1
00:00:13,570 --> 00:00:15,840
<i>After six long years,</i>

2
00:00:15,864 --> 00:00:17,931
<i>the British
are striking directly</i>

3
00:00:17,955 --> 00:00:20,512
<i>at the heart
of the Patriot cause</i>

4
00:00:20,536 --> 00:00:23,139
<i>in a bid to finally end the war.</i>

5
00:00:23,163 --> 00:00:25,099
20 hogshead.

6
00:00:25,123 --> 00:00:28,061
Pure Virginia tobacco.

7
00:00:28,085 --> 00:00:30,045
A man could live off
that for years.

8
00:00:32,214 --> 00:00:34,529
<i>At the tip of the spear
is the man</i>

9
00:00:34,553 --> 00:00:36,906
<i>who nearly took down
the Continental Army</i>

10
00:00:36,930 --> 00:00:39,217
<i>with an act of betrayal.</i>

11
00:00:47,688 --> 00:00:50,124
<i>The turncoat Benedict Arnold</i>

12
00:00:50,148 --> 00:00:52,877
<i>is now a British
brigadier general</i>

13
00:00:52,901 --> 00:00:55,380
<i>on the front lines
of their latest strategy</i>

14
00:00:55,404 --> 00:00:57,882
<i>to crush the rebel spirit</i>

15
00:00:57,906 --> 00:01:01,719
<i>and rouse a loyalist army
to fight the Patriots.</i>

16
00:01:01,743 --> 00:01:03,253
Burn it all.

17
00:01:04,413 --> 00:01:06,099
The British think, okay,
we're gonna sweep south

18
00:01:06,123 --> 00:01:07,600
and get control here

19
00:01:07,624 --> 00:01:09,567
in a way that we haven't before.

20
00:01:09,591 --> 00:01:11,938
There's a lot of action
happening on a lot of fronts

21
00:01:11,962 --> 00:01:13,481
at this point.

22
00:01:13,505 --> 00:01:15,942
Arnold is sent to the Chesapeake

23
00:01:15,966 --> 00:01:18,194
to attack the American forces

24
00:01:18,218 --> 00:01:19,445
in Washington's backyard,

25
00:01:19,469 --> 00:01:20,947
and soon Richmond,

26
00:01:20,971 --> 00:01:24,075
the capital of Virginia,
is in flames.

27
00:01:24,099 --> 00:01:26,828
It's a double blow
not only to have betrayed

28
00:01:26,852 --> 00:01:29,289
for the cause, but then
to lead a successful raid

29
00:01:29,313 --> 00:01:31,749
in the heart of the revolution.

30
00:01:31,773 --> 00:01:33,073
It made Americans furious.

31
00:01:41,950 --> 00:01:44,017
What is it,
Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton?

32
00:01:44,041 --> 00:01:45,597
We just received word.

33
00:01:45,621 --> 00:01:47,390
Arnold has been sighted
in the south.

34
00:01:47,414 --> 00:01:48,975
Where?

35
00:01:48,999 --> 00:01:50,101
Virginia.

36
00:01:50,125 --> 00:01:51,745
Outside Richmond.

37
00:01:54,004 --> 00:01:55,607
Virginia.

38
00:01:55,631 --> 00:01:57,567
How many men
does Arnold command?

39
00:01:57,591 --> 00:01:59,360
It's hard to be certain.

40
00:01:59,384 --> 00:02:01,974
Over a thousand.
Less than 1,500?

41
00:02:03,180 --> 00:02:04,949
Send the marquis.

42
00:02:04,973 --> 00:02:07,160
I suppose we could spare
a thousand men, but.

43
00:02:07,184 --> 00:02:08,830
Well, if the reports
are accurate,

44
00:02:08,854 --> 00:02:10,458
Lafayette will be outnumbered.

45
00:02:10,482 --> 00:02:12,290
Well, our troops
are already stretched thin,

46
00:02:12,314 --> 00:02:14,131
and if we truly aim
to reclaim New York

47
00:02:14,155 --> 00:02:16,919
I would prefer,
when I return home,

48
00:02:16,943 --> 00:02:20,256
Arnold has not
reduced it to ashes.

49
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,550
Hmm.

50
00:02:22,574 --> 00:02:25,428
Still no word from the French.

51
00:02:25,452 --> 00:02:27,599
Rochambeau is waiting
to hear from his admirals.

52
00:02:27,623 --> 00:02:30,171
For now, their ships remain
anchored off Rhode Island.

53
00:02:31,750 --> 00:02:34,857
Perhaps if they see the urgency
in destroying Arnold's forces,

54
00:02:34,881 --> 00:02:38,483
they will finally
join this war in earnest.

55
00:02:38,507 --> 00:02:41,944
Our fleet has remained idle
far too long.

56
00:02:41,968 --> 00:02:44,739
<i>The French have been allied
to America</i>

57
00:02:44,763 --> 00:02:47,033
<i>since early 1778,</i>

58
00:02:47,057 --> 00:02:48,993
<i>and while they have a fleet</i>

59
00:02:49,017 --> 00:02:53,164
<i>and more than 5,000 troops
stationed in New England,</i>

60
00:02:53,188 --> 00:02:55,625
<i>they have yet to join the fight.</i>

61
00:02:55,649 --> 00:02:58,378
Washington has been
cultivating Rochambeau

62
00:02:58,402 --> 00:03:02,340
to plan for an allout assault
on New York City.

63
00:03:02,364 --> 00:03:05,391
He still believes that's
the best way to win the war.

64
00:03:05,415 --> 00:03:07,261
<i>But the French commander.</i>

65
00:03:07,285 --> 00:03:10,014
<i>Comte de Rochambeau
isn't convinced.</i>

66
00:03:10,038 --> 00:03:12,016
<i>And for now,</i>

67
00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,607
<i>Washington must face
the British surge</i>

68
00:03:14,631 --> 00:03:16,938
<i>on his own.</i>

69
00:03:16,962 --> 00:03:19,857
Provide the marquis
with 1,200 soldiers.

70
00:03:19,881 --> 00:03:21,359
Yes, sir.

71
00:03:21,383 --> 00:03:23,198
With the French support or not,

72
00:03:23,222 --> 00:03:25,365
the marquis will have
the traitor's head on a pike.

73
00:03:25,389 --> 00:03:28,408
As long as he is brought
before me in the end,

74
00:03:28,432 --> 00:03:31,482
the state of his person
bears no concern.

75
00:03:35,313 --> 00:03:37,959
<i>Washington's determination
to catch Arnold</i>

76
00:03:37,983 --> 00:03:39,544
<i>isn't just personal,</i>

77
00:03:39,568 --> 00:03:41,087
<i>it's imperative.</i>

78
00:03:41,111 --> 00:03:43,965
<i>By January, 1781,</i>

79
00:03:43,989 --> 00:03:47,552
<i>the revolutionary cause
is teetering on the edge.</i>

80
00:03:47,576 --> 00:03:49,721
Like every war, people think

81
00:03:49,745 --> 00:03:53,057
that this is gonna be
over pretty quickly.

82
00:03:53,081 --> 00:03:55,977
And they could not have had
the resources

83
00:03:56,001 --> 00:03:58,479
or understood
what a protracted thing

84
00:03:58,503 --> 00:03:59,740
this was going to be.

85
00:03:59,764 --> 00:04:01,607
The spirit of 1776

86
00:04:01,631 --> 00:04:04,158
that had fueled this revolution
in the beginning

87
00:04:04,182 --> 00:04:05,611
was long gone.

88
00:04:05,635 --> 00:04:08,614
The American people
were tired of war.

89
00:04:08,638 --> 00:04:10,700
Because the economy
has collapsed,

90
00:04:10,724 --> 00:04:12,751
because Congress is ineffective,

91
00:04:12,775 --> 00:04:15,079
because people are losing focus,

92
00:04:15,103 --> 00:04:16,914
even Washington admits

93
00:04:16,938 --> 00:04:20,608
that if this goes much longer,
we've lost.

94
00:04:21,777 --> 00:04:24,756
<i>It's not just the country
that's wavering,</i>

95
00:04:24,780 --> 00:04:26,674
<i>it's also the troops.</i>

96
00:04:26,698 --> 00:04:30,178
<i>After years without
sufficient food or salary,</i>

97
00:04:30,202 --> 00:04:32,180
<i>incidents of mutiny</i>

98
00:04:32,204 --> 00:04:35,141
<i>in the Continental Army
are rising.</i>

99
00:04:35,165 --> 00:04:39,479
The troops are beginning
to lose their hope.

100
00:04:39,503 --> 00:04:41,777
In particular,
they've not been paid.

101
00:04:41,801 --> 00:04:43,107
This is a big problem.

102
00:04:43,131 --> 00:04:44,567
Congress doesn't have the money,

103
00:04:44,591 --> 00:04:46,027
so the soldiers were told,

104
00:04:46,051 --> 00:04:48,157
"We'll pay you
at the end of the war."

105
00:04:48,181 --> 00:04:49,785
They've been provided alcohol

106
00:04:49,809 --> 00:04:53,743
and firearms,
but that's about it.

