.
38:27and representatives
38:28in the House of Congress
38:29will be apportioned
38:31by population.
38:32And that's where
38:33the virtue will lie,
38:34the sort of sense
38:35of what the people want.
38:36So if you have them both,
38:38you get the wisdom
38:39of the Senate
38:40and the virtue
38:41of the people.
38:43Article 2, Section 1.
38:45The executive power
38:46shall be vested
38:47in a president
38:48of the United States
38:49of America.
38:50He shall hold his office
38:52during a term
38:52of four years,
38:53and together
38:55with a vice president
38:56chosen to the same year.
38:56Washington exerts
38:57his greatest influence
38:58in fashioning
38:59the unprecedented role
39:00of an elected president.
39:02After years of wrangling
39:04with Continental Congress
39:05during the war,
39:06he knows better than anyone
39:08the need
39:08for a decisive executive.
39:11The president
39:12will execute
39:12the laws of Congress,
39:13and as a civilian,
39:15will act as the commander-in-chief
39:17of the National Army
39:18and Navy.
39:20Military tyranny
39:21is something
39:22they're determined
39:22to avoid.
39:23So the respect
39:25for civilian authority
39:26is something
39:27that plays a large role
39:29in the new Constitution.
39:31These first two articles
39:32and the third
39:33establishing a Supreme Court
39:35form the heart
39:36of an unprecedented democracy.
39:38But the document
39:39also contains
39:40a blatant anomaly,
39:42slavery.
39:43slavery was in clear
39:46counterpoint
39:47to the ideals
39:48of the revolution.
39:50But these guys
39:51believed very strongly,
39:53particularly in the
39:53plantation economies,
39:55that slavery
39:55was the basis
39:56of their livelihood.
39:59Many of them
39:59felt that slavery
40:01was wrong.
40:02Those who were
40:03dependent upon it
40:04could not
40:05figure out a way
40:07to escape it.
40:11with the South
40:12threatening to secede,
40:14the delegates
40:15agreed to continue
40:16the importation
40:16of slaves
40:17for another 20 years.
40:20Another clause
40:21prohibits any state
40:22from harboring
40:23or freeing
40:23escaped slaves
40:24from their masters.
40:26For the purpose
40:28of counting population,
40:29slaves are defined
40:30as three-fifths
40:32of a person.
40:33Otherwise,
40:34they are property,
40:35not people.
40:38Even though
40:40slavery was such
40:41a hot topic
40:42of discussion
40:42at the convention,
40:44the word slave
40:45or slavery
40:46does not appear
40:47in that document
40:48at all.
40:49You will find
40:50slavery talked about,
40:52just not named.
40:53You know,
40:54they will use
40:54euphemisms like
40:55those not free,
40:56other persons,
40:57and so on.
40:59Slavery is so
41:00interwoven
41:00in the economy
41:01of the South
41:02that they just
41:03can't bring themselves
41:04to a great
41:05of this wrong.
41:06And they basically
41:07postponed the problem
41:08to be reckoned with
41:09on another day.
41:10That day became
41:11the Civil War.
41:12It was a pretty bad day.
41:15On September 17,
41:171787,
41:1839 exhausted delegates
41:20signed the finished document.
41:23The Constitution
41:24they have fashioned
41:25to form a more
41:26perfect union
41:26is an imperfect
41:28compromise of visions,
41:29and few of the signers,
41:31if any,
41:31are truly satisfied.
41:35but with characteristic
41:37optimism,
41:38Benjamin Franklin
41:39sets aside
41:39his own reservations
41:41and fully endorses it.
41:44I think it will
41:45astonish our enemies
41:46who are waiting
41:47to hear that our states
41:48are on the point
41:49of separation.
41:51Thus,
41:51I consent to this
41:53Constitution
41:53because I expect
41:54no better,
41:56and because I am not
41:57sure that it is not
41:59the best.
42:05Two days later,
42:06the proposed
42:07United States Constitution
42:09goes into print.
42:11Born in secrecy,
42:12it takes the public
42:13by complete surprise.
42:16Few expected
42:17such a sweeping
42:18new form of government,
42:19but the people
42:20will study it
42:21and argue it,
42:22and soon they too
42:23will have their say.
42:25For all the talk
42:26about popular
42:27sovereignty
42:28that had gone on
42:29during the war
42:30and that's what
42:31we were fighting for,
42:32what we come to
42:33in the end
42:34is a small group
42:35of people at the top
42:36determining what
42:37they think the fate
42:38of the nation should be
42:39and then having to
42:40sell it as if
42:41a product
42:42to the rest.
42:45It will take
42:46nearly a year
42:47for the required
42:48two-thirds
42:49of the states
42:50to ratify
42:50this Constitution.
42:52On June 21st,
42:541788,
42:56it becomes
42:57the law
42:57of the land.
43:03Washington returns
43:04once again
43:05to Mount Vernon
43:05after the signing
43:06of the Constitution,
43:08hoping to live out
43:09his days there.
43:12But he knows,
43:13like virtually
43:14every other American,
43:15that when it comes
43:16time to elect
43:17the first president
43:18of the United States,
43:19it is he
43:20who will be called.
43:24He is the only person
43:26that could be
43:27the president.
43:28Nobody else
43:29could hold
43:29the United States
43:30together.
43:31Everybody trusted
43:32and admired him.
43:34Only he could do this.
43:38He feels that history
43:39is drawing him
43:40to this.
43:42That it's a destiny
43:43of some kind.
43:47In a time
43:48like no other,
43:49when history
43:50has made men
43:51and men
43:52have made history,
43:53no one
43:54more than
43:54George Washington
43:55has guided
43:56the destiny
43:56of America.
43:58Twice he has
43:59taken the stage
44:00and twice he has
44:01left it.
44:02Now,
44:03for the third time,
44:04his people
44:05and the lure
44:05of posterity
44:06call him
44:07to take the helm
44:08of this new nation
44:09and lead it
44:11into its unprecedented
44:12and uncertain future
44:13as the United States
44:16of America.
44:20Next time
44:21on The Revolution,
44:22Washington will begin
44:23the trek
44:24from retirement
44:24in Mount Vernon
44:25to New York
44:26for his inauguration
44:27as the first president
44:28of the United States
44:29of a new America.
44:31It isn't that they think
44:33he should be the president.
44:34He must be the president.
44:36His eight-day ride
44:38will take him
44:38across many
44:39of the former colonies
44:40of America.
44:41It is a journey
44:42that will have
44:42the future president
44:43not only looking ahead
44:44but looking back
44:45at what made
44:46George Washington
44:47the greatest
44:48American general.
44:49A one-year-old
45:11saw him
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