107
00:04:53,767 --> 00:04:55,661
<i>It is in vain to think</i>

108
00:04:55,685 --> 00:04:58,372
<i>an army can be kept
together much longer</i>

109
00:04:58,396 --> 00:05:00,043
<i>under such a variety
of sufferings</i>

110
00:05:00,067 --> 00:05:02,502
<i>as ours has experienced,</i>

111
00:05:02,526 --> 00:05:04,462
<i>and that, unless some immediate</i>

112
00:05:04,486 --> 00:05:06,672
<i>and spirited measures
are adopted</i>

113
00:05:06,696 --> 00:05:09,884
<i>to furnish at least three
months' pay to the troops,</i>

114
00:05:09,908 --> 00:05:11,677
<i>clothe and feed them better,</i>

115
00:05:11,701 --> 00:05:15,501
<i>the worst that can befall us
may be expected.</i>

116
00:05:19,501 --> 00:05:21,270
Three years.

117
00:05:21,294 --> 00:05:26,150
We've been out here
three years fighting.

118
00:05:26,174 --> 00:05:28,402
No food,

119
00:05:28,426 --> 00:05:29,926
no shelter.

120
00:05:31,888 --> 00:05:33,449
When was the last time

121
00:05:33,473 --> 00:05:34,700
you had a decent pair
of boots on your feet?

122
00:05:34,724 --> 00:05:37,328
Never. Yeah.

123
00:05:37,352 --> 00:05:40,164
And what about pay? Yeah.

124
00:05:40,188 --> 00:05:42,295
We expected to risk
our lives for free?

125
00:05:42,319 --> 00:05:43,668
No. No.

126
00:05:43,692 --> 00:05:45,089
Go through hell
and not even receive

127
00:05:45,113 --> 00:05:47,964
a decent belly full
before nightfall?

128
00:05:47,988 --> 00:05:49,465
No. Yeah.

129
00:05:49,489 --> 00:05:50,758
They said things would change.

130
00:05:50,782 --> 00:05:52,176
Yeah. Yeah.

131
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:53,386
And we listened to them. Yeah.

132
00:05:53,410 --> 00:05:55,096
Yeah. Yeah.

133
00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,099
Well, I tell you,

134
00:05:58,123 --> 00:06:02,103
nothing will change
unless we make it.

135
00:06:02,127 --> 00:06:04,021
Yeah. Yeah.

136
00:06:04,045 --> 00:06:05,940
So I say we march.

137
00:06:05,964 --> 00:06:07,483
Yeah. Yeah.

138
00:06:07,507 --> 00:06:10,137
Tell it to them face to face!
Yeah!

139
00:06:11,344 --> 00:06:16,200
And if we need to spill blood...

140
00:06:16,224 --> 00:06:18,119
so be it.

141
00:06:18,143 --> 00:06:20,121
Yeah!

142
00:06:20,145 --> 00:06:23,708
No more without pay.

143
00:06:23,732 --> 00:06:27,003
No more without food! Yeah!

144
00:06:27,027 --> 00:06:30,715
No bread, no soldiers!
No more soldiers.

145
00:06:30,739 --> 00:06:33,551
No bread, no soldiers.

146
00:06:33,575 --> 00:06:36,762
No bread, no soldiers.
No bread, no soldiers.

147
00:06:36,786 --> 00:06:39,682
<i>The New Jersey troops will
soon march toward Trenton</i>

148
00:06:39,706 --> 00:06:43,769
<i>to demand what they're owed
by force.</i>

149
00:06:43,793 --> 00:06:47,565
Let us go!

150
00:06:47,589 --> 00:06:49,946
Washington is watching
the American war effort

151
00:06:49,970 --> 00:06:51,319
wither on the vine.

152
00:06:51,343 --> 00:06:53,576
And this adds
to Washington's anxiety.

153
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,741
"How do I present as good
a face on this as possible

154
00:06:56,765 --> 00:06:59,015
when actually things
are not that good?"

155
00:07:07,150 --> 00:07:12,131
We have earned the respect
of the French, and now this.

156
00:07:12,155 --> 00:07:14,300
What will they think?

157
00:07:14,324 --> 00:07:15,968
How will the world see us

158
00:07:15,992 --> 00:07:17,952
when we cannot even manage
our own men?

159
00:07:26,795 --> 00:07:28,125
Your orders, sir?

160
00:07:29,798 --> 00:07:32,068
Send as large a detachment
as we can spare.

161
00:07:32,092 --> 00:07:34,142
Force the soldiers
back into line.

162
00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,180
Execute the leader.

163
00:07:42,978 --> 00:07:45,289
<i>You have to understand
these young people</i>

164
00:07:45,313 --> 00:07:47,046
<i>lost confidence in their leaders</i>

165
00:07:47,070 --> 00:07:48,668
<i>which is where a mutiny
comes from.</i>

166
00:07:48,692 --> 00:07:50,419
No, bread, no soldiers!

167
00:07:50,443 --> 00:07:53,258
But you had to knock it
down as fast as you could.

168
00:07:53,282 --> 00:07:56,175
You couldn't let it spread
because it's like a virus.

169
00:07:56,199 --> 00:07:58,219
If it's not dealt with
immediately,

170
00:07:58,243 --> 00:07:59,743
it will infect
the whole organization.

171
00:08:02,789 --> 00:08:03,789
Go on! Yeah.

172
00:08:13,383 --> 00:08:16,320
<i>Mutiny is tearing apart the army</i>

173
00:08:16,344 --> 00:08:19,161
<i>that George Washington
struggled to hold together</i>

174
00:08:19,185 --> 00:08:22,034
<i>through six years of war.</i>

175
00:08:22,058 --> 00:08:25,621
<i>Now, with the revolutionary
cause at risk,</i>

176
00:08:25,645 --> 00:08:29,208
<i>he's restoring order
among his New Jersey troops</i>

177
00:08:29,232 --> 00:08:31,711
<i>by force.</i>

178
00:08:31,735 --> 00:08:34,714
<i>The object is to compel
the mutineers</i>

179
00:08:34,738 --> 00:08:38,134
<i>to unconditional submission.</i>

180
00:08:38,158 --> 00:08:40,386
The mutiny has been broken up.

181
00:08:40,410 --> 00:08:42,430
The men have been disarmed.

182
00:08:42,454 --> 00:08:45,351
They are ordered
to reveal their ringleaders.

183
00:08:45,375 --> 00:08:47,768
Go on.

184
00:08:47,792 --> 00:08:50,646
Do it, then.

185
00:08:50,670 --> 00:08:54,692
<i>You will represent to them
how dangerous to civil liberty</i>

186
00:08:54,716 --> 00:08:57,194
<i>the precedent is
of armed soldiers</i>

187
00:08:57,218 --> 00:08:58,738
<i>dictating terms
to their country.</i>

188
00:08:58,762 --> 00:09:01,142
Drop. Drop.

189
00:09:02,390 --> 00:09:03,659
Move. Move.

190
00:09:03,683 --> 00:09:05,494
<i>The mutineers,</i>

191
00:09:05,518 --> 00:09:07,938
<i>they're given muskets
and a choice.</i>

192
00:09:13,526 --> 00:09:15,546
<i>"Execute your ringleader"</i>

193
00:09:15,570 --> 00:09:17,070
<i>or be executed.</i>

194
00:09:24,287 --> 00:09:25,806
Take aim!

195
00:09:25,830 --> 00:09:27,397
<i>They have to raise their muskets</i>

196
00:09:27,421 --> 00:09:28,893
<i>and, at the order,</i>

197
00:09:28,917 --> 00:09:31,167
<i>open fire on their own comrades.</i>

198
00:09:34,506 --> 00:09:37,376
I spoke nothing but the truth.

199
00:09:41,596 --> 00:09:43,426
Fire!

200
00:09:51,981 --> 00:09:54,085
It's good to be a nice guy,

201
00:09:54,109 --> 00:09:56,215
but at the end of the day
in those days,

202
00:09:56,239 --> 00:09:57,838
you had to use these tools

203
00:09:57,862 --> 00:09:59,759
to keep an organization
together.

204
00:09:59,783 --> 00:10:02,161
And he was up to that task.

205
00:10:05,578 --> 00:10:07,348
<i>Washington's tactic</i>

206
00:10:07,372 --> 00:10:10,309
<i>stemmed the tide of mutiny
and saved his army.</i>

207
00:10:10,333 --> 00:10:11,977
<i>But in the South,</i>

208
00:10:12,001 --> 00:10:14,438
<i>the British are
more determined than ever</i>

209
00:10:14,462 --> 00:10:15,632
<i>to destroy it.</i>

210
00:10:17,173 --> 00:10:19,151
<i>General Charles Cornwallis,</i>

211
00:10:19,175 --> 00:10:21,278
<i>who has spent much
of the past two years</i>

212
00:10:21,302 --> 00:10:22,988
<i>fighting in the Carolinas,</i>

213
00:10:23,012 --> 00:10:25,324
<i>is now moving into Virginia.</i>

214
00:10:25,348 --> 00:10:28,119
General Cornwallis
is one of the ablest

215
00:10:28,143 --> 00:10:30,037
British generals.

216
00:10:30,061 --> 00:10:33,124
He's quickminded.
He moves aggressively.

217
00:10:33,148 --> 00:10:35,858
He knows how to handle troops
in the field.

218
00:10:37,443 --> 00:10:39,088
Lord Cornwallis decides,

219
00:10:39,112 --> 00:10:40,548
"I'm gonna go to Virginia."

220
00:10:40,572 --> 00:10:42,299
"Virginia is home to Washington,"

221
00:10:42,323 --> 00:10:43,509
"home to Jefferson,"

222
00:10:43,533 --> 00:10:44,969
"all these Patriot leaders."

223
00:10:44,993 --> 00:10:47,179
"If I can make them suffer,"

224
00:10:47,203 --> 00:10:49,913
"maybe I can get the Patriots
to come to terms."

225
00:10:51,249 --> 00:10:53,269
<i>As Cornwallis arrives,</i>

226
00:10:53,293 --> 00:10:55,729
<i>Benedict Arnold,
who's continued to burn</i>

227
00:10:55,753 --> 00:10:57,648
<i>and loot the state,</i>

228
00:10:57,672 --> 00:10:59,441
<i>is on his way out.</i>

229
00:10:59,465 --> 00:11:01,652
Arnold is a great commander,

230
00:11:01,676 --> 00:11:04,155
and he was considered that way
by the British.

231
00:11:04,179 --> 00:11:06,325
However, there are a lot
of British officers

232
00:11:06,349 --> 00:11:08,200
who even see him as a traitor,

233
00:11:08,224 --> 00:11:09,684
as a man with no honor.

234
00:11:13,605 --> 00:11:15,499
Ah, General Cornwallis.

235
00:11:15,523 --> 00:11:17,863
Brigadier General Arnold.

236
00:11:19,569 --> 00:11:23,507
I have received reports
of your progress here.

237
00:11:23,531 --> 00:11:26,201
And yet
I am still being replaced.

238
00:11:28,703 --> 00:11:31,265
I burn their ironworks
in Weston,

239
00:11:31,289 --> 00:11:34,685
tobacco fields
and warehouses in Richmond.

240
00:11:34,709 --> 00:11:37,146
Destroyed their gun powder,
poured out their rum.

241
00:11:37,170 --> 00:11:39,732
Yes, I know. I read the reports.

242
00:11:39,756 --> 00:11:41,525
What we have to worry
about now is the French.

243
00:11:41,549 --> 00:11:44,195
We can no longer take our
naval advantage for granted.

244
00:11:44,219 --> 00:11:45,738
If we're not careful,

245
00:11:45,762 --> 00:11:48,159
we'll become vulnerable
to attack by water.

246
00:11:48,183 --> 00:11:52,203
Well, then the responsibility
is mine now.

247
00:11:52,227 --> 00:11:54,205
You need trouble yourself
no further.

248
00:11:54,229 --> 00:11:55,915
As I experienced
If you will excuse me,

249
00:11:55,939 --> 00:11:57,458
Brigadier General,

250
00:11:57,482 --> 00:12:00,502
we have important matters
to attend to here,

251
00:12:00,526 --> 00:12:02,880
and I am sure...

252
00:12:02,904 --> 00:12:05,414
you need to prepare
for your journey north.

253
00:12:22,882 --> 00:12:24,693
<i>Within a year,</i>

254
00:12:24,717 --> 00:12:28,197
<i>Arnold leaves for England
with his wife Peggy,</i>

255
00:12:28,221 --> 00:12:31,521
<i>never again to set foot
on American soil.</i>

256
00:12:34,978 --> 00:12:38,207
<i>The first order of business
for General Cornwallis</i>

257
00:12:38,231 --> 00:12:40,338
<i>is to set up a base
on the Chesapeake</i>

258
00:12:40,362 --> 00:12:43,858
<i>for the Royal Navy
and his roughly 8,000 troops.</i>

259
00:12:45,154 --> 00:12:48,425
<i>By July, he chooses Yorktown.</i>

260
00:12:48,449 --> 00:12:51,766
<i>The post is easily accessible
to the British fleet</i>

261
00:12:51,790 --> 00:12:55,182
<i>for resupply and reinforcement.</i>

262
00:12:55,206 --> 00:12:57,559
<i>But it's also vulnerable
to the French,</i>

263
00:12:57,583 --> 00:12:59,353
<i>who finally see an opening</i>

264
00:12:59,377 --> 00:13:03,440
<i>to mount a decisive strike
against the British.</i>

265
00:13:03,464 --> 00:13:07,778
<i>Within weeks,
the allies move into action.</i>

266
00:13:07,802 --> 00:13:09,738
Cornwallis doesn't realize

267
00:13:09,762 --> 00:13:11,699
that the French are prepared

268
00:13:11,723 --> 00:13:15,494
to send a fleet
to trap him in Virginia.

269
00:13:15,518 --> 00:13:18,998
The French Navy was about
to arrive at the Chesapeake.

270
00:13:19,022 --> 00:13:21,375
If Washington and Rochambeau

271
00:13:21,399 --> 00:13:24,586
could get their armies down
there as quickly as possible,

272
00:13:24,610 --> 00:13:27,660
the trap could shut
around Lord Cornwallis.

273
00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,011
<i>When the navies clash
in September,</i>

274
00:13:32,035 --> 00:13:34,763
<i>the French score
an unexpected victory,</i>

275
00:13:34,787 --> 00:13:38,892
<i>giving the alliance control
of the seas around Yorktown.</i>

276
00:13:38,916 --> 00:13:41,895
For once, the French Navy
defeats the Royal Navy

277
00:13:41,919 --> 00:13:43,439
and drives them away

278
00:13:43,463 --> 00:13:45,030
from the mouth
of Chesapeake Bay.

279
00:13:45,054 --> 00:13:47,693
The French
have achieved temporary,

280
00:13:47,717 --> 00:13:50,320
very brief naval superiority.

281
00:13:50,344 --> 00:13:51,864
This is the moment

282
00:13:51,888 --> 00:13:55,018
Washington has been
looking for since 1775.

283
00:13:58,519 --> 00:14:02,166
<i>The allied army arrives
on the outskirts of Yorktown</i>

284
00:14:02,190 --> 00:14:04,043
<i>within weeks,</i>

285
00:14:04,067 --> 00:14:06,687
<i>cutting off Cornwallis'
only remaining escape.</i>

286
00:14:11,949 --> 00:14:16,805
<i>With a combined 19,000
French and Americans soldiers,</i>

287
00:14:16,829 --> 00:14:19,516
<i>it's the most formidable
fighting force.</i>

288
00:14:19,540 --> 00:14:21,330
<i>Washington will ever command.</i>

289
00:14:24,670 --> 00:14:26,523
<i>To defeat Cornwallis,</i>

290
00:14:26,547 --> 00:14:30,235
<i>Washington and his allies
opt for a classic siege.</i>

291
00:14:30,259 --> 00:14:32,366
<i>They create a series of trenches</i>

292
00:14:32,390 --> 00:14:34,907
<i>that creep ever closer
to the enemy.</i>

293
00:14:34,931 --> 00:14:36,992
<i>If all goes to plan,</i>

294
00:14:37,016 --> 00:14:41,306
<i>the British defenses should
collapse in a matter of days.</i>

295
00:14:44,315 --> 00:14:47,753
Report, Major General Lafayette.

296
00:14:47,777 --> 00:14:49,417
The trench should be
completed by morning.

297
00:14:51,948 --> 00:14:54,134
Then we move up the artillery.

298
00:14:54,158 --> 00:14:56,428
Rochambeau and his best men
are with Knox now,

299
00:14:56,452 --> 00:14:58,229
reviewing placements
and positions.

300
00:14:58,253 --> 00:14:59,576
Good.

301
00:15:00,790 --> 00:15:03,769
My countrymen are finally
think for themselves.

302
00:15:03,793 --> 00:15:08,398
You Americans are fast learners.

303
00:15:08,422 --> 00:15:15,072
What other choices do we have?

304
00:15:15,096 --> 00:15:17,616
<i>The present moment offers
in prospect</i>

305
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:21,161
<i>the epoque which will decide
American independence</i>

306
00:15:21,185 --> 00:15:24,873
<i>and the glory and superiority
of the allies.</i>

307
00:15:24,897 --> 00:15:26,625
<i>The liberties of America</i>

308
00:15:26,649 --> 00:15:29,128
<i>and the honor of the allied arms</i>

309
00:15:29,152 --> 00:15:30,782
<i>are in our hands.</i>

310
00:15:31,988 --> 00:15:33,549
This is the moment

311
00:15:33,573 --> 00:15:35,953
where it all comes
together for Washington.

312
00:15:43,082 --> 00:15:44,979
It was almost beyond his ability

313
00:15:45,003 --> 00:15:47,229
to comprehend that finally,

314
00:15:47,253 --> 00:15:48,990
after six years of thinking

315
00:15:49,014 --> 00:15:51,942
it was all about to fall apart,

316
00:15:51,966 --> 00:15:55,546
it was all on the edge
of actually happening.

317
00:16:13,654 --> 00:16:16,008
Everyone...

318
00:16:16,032 --> 00:16:17,072
fire!

319
00:16:24,457 --> 00:16:25,457
Fire!

320
00:16:37,178 --> 00:16:39,490
Fire!

321
00:16:39,514 --> 00:16:40,854
Reload.

322
00:16:46,687 --> 00:16:49,500
Direct hit after direct hit.

323
00:16:49,524 --> 00:16:52,671
<i>General George Washington's
dreamed of launching</i>

324
00:16:52,695 --> 00:16:55,172
<i>a grand assault on the enemy</i>

325
00:16:55,196 --> 00:16:57,156
<i>since the day the war began.</i>

326
00:17:00,576 --> 00:17:04,076
<i>And now he finally
has the fire power.</i>

327
00:17:05,706 --> 00:17:08,185
<i>Thousands of troops
and dozens of heavy guns</i>

328
00:17:08,209 --> 00:17:09,978
<i>are being added to his arsenal,</i>

329
00:17:10,002 --> 00:17:12,359
<i>thanks to the French
and their commander.</i>

330
00:17:12,383 --> 00:17:14,590
<i>Comte de Rochambeau.</i>

331
00:17:16,592 --> 00:17:18,320
Increase our bombardment.

332
00:17:18,344 --> 00:17:20,827
We cannot let the British
to rebuild their fortifications.

333
00:17:20,851 --> 00:17:22,866
I doubt they will hold
for another day.

334
00:17:22,890 --> 00:17:24,284
And I doubt, Henry,

335
00:17:24,308 --> 00:17:25,978
that they will give up
so easily.

336
00:17:40,866 --> 00:17:42,026
Incoming!

337
00:17:48,249 --> 00:17:50,561
<i>48 hours into the bombardment.</i>

338
00:17:50,585 --> 00:17:52,354
Out. All of you.

339
00:17:52,378 --> 00:17:54,508
<i>Entrapped
by Washington's forces...</i>

340
00:17:55,756 --> 00:17:58,569
<i>General Cornwallis is pinning
all his hopes</i>

341
00:17:58,593 --> 00:18:00,279
<i>on reinforcement.</i>

342
00:18:00,303 --> 00:18:05,200
Sir, I can only repeat
that nothing but a successful

343
00:18:05,224 --> 00:18:07,814
naval action can save me.

344
00:18:14,150 --> 00:18:17,087
We have lost about 70 men,

345
00:18:17,111 --> 00:18:20,757
and many of our works
have been seriously damaged.

346
00:18:20,781 --> 00:18:25,262
Against so powerful an attack,

347
00:18:25,286 --> 00:18:28,076
we cannot hope to make
a very long resistance.

348
00:18:29,373 --> 00:18:31,253
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

349
00:18:37,465 --> 00:18:39,109
Where do we stand?

350
00:18:39,133 --> 00:18:41,867
Our bombardments have weakened
them considerably.

351
00:18:41,891 --> 00:18:44,406
General Cornwallis
has withdrawn most of his forces

352
00:18:44,430 --> 00:18:46,408
into the city as it stands.

353
00:18:46,432 --> 00:18:48,039
They're down
to two fortifications

354
00:18:48,063 --> 00:18:50,412
with ops here and here.

355
00:18:50,436 --> 00:18:52,122
If we take the Redoubts,

356
00:18:52,146 --> 00:18:54,793
we can run our next trench
all the way to the water.

357
00:18:54,817 --> 00:18:56,293
But then the barrels
of our cannon,

358
00:18:56,317 --> 00:18:59,463
will breach the threshold
of their position.

359
00:18:59,487 --> 00:19:02,132
<i>Known as Redoubts 9 and 10,</i>

360
00:19:02,156 --> 00:19:04,635
<i>the fortifications
are the last line of defense</i>

361
00:19:04,659 --> 00:19:06,470
<i>holding off the Americans</i>

362
00:19:06,494 --> 00:19:08,141
<i>from advancing their trench line</i>

363
00:19:08,165 --> 00:19:11,308
<i>to bombard the town
at close range.</i>

364
00:19:11,332 --> 00:19:12,899
How many men
does number 10 hold?

365
00:19:12,923 --> 00:19:14,311
Perhaps 50,

366
00:19:14,335 --> 00:19:16,813
but heavily armed
and wellfortified,

367
00:19:16,837 --> 00:19:19,193
it will certainly
not be easy to take.

368
00:19:19,217 --> 00:19:20,817
We will need to overwhelm them.

369
00:19:20,841 --> 00:19:23,236
And catch them by surprise.

370
00:19:23,260 --> 00:19:24,825
As soon as our men are spotted,

371
00:19:24,849 --> 00:19:26,465
they will come under heavy fire.

372
00:19:28,849 --> 00:19:30,535
Send 400 men.

373
00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:32,876
Move out tonight under
the cover of darkness.

374
00:19:32,900 --> 00:19:35,475
And who shall lead them?

375
00:19:39,527 --> 00:19:41,027
Alexander.

376
00:19:48,869 --> 00:19:53,684
Hamilton is Washington's
essential staff officer,

377
00:19:53,708 --> 00:19:55,727
but he doesn't want
to stay a staff officer

378
00:19:55,751 --> 00:19:57,688
because real glory
comes if you lead men

379
00:19:57,712 --> 00:19:59,172
in combat to victory.

380
00:20:03,050 --> 00:20:06,029
Washington becomes dependent
upon Hamilton's competence,

381
00:20:06,053 --> 00:20:10,867
so he's reluctant
to see Hamilton go.

382
00:20:10,891 --> 00:20:15,205
Washington recognizes
his own self in Hamilton.

383
00:20:15,229 --> 00:20:17,040
Hamilton wants
to command an army.

384
00:20:17,064 --> 00:20:19,918
This is how a man is made.

385
00:20:19,942 --> 00:20:22,509
This is command you've been
seeking, is it not?

386
00:20:22,533 --> 00:20:23,714
Yes, sir.

387
00:20:23,738 --> 00:20:25,215
The reward is high.

388
00:20:25,239 --> 00:20:26,967
The risk is equally as great.

389
00:20:26,991 --> 00:20:29,661
I shall not let you down, sir.

390
00:20:32,037 --> 00:20:33,577
Then the command is yours.

391
00:21:08,282 --> 00:21:09,926
With Redoubt No. 10,

392
00:21:09,950 --> 00:21:13,597
I think you see the American
talent for improvisation

393
00:21:13,621 --> 00:21:14,911
coming to the fore.

394
00:21:17,625 --> 00:21:19,770
They dispense
with the usual protocols

395
00:21:19,794 --> 00:21:23,804
of clearing the way
before you storm the ramparts.

396
00:21:25,090 --> 00:21:27,260
Hamilton said,
"Let's just go for it."

397
00:21:41,190 --> 00:21:43,126
Charge!

398
00:21:43,150 --> 00:21:44,878
Forward, men! Forward!

399
00:21:44,902 --> 00:21:46,242
Forward!

400
00:21:59,875 --> 00:22:02,479
<i>Lieutenant Colonel
Alexander Hamilton</i>

401
00:22:02,503 --> 00:22:04,236
<i>is leading the charge
to break through</i>

402
00:22:04,260 --> 00:22:06,983
<i>the last line of defense
around Yorktown.</i>

403
00:22:07,007 --> 00:22:08,360
Aah!

404
00:22:08,384 --> 00:22:10,804
Do not fall back! Forward!

405
00:22:13,305 --> 00:22:15,992
Onward! Onward!

406
00:22:16,016 --> 00:22:18,346
Fall back! Fall back!

407
00:22:25,651 --> 00:22:29,798
<i>The fighting is over
in just a matter of minutes.</i>

408
00:22:29,822 --> 00:22:32,175
Yeah!

409
00:22:32,199 --> 00:22:34,386
With the taking
of Redoubt No. 10,

410
00:22:34,410 --> 00:22:37,097
Hamilton is a legitimate
war hero.

411
00:22:37,121 --> 00:22:39,921
In many ways,
it's the making of Hamilton.

412
00:22:41,500 --> 00:22:44,147
By the point those
two Redoubts are captured,

413
00:22:44,171 --> 00:22:45,499
the writing is on the wall.

414
00:22:51,051 --> 00:22:54,364
<i>From their position
at the captured Redoubts,</i>

415
00:22:54,388 --> 00:22:56,867
<i>the Americans unleash
a punishing</i>

416
00:22:56,891 --> 00:22:59,311
<i>pointblank assault
on the British.</i>

417
00:23:24,084 --> 00:23:26,901
<i>Unsure if the reinforcements
he's requested</i>

418
00:23:26,925 --> 00:23:29,232
<i>will ever arrive,</i>

419
00:23:29,256 --> 00:23:32,586
<i>Cornwallis has seen enough.</i>

420
00:23:50,736 --> 00:23:52,297
Sir,

421
00:23:52,321 --> 00:23:56,426
I propose an immediate cessation

422
00:23:56,450 --> 00:23:59,679
of hostilities for 24 hours,

423
00:23:59,703 --> 00:24:04,726
and that two officers
be appointed from either side

424
00:24:04,750 --> 00:24:06,770
to discuss the terms

425
00:24:06,794 --> 00:24:10,899
of the surrender
of the posts of York

426
00:24:10,923 --> 00:24:12,275
and Gloucester,

427
00:24:12,299 --> 00:24:13,299
et cetera, et cetera.

428
00:24:19,139 --> 00:24:22,577
Yorktown is a crucial,
crucial moment in the war.

429
00:24:22,601 --> 00:24:24,788
The fact that the Americans
win that battle

430
00:24:24,812 --> 00:24:26,748
has huge psychological

431
00:24:26,772 --> 00:24:28,458
as well as military
consequences.

432
00:24:28,482 --> 00:24:30,335
On the British side,

433
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:31,795
they're outraged
that they've lost

434
00:24:31,819 --> 00:24:33,463
and that these Americans

435
00:24:33,487 --> 00:24:36,299
appear to have gotten
the better of them.

436
00:24:36,323 --> 00:24:38,429
And the Brits
never quite understood

437
00:24:38,453 --> 00:24:39,970
what they were getting into,

438
00:24:39,994 --> 00:24:41,638
and they underestimated

439
00:24:41,662 --> 00:24:44,641
the nation
that had been created.

440
00:24:44,665 --> 00:24:47,143
It's a mistake many people
have made over the years.

441
00:24:47,167 --> 00:24:49,604
When you're defending
a piece of land that's yours,

442
00:24:49,628 --> 00:24:50,985
you're prepared to die for it.

443
00:24:51,009 --> 00:24:53,108
<i>On October 19th,</i>

444
00:24:53,132 --> 00:24:55,360
<i>after a threeweeklong siege,</i>

445
00:24:55,384 --> 00:24:58,321
<i>the two sides meet
on the battlefield</i>

446
00:24:58,345 --> 00:25:00,824
<i>for a formal surrender ceremony.</i>

447
00:25:00,848 --> 00:25:02,951
Cornwallis is too embarrassed,

448
00:25:02,975 --> 00:25:05,120
so he pretends that he's sick

449
00:25:05,144 --> 00:25:09,290
and he sends out a subordinate
to surrender the sword.

450
00:25:09,314 --> 00:25:12,007
This is the second British
Army to surrender.

451
00:25:12,031 --> 00:25:13,962
The main British Army
is still intact

452
00:25:13,986 --> 00:25:15,505
and still at New York City.

453
00:25:15,529 --> 00:25:19,175
But the will to fight
in Great Britain is gone.

454
00:25:19,199 --> 00:25:22,012
When word of Yorktown
reaches Britain,

455
00:25:22,036 --> 00:25:23,473
Lord North, the prime minister,

456
00:25:23,497 --> 00:25:26,474
says, "Oh, my God, it's over."

457
00:25:26,498 --> 00:25:30,645
<i>While peace terms are being
negotiated in Paris,</i>

458
00:25:30,669 --> 00:25:33,898
<i>Washington is not convinced
that the war is over.</i>

459
00:25:33,922 --> 00:25:36,947
<i>He moves his headquarters
to Newburgh, New York,</i>

460
00:25:36,971 --> 00:25:40,530
<i>within striking distance of
Britishoccupied New York City.</i>

461
00:25:40,554 --> 00:25:42,699
<i>The king will push the war</i>

462
00:25:42,723 --> 00:25:45,994
<i>as long as the nation will
find men or money.</i>

463
00:25:46,018 --> 00:25:48,413
<i>Let us prepare for the worst.</i>

464
00:25:48,437 --> 00:25:51,708
<i>There is nothing which will
so soon produce peace</i>

465
00:25:51,732 --> 00:25:54,711
<i>as a state of preparation
for war.</i>

466
00:25:54,735 --> 00:25:58,048
The British stopped major
action in North America,

467
00:25:58,072 --> 00:25:59,927
but from Washington's
point of view,

468
00:25:59,951 --> 00:26:01,305
that might not be permanent,

469
00:26:01,329 --> 00:26:03,887
so he has to keep
this army trained

470
00:26:03,911 --> 00:26:07,751
so it can respond and defend
and fight if he needs to.

471
00:26:09,333 --> 00:26:11,690
<i>But with Congress still
failing to pay them</i>

472
00:26:11,714 --> 00:26:15,231
<i>more than a year after
the battle at Yorktown,</i>

473
00:26:15,255 --> 00:26:18,193
<i>Washington's troops
are growing restless</i>

474
00:26:18,217 --> 00:26:20,403
<i>and angry.</i>

475
00:26:20,427 --> 00:26:22,324
They've been given
promises for years.

476
00:26:22,348 --> 00:26:25,825
Some of them have been there
seven, eight years long.

477
00:26:25,849 --> 00:26:28,286
And so what happens is you
start getting a conspiracy

478
00:26:28,310 --> 00:26:30,707
in the ranks to the officer
corps who are saying,

479
00:26:30,731 --> 00:26:32,585
"Well, we're not gonna
lay down our arms

480
00:26:32,609 --> 00:26:35,084
"when the peace treaty arrives
unless were paid by Congress.

481
00:26:35,108 --> 00:26:37,965
"And if need be,
we're gonna march on Congress

482
00:26:37,989 --> 00:26:39,756
and force them to pay us."

483
00:26:39,780 --> 00:26:42,967
<i>What they're plotting
is more than a mutiny.</i>

484
00:26:42,991 --> 00:26:45,929
<i>It's a military takeover
of the government,</i>

485
00:26:45,953 --> 00:26:49,098
<i>and they want Washington
to lead it.</i>

486
00:26:49,122 --> 00:26:50,558
There's a group in the army

487
00:26:50,582 --> 00:26:53,269
that wants to march
on Philadelphia

488
00:26:53,293 --> 00:26:55,563
and crown Washington emperor.

489
00:26:55,587 --> 00:26:57,065
George Washington,
all of a sudden,

490
00:26:57,089 --> 00:26:59,445
is this incredibly
popular superstar

491
00:26:59,469 --> 00:27:01,569
with an Army
that is loyal to him.

492
00:27:01,593 --> 00:27:03,071
What if he decided

493
00:27:03,095 --> 00:27:06,574
that he was gonna declare
himself in charge,

494
00:27:06,598 --> 00:27:08,518
that he's gonna ask
Congress to move along?

495
00:27:12,604 --> 00:27:14,961
If you ask me,
this is not a question

496
00:27:14,985 --> 00:27:17,502
of what we must do,
the question is

497
00:27:17,526 --> 00:27:19,923
what we must do if Washington
refuses to take charge.

498
00:27:19,947 --> 00:27:21,923
Right. Yeah.

499
00:27:21,947 --> 00:27:24,968
<i>General Horatio Gates is
among the officers pushing</i>

500
00:27:24,992 --> 00:27:28,596
<i>for Washington to lead
a rebellion against Congress.</i>

501
00:27:28,620 --> 00:27:32,475
<i>Others, like Henry Knox,
are urging caution.</i>

502
00:27:32,499 --> 00:27:33,977
How can we be certain?

503
00:27:34,001 --> 00:27:36,688
Washington has made
his assurances,

504
00:27:36,712 --> 00:27:39,482
and I have never known him
to be a liar.

505
00:27:39,506 --> 00:27:40,984
The worst we can do

506
00:27:41,008 --> 00:27:44,112
is rush into action
that cannot be undone.

507
00:27:44,136 --> 00:27:48,074
Keep in mind that pretty much
every great revolution

508
00:27:48,098 --> 00:27:51,286
that had been run before
to take on tyranny,

509
00:27:51,310 --> 00:27:54,789
the rebellious general soon
revealed himself

510
00:27:54,813 --> 00:27:56,124
to be the new king

511
00:27:56,148 --> 00:27:57,834
and then a new kind of tyrant.

512
00:27:57,858 --> 00:28:02,380
This is one of the most
important early moments

513
00:28:02,404 --> 00:28:06,009
in the republic where things
could've all gone south.

514
00:28:06,033 --> 00:28:09,020
The question before us
is a simple one, I think.

515
00:28:09,044 --> 00:28:12,181
Will we continue to allow

516
00:28:12,205 --> 00:28:14,934
the men who risked their lives

517
00:28:14,958 --> 00:28:17,520
in forging a new nation

518
00:28:17,544 --> 00:28:20,773
to be treated a second class?

519
00:28:20,797 --> 00:28:23,610
We face enough real issues
than to allow ourselves

520
00:28:23,634 --> 00:28:25,653
to fall into hyperbole.

521
00:28:25,677 --> 00:28:29,824
Is it hyperbole to say
we have been ignored,

522
00:28:29,848 --> 00:28:31,826
treated indifferently?

523
00:28:31,850 --> 00:28:33,369
I would list all our grievances,

524
00:28:33,393 --> 00:28:35,380
but every man here
is well aware.

525
00:28:35,404 --> 00:28:37,832
You know as well as I,

526
00:28:37,856 --> 00:28:40,585
Washington will not
stand talk of rebellion.

527
00:28:40,609 --> 00:28:42,503
What rebellion?

528
00:28:42,527 --> 00:28:45,715
It is the men in this room
who led us to victory.

529
00:28:45,739 --> 00:28:47,508
Yes!

530
00:28:47,532 --> 00:28:49,677
Not those in Philadelphia.

531
00:28:49,701 --> 00:28:54,390
There are other ways to ensure
our grievances are heard.

532
00:28:54,414 --> 00:28:57,214
Letters, formal requests.

533
00:28:58,919 --> 00:29:00,688
Tell me, General Knox,

534
00:29:00,712 --> 00:29:02,398
how has this helped us
in the past?

535
00:29:02,422 --> 00:29:06,152
I for one put my trust
in Washington,

536
00:29:06,176 --> 00:29:09,489
and I would counsel
everyone here to do the same.

537
00:29:09,513 --> 00:29:12,909
And I would counsel
that if Commander Washington

538
00:29:12,933 --> 00:29:15,080
is unwilling to do
what is necessary,

539
00:29:15,104 --> 00:29:18,164
then we have no choice

540
00:29:18,188 --> 00:29:21,148
but to take matters
into our own hands.

541
00:29:23,902 --> 00:29:25,862
May I have permission
to speakto speak?

542
00:29:32,244 --> 00:29:34,931
<i>George Washington
has led his army</i>

543
00:29:34,955 --> 00:29:37,308
<i>to victory against Britain.</i>

544
00:29:37,332 --> 00:29:41,062
<i>But now some of his officers
are counting on him</i>

545
00:29:41,086 --> 00:29:45,046
<i>to lead a new rebellion
against their own government.</i>

546
00:29:47,300 --> 00:29:48,945
Gentlemen...

547
00:29:48,969 --> 00:29:51,447
There have been
plenty of revolutions,

548
00:29:51,471 --> 00:29:52,991
and most of them fail,

549
00:29:53,015 --> 00:29:56,369
and they fail because
people get frustrated.

550
00:29:56,393 --> 00:29:58,830
They don't know where their
paycheck is coming from.

551
00:29:58,854 --> 00:30:03,251
These are relatable concerns
that Washington is facing.

552
00:30:03,275 --> 00:30:08,381
As I have never left
your side one moment,

553
00:30:08,405 --> 00:30:12,427
as I have ever considered
my own military reputation

554
00:30:12,451 --> 00:30:15,805
as inescapably connected
with that of the army,

555
00:30:15,829 --> 00:30:18,307
it can scarcely be possible,

556
00:30:18,331 --> 00:30:21,477
in this late stage of the war,

557
00:30:21,501 --> 00:30:25,648
that I am indifferent
to its interests.

558
00:30:25,672 --> 00:30:31,112
Let me entreat you on your part

559
00:30:31,136 --> 00:30:32,613
not to take any measures

560
00:30:32,637 --> 00:30:36,826
which, viewed in the calm
light of reason,

561
00:30:36,850 --> 00:30:39,495
will lessen the dignity

562
00:30:39,519 --> 00:30:44,439
and sully the glory
you have hitherto maintained.

563
00:30:45,734 --> 00:30:48,004
Washington tells his officers,

564
00:30:48,028 --> 00:30:50,006
"No, you can't do this.

565
00:30:50,030 --> 00:30:52,216
"You can't use the military
to pressure Congress

566
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,010
"to get your back pay." If you do

567
00:30:54,034 --> 00:30:55,517
what you are thinking of doing,

568
00:30:55,541 --> 00:30:58,639
you will be undermining
the very core principles

569
00:30:58,663 --> 00:31:00,683
that we have been fighting for
for seven years.

570
00:31:00,707 --> 00:31:02,185
Not only will
the American experiment

571
00:31:02,209 --> 00:31:03,519
be killed in its cradle,

572
00:31:03,543 --> 00:31:05,690
but it will reinforce
everyone who says

573
00:31:05,714 --> 00:31:09,525
that selfgovernment
is not practical or possible.

574
00:31:09,549 --> 00:31:11,089
And now...

575
00:31:12,844 --> 00:31:16,532
regarding of issue of payment.

576
00:31:16,556 --> 00:31:18,659
I have recently received word

577
00:31:18,683 --> 00:31:20,773
from a Virginia congressman.

578
00:31:22,020 --> 00:31:24,730
"Congress have been
for some time past..."

579
00:31:28,485 --> 00:31:31,355
"um, almost..."

580
00:31:35,367 --> 00:31:37,553
Apologies.

581
00:31:37,577 --> 00:31:42,058
I have grown blind
as well as gray

582
00:31:42,082 --> 00:31:44,082
in the service of my country.

583
00:31:47,254 --> 00:31:50,991
He pulls out his spectacles
from his, uh, breast pocket,

584
00:31:51,015 --> 00:31:52,568
unfolds them.

585
00:31:52,592 --> 00:31:54,779
And there he is,
showing this, uh, frailty

586
00:31:54,803 --> 00:31:56,813
in front of his officers
for the first time.

587
00:32:01,768 --> 00:32:04,080
"A short time
will bring to a conclusion

588
00:32:04,104 --> 00:32:06,124
"our efforts to this business,

589
00:32:06,148 --> 00:32:08,459
which I'm in hopes
will terminate the adoption..."

590
00:32:08,483 --> 00:32:11,420
When he shows that "I have
aged during this time",

591
00:32:11,444 --> 00:32:13,548
that I have suffered, too,"

592
00:32:13,572 --> 00:32:15,258
they understand
that he hears them

593
00:32:15,282 --> 00:32:17,429
and he's working
on their behalf.

594
00:32:17,453 --> 00:32:20,429
It's Washington
playing that moment.

595
00:32:20,453 --> 00:32:23,057
What he does is use who he is

596
00:32:23,081 --> 00:32:26,148
and the symbolism of who he is
to dissipate a situation.

597
00:32:26,172 --> 00:32:28,771
And with that, shame kicks in,

598
00:32:28,795 --> 00:32:32,400
a sense of shared sacrifice
that galvanized the officers

599
00:32:32,424 --> 00:32:34,781
and reminded them
what they were fighting for.

600
00:32:34,805 --> 00:32:38,614
You will, by the dignity
of your conduct,

601
00:32:38,638 --> 00:32:42,618
afford occasion
for posterity to say,

602
00:32:42,642 --> 00:32:45,746
when speaking
of the glorious example

603
00:32:45,770 --> 00:32:50,501
you have exhibited to mankind,

604
00:32:50,525 --> 00:32:52,920
"Had this day been wanting,

605
00:32:52,944 --> 00:32:57,466
"the world has never seen
the last stage of perfection

606
00:32:57,490 --> 00:33:01,804
to which human nature
is capable of attaining."

607
00:33:01,828 --> 00:33:03,474
When you look
at Washington in Newburgh,

608
00:33:03,498 --> 00:33:06,434
it's hard not to remember
this impulsive young man

609
00:33:06,458 --> 00:33:08,728
that he was during
the French and Indian War.

610
00:33:08,752 --> 00:33:11,279
And you think the reason
that they trust him

611
00:33:11,303 --> 00:33:15,109
is that he has proven himself
to be so steady,

612
00:33:15,133 --> 00:33:17,612
that he has proven himself

613
00:33:17,636 --> 00:33:20,990
to deliver the most outrageous
win of all time.

614
00:33:21,014 --> 00:33:22,825
So if he can defeat

615
00:33:22,849 --> 00:33:26,370
one of the greatest
superpowers in the world,

616
00:33:26,394 --> 00:33:28,104
he can deliver their pay.

617
00:33:31,483 --> 00:33:33,669
Washington
and the Newburgh Address

618
00:33:33,693 --> 00:33:36,799
is one of the very few moments
in world history

619
00:33:36,823 --> 00:33:39,178
where revolution
in favor of liberty ended

620
00:33:39,202 --> 00:33:41,510
without a military coup

621
00:33:41,534 --> 00:33:43,044
and ended with the rule of law.

622
00:33:45,580 --> 00:33:49,852
<i>Six months after Washington
puts talk of a coup to rest,</i>

623
00:33:49,876 --> 00:33:53,898
<i>and nearly two years after
the final battle at Yorktown,</i>

624
00:33:53,922 --> 00:33:56,943
<i>the Treaty of Paris
is finally signed.</i>

625
00:33:56,967 --> 00:33:59,195
<i>The war is over.</i>

626
00:33:59,219 --> 00:34:01,864
Providence is the word
he uses a lot

627
00:34:01,888 --> 00:34:07,828
to try to describe to people
how we won the war

628
00:34:07,852 --> 00:34:09,413
right after the war.

629
00:34:09,437 --> 00:34:11,543
"If historians ever take
to writing about this,

630
00:34:11,567 --> 00:34:13,334
"they will be accused
to writing fiction

631
00:34:13,358 --> 00:34:15,004
"because no one will believe

632
00:34:15,028 --> 00:34:18,089
"that, uh, a group
of ragtag soldiers like this

633
00:34:18,113 --> 00:34:20,470
could ever possibly defeat
the British Army and Navy."

634
00:34:20,494 --> 00:34:24,220
<i>On November 25th, 1783,</i>

635
00:34:24,244 --> 00:34:28,057
<i>seven years after running
Washington out of New York,</i>

636
00:34:28,081 --> 00:34:31,060
<i>the Redcoats evacuate the city.</i>

637
00:34:31,084 --> 00:34:34,063
<i>Within hours,
hundreds of citizens</i>

638
00:34:34,087 --> 00:34:35,734
<i>are lining the streets
to celebrate.</i>

639
00:34:35,758 --> 00:34:39,527
<i>Washington's triumphant
return to New York.</i>

640
00:34:39,551 --> 00:34:42,321
<i>Soon after, the Continental Army</i>

641
00:34:42,345 --> 00:34:44,156
<i>is peacefully disbanded</i>

642
00:34:44,180 --> 00:34:47,243
<i>and Washington formally
resigns his post</i>

643
00:34:47,267 --> 00:34:49,704
<i>as commanderinchief.</i>

644
00:34:49,728 --> 00:34:51,455
If you had just defeated

645
00:34:51,479 --> 00:34:53,335
the greatest empire
in the world,

646
00:34:53,359 --> 00:34:55,084
the idea that you would then say.

647
00:34:55,108 --> 00:34:57,628
"Okay, thanks, I'm going to go
farm and make whiskey

648
00:34:57,652 --> 00:34:59,130
and grow hemp,"

649
00:34:59,154 --> 00:35:01,757
it wasn't done, but he did it.

650
00:35:01,781 --> 00:35:04,594
In England,
when King George III hears

651
00:35:04,618 --> 00:35:06,429
that Washington has surrendered
power and gone home,

652
00:35:06,453 --> 00:35:10,182
he replies by saying,
"Well, if he did that,"

653
00:35:10,206 --> 00:35:12,626
"he will be the greatest man
in the world."

654
00:35:23,345 --> 00:35:27,283
When George Washington
wrote to Martha in 1775,

655
00:35:27,307 --> 00:35:29,285
he said,
"I'll be home by Christmas,"

656
00:35:29,309 --> 00:35:32,496
he meant
the following Christmas.

657
00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:34,270
But it's already into the 1780s.

658
00:35:59,255 --> 00:36:03,085
I am once again
a private citizen, Martha.

659
00:36:04,678 --> 00:36:07,990
And it did not take
that long at all.

660
00:36:10,141 --> 00:36:13,311
Come, everything is ready.

661
00:36:23,113 --> 00:36:27,009
<i>I feel myself eased
of a load of public care.</i>

662
00:36:27,033 --> 00:36:29,350
<i>I hope to spend
the remainder of my days</i>

663
00:36:29,374 --> 00:36:32,473
<i>in cultivating the affections
of good men</i>

664
00:36:32,497 --> 00:36:35,667
<i>and in the practice
of domestic virtues.</i>

665
00:36:44,050 --> 00:36:45,695
He's done his duty.

666
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,823
He doesn't assume
that more is to come.

667
00:36:48,847 --> 00:36:50,574
And he doesn't know

668
00:36:50,598 --> 00:36:52,034
that there's gonna be
a new constitution.

669
00:36:52,058 --> 00:36:53,494
He doesn't know there's gonna be

670
00:36:53,518 --> 00:36:54,995
anything called the presidency.

671
00:36:55,019 --> 00:36:56,622
<i>In the years</i>

672
00:36:56,646 --> 00:36:59,709
<i>immediately
following the Revolution,</i>

673
00:36:59,733 --> 00:37:02,443
<i>the young country is in turmoil.</i>

674
00:37:04,070 --> 00:37:06,382
<i>The 13 states are bound together</i>

675
00:37:06,406 --> 00:37:08,843
<i>under the Articles
of Confederation.</i>

676
00:37:08,867 --> 00:37:12,430
<i>But while the pact allows
Congress to enact laws,</i>

677
00:37:12,454 --> 00:37:15,433
<i>it has no power to enforce them.</i>

678
00:37:15,457 --> 00:37:18,561
<i>And there's no consensus
among the states</i>

679
00:37:18,585 --> 00:37:20,375
<i>about how to run a government.</i>

680
00:37:22,881 --> 00:37:24,817
All the states
looked upon themselves

681
00:37:24,841 --> 00:37:26,527
as independent nations.

682
00:37:26,551 --> 00:37:29,905
They owed nothing
by way of sovereignty

683
00:37:29,929 --> 00:37:31,407
to any higher authority.

684
00:37:31,431 --> 00:37:35,077
They understood
that there had to be

685
00:37:35,101 --> 00:37:37,079
strength in union,

686
00:37:37,103 --> 00:37:40,541
but they never wanted
the strength in union

687
00:37:40,565 --> 00:37:44,253
to take their autonomy away.

688
00:37:44,277 --> 00:37:46,424
The country had been
ravaged by war,

689
00:37:46,448 --> 00:37:48,507
the economy had been destroyed,

690
00:37:48,531 --> 00:37:51,427
and there was no
national currency.

691
00:37:51,451 --> 00:37:53,220
So Congress couldn't raise
any money

692
00:37:53,244 --> 00:37:54,891
to pay off its national debt.

693
00:37:54,915 --> 00:37:56,440
The states all turned inward,

694
00:37:56,464 --> 00:37:58,601
and you begin to have a variety

695
00:37:58,625 --> 00:38:01,771
of different kinds
of disruptions and arguments

696
00:38:01,795 --> 00:38:03,898
and disagreements
throughout the states.

697
00:38:03,922 --> 00:38:05,949
And, really, the fragility
of what's being attempted here

698
00:38:05,973 --> 00:38:07,443
becomes very apparent.

699
00:38:07,467 --> 00:38:09,570
And it looked
as though the victories

700
00:38:09,594 --> 00:38:11,077
that had been won
on the battlefield

701
00:38:11,101 --> 00:38:13,949
were gonna be lost
in the halls of politics.

702
00:38:13,973 --> 00:38:15,910
And for somebody
like George Washington,

703
00:38:15,934 --> 00:38:19,413
in particular,
this is really discouraging

704
00:38:19,437 --> 00:38:21,499
because by this time

705
00:38:21,523 --> 00:38:23,168
he's being called
the father of his country

706
00:38:23,192 --> 00:38:24,128
and his country is falling apart

707
00:38:24,152 --> 00:38:26,796
before his very eyes.

708
00:38:26,820 --> 00:38:28,798
<i>How melancholy
is the reflection,</i>

709
00:38:28,822 --> 00:38:30,386
<i>that in so short a space</i>

710
00:38:30,410 --> 00:38:32,468
<i>we should've made
such large strides</i>

711
00:38:32,492 --> 00:38:34,269
<i>towards fulfilling
the prediction</i>

712
00:38:34,293 --> 00:38:36,055
<i>of our transatlantic foe!</i>

713
00:38:36,079 --> 00:38:38,307
<i>Leave them to themselves</i>

714
00:38:38,331 --> 00:38:41,101
<i>and their government
will soon dissolve.</i>

715
00:38:41,125 --> 00:38:43,938
<i>Will not the wise
and goods strive hard</i>

716
00:38:43,962 --> 00:38:46,172
<i>to avert this evil?</i>

717
00:38:48,508 --> 00:38:51,070
<i>In the spring of 1787,</i>

718
00:38:51,094 --> 00:38:53,161
<i>the Founding Fathers
call on delegates</i>

719
00:38:53,185 --> 00:38:56,992
<i>from the 13 states
to convene in Philadelphia.</i>

720
00:38:57,016 --> 00:39:00,663
<i>Their mission,
build a more effective union.</i>

721
00:39:00,687 --> 00:39:02,832
<i>Benjamin Franklin,</i>

722
00:39:02,856 --> 00:39:04,458
<i>Alexander Hamilton,</i>

723
00:39:04,482 --> 00:39:06,509
<i>now an assemblyman
from New York,</i>

724
00:39:06,533 --> 00:39:09,129
<i>and James Madison from Virginia</i>

725
00:39:09,153 --> 00:39:11,006
<i>all agree to attend.</i>

726
00:39:11,030 --> 00:39:15,511
<i>But George Washington
is undecided.</i>

727
00:39:15,535 --> 00:39:18,138
This is one of many moments
in which people step forward

728
00:39:18,162 --> 00:39:20,018
and say, "You know,
it's pretty important"

729
00:39:20,042 --> 00:39:22,186
that you'll be there.
People trust you."

730
00:39:22,210 --> 00:39:25,565
And so he ends up being at the
constitutional convention.

731
00:39:25,589 --> 00:39:28,357
He presides over
the constitutional convention,

732
00:39:28,381 --> 00:39:30,568
not because he's eager,
necessarily, to shape things,

733
00:39:30,592 --> 00:39:32,909
but because he felt
it was important to be there.

734
00:39:32,933 --> 00:39:36,031
<i>In its nearly
four months in session</i>

735
00:39:36,055 --> 00:39:37,700
<i>the constitutional convention</i>

736
00:39:37,724 --> 00:39:40,035
<i>reinvents
the American government,</i>

737
00:39:40,059 --> 00:39:43,330
<i>writing a new constitution
that paves the way</i>

738
00:39:43,354 --> 00:39:47,334
<i>for Washington to be elected
its first chief executive.</i>

739
00:39:47,358 --> 00:39:49,965
<i>The Jeffersons, the Madisons,
and all the others,</i>

740
00:39:49,989 --> 00:39:53,340
<i>assembled in
Independence Hall in 1787.</i>

741
00:39:53,364 --> 00:39:55,720
And they all looked to him
because he was a war hero.

742
00:39:55,744 --> 00:39:58,557
They wouldn't be there
if it hadn't been for him.

743
00:39:58,581 --> 00:40:01,894
It was understood without
anybody having to say anything

744
00:40:01,918 --> 00:40:03,893
that the presidency
was gonna be occupied

745
00:40:03,917 --> 00:40:05,561
by George Washington.

746
00:40:05,585 --> 00:40:07,563
It's one of the reasons
that, in the Constitution,

747
00:40:07,587 --> 00:40:09,648
the presidency
is simply sketched in.

748
00:40:09,672 --> 00:40:11,358
They just looked over
at Washington, said,

749
00:40:11,382 --> 00:40:13,029
"Okay, well,
he'll figure it out."

750
00:40:13,053 --> 00:40:15,529
Washington, right before
he becomes president,

751
00:40:15,553 --> 00:40:17,531
is in the perfect position.

752
00:40:17,555 --> 00:40:18,741
He has done the unthinkable.

753
00:40:18,765 --> 00:40:20,451
He's won the Revolution.

754
00:40:20,475 --> 00:40:23,203
He is a celebrity
in his own country

755
00:40:23,227 --> 00:40:25,581
and every country.

756
00:40:25,605 --> 00:40:27,935
The entire world respects him.

757
00:40:30,568 --> 00:40:33,198
He has everything to lose
by becoming president.

758
00:40:48,298 --> 00:40:51,110
<i>George Washington spent
decades of his life</i>

759
00:40:51,134 --> 00:40:53,613
<i>helping to create a new nation.</i>

760
00:40:53,637 --> 00:40:55,406
<i>Now 57,</i>

761
00:40:55,430 --> 00:40:59,494
<i>he's the only man
that people trust to lead it.</i>

762
00:40:59,518 --> 00:41:03,358
<i>His election to the presidency
is unanimous.</i>

763
00:41:05,148 --> 00:41:07,085
<i>No president in American history</i>

764
00:41:07,109 --> 00:41:10,296
<i>did not wish to be president
more than George Washington.</i>

765
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,466
<i>My movements to the chair
of government</i>

766
00:41:13,490 --> 00:41:16,767
<i>will be accompanied
with feelings not unlike those</i>

767
00:41:16,791 --> 00:41:20,705
<i>of a culprit who is going to
the place of his execution.</i>

768
00:41:24,668 --> 00:41:28,982
He knew, the minute
he actually assumed

769
00:41:29,006 --> 00:41:30,733
the responsibilities of office,

770
00:41:30,757 --> 00:41:32,443
no matter how good a job he did,

771
00:41:32,467 --> 00:41:34,153
he was gonna make some enemies.

772
00:41:34,177 --> 00:41:36,656
And that frightened him a lot,

773
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:38,658
but to then turn around
and walk away

774
00:41:38,682 --> 00:41:42,870
from this new entity that he'd
worked so hard to create,

775
00:41:42,894 --> 00:41:45,711
at the very moment when
arguably he was needed most,

776
00:41:45,735 --> 00:41:49,419
would've been deemed
an act of selfishness

777
00:41:49,443 --> 00:41:53,203
which would contradict
his code of honor.

778
00:42:03,206 --> 00:42:08,187
I do solemnly swear.
I do solemnly swear.

779
00:42:08,211 --> 00:42:10,189
That I will faithfully execute

780
00:42:10,213 --> 00:42:13,526
the Office of President
of the United States.

781
00:42:13,550 --> 00:42:16,362
That I will faithfully execute

782
00:42:16,386 --> 00:42:19,574
the Office of President
of the United States.

783
00:42:19,598 --> 00:42:22,285
And will, to the best
of my ability...

784
00:42:22,309 --> 00:42:25,747
And will,
to the best of my ability...

785
00:42:25,771 --> 00:42:28,207
Preserve, protect, and defend

786
00:42:28,231 --> 00:42:31,210
the Constitution
of the United States.

787
00:42:31,234 --> 00:42:34,380
Preserve, protect, and defend

788
00:42:34,404 --> 00:42:36,704
the Constitution
of the United States.

789
00:42:38,533 --> 00:42:40,595
Long live George Washington,

790
00:42:40,619 --> 00:42:42,289
President of the United States.

791
00:42:50,128 --> 00:42:54,776
<i>Integrity and firmness
is all I can promise.</i>

792
00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:58,196
<i>These, be the voyage
long or short,</i>

793
00:42:58,220 --> 00:43:01,616
<i>never shall forsake me,</i>

794
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:05,440
<i>although I may be deserted
by all men.</i>

795
00:43:09,147 --> 00:43:11,754
What the heck is a president?
Like, no one knew.

796
00:43:11,778 --> 00:43:15,421
He had to have enough
gravitas and dignity

797
00:43:15,445 --> 00:43:18,007
to be seen as a leader
of a nation

798
00:43:18,031 --> 00:43:19,801
in a world of monarchies.

799
00:43:19,825 --> 00:43:22,804
But on the other hand,
he can't be monarchical

800
00:43:22,828 --> 00:43:24,806
in any way, or kingly,
because people are terrified

801
00:43:24,830 --> 00:43:26,849
that the nation's
gonna slip right back

802
00:43:26,873 --> 00:43:28,601
into becoming a monarchy.

803
00:43:28,625 --> 00:43:30,520
And many people had
a lot of misgivings

804
00:43:30,544 --> 00:43:32,861
about how much power
this new centralized government

805
00:43:32,885 --> 00:43:34,440
was going to have.

806
00:43:34,464 --> 00:43:37,279
He could've been king,
but that was not him.

807
00:43:37,303 --> 00:43:39,445
He believed
in what he was doing.

808
00:43:39,469 --> 00:43:40,616
It's those
who really don't believe

809
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:42,073
in what they are doing,

810
00:43:42,097 --> 00:43:43,783
who are just interested
in power.

811
00:43:43,807 --> 00:43:47,662
He wasn't interested
in power. He had power.

812
00:43:47,686 --> 00:43:51,624
He's so conscious
of that responsibility,

813
00:43:51,648 --> 00:43:54,295
the power of being
a president without precedent,

814
00:43:54,319 --> 00:43:57,296
and that he's setting a model
that others will follow.

815
00:43:57,320 --> 00:43:59,385
He writes letters
to a number of people

816
00:43:59,409 --> 00:44:02,468
and what he wants is, really,
basic advice, like,

817
00:44:02,492 --> 00:44:04,639
"How accessible should I be
to the American people?

818
00:44:04,663 --> 00:44:06,139
"Should I accept
dinner invitations?

819
00:44:06,163 --> 00:44:08,349
"Does a president
shake hands with Americans?

820
00:44:08,373 --> 00:44:11,648
What kind of clothing should
a national leader wear?"

821
00:44:11,672 --> 00:44:13,688
He thinks again and again
as to what he can do

822
00:44:13,712 --> 00:44:17,483
to prove to people that he's
not some superhuman king.

823
00:44:17,507 --> 00:44:20,319
Every day, at a certain time
in the afternoon,

824
00:44:20,343 --> 00:44:22,029
he takes a walk
around the block.

825
00:44:22,053 --> 00:44:24,740
He looks at a steeple
with a clock on it,

826
00:44:24,764 --> 00:44:27,329
sets his watch,
and goes back to his work.

827
00:44:27,353 --> 00:44:29,875
He's not in a carriage.
He's in the muck of the street,

828
00:44:29,899 --> 00:44:32,999
and that's not accidental.
He's making a statement

829
00:44:33,023 --> 00:44:36,836
"I am just like you
walking in the street."

830
00:44:36,860 --> 00:44:40,006
<i>To help him shape
the presidency,</i>

831
00:44:40,030 --> 00:44:41,674
<i>Washington assembles</i>

832
00:44:41,698 --> 00:44:45,011
<i>some of the brightest minds
in the country.</i>

833
00:44:45,035 --> 00:44:47,889
James Madison is a scholarly
fellow Virginian

834
00:44:47,913 --> 00:44:50,019
who has been very involved
in the process

835
00:44:50,043 --> 00:44:51,855
of creating the Constitution.

836
00:44:51,879 --> 00:44:54,395
Madison is also
Washington's speechwriter,

837
00:44:54,419 --> 00:44:58,608
and he has unbelievable sway
and trust of the president.

838
00:44:58,632 --> 00:45:01,360
Thomas Jefferson is a Virginian

839
00:45:01,384 --> 00:45:03,367
who wrote the Declaration
of Independence,

840
00:45:03,391 --> 00:45:06,199
so he's someone who has a lot
of political experience.

841
00:45:06,223 --> 00:45:10,870
Henry Knox had been
with Washington since 1775.

842
00:45:10,894 --> 00:45:12,747
He had seen the army suffer.

843
00:45:12,771 --> 00:45:15,878
He had seen what happens when
Congress can't pay its bills.

844
00:45:15,902 --> 00:45:20,254
Alexander Hamilton was
Washington's aide in the war,

845
00:45:20,278 --> 00:45:24,550
and he was loyal
to Washington personally.

846
00:45:24,574 --> 00:45:28,137
They experienced the same
challenges during the war,

847
00:45:28,161 --> 00:45:29,597
dealing with
Continental Congress,

848
00:45:29,621 --> 00:45:31,557
and that really shaped
their politics.

849
00:45:31,581 --> 00:45:35,686
Washington did not have
a topflight education,

850
00:45:35,710 --> 00:45:38,898
but he admired people who did.

851
00:45:38,922 --> 00:45:42,610
He wanted the best people
that he could get

852
00:45:42,634 --> 00:45:44,278
on his team.

853
00:45:44,302 --> 00:45:46,113
They don't always agree,

854
00:45:46,137 --> 00:45:49,075
but that's not necessarily
a concern to him

855
00:45:49,099 --> 00:45:53,496
because he thinks that actually
makes for a stronger debate.

856
00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:54,956
Right? "If there are
different views, fine",

857
00:45:54,980 --> 00:45:56,582
"have different views,

858
00:45:56,606 --> 00:45:58,125
"and then I will consider
the different views

859
00:45:58,149 --> 00:45:59,627
and come to a decision."

860
00:45:59,651 --> 00:46:02,255
You can tell a lot from leaders

861
00:46:02,279 --> 00:46:04,590
who like to empower
other people,

862
00:46:04,614 --> 00:46:07,510
who look for people who are
good at things they are not,

863
00:46:07,534 --> 00:46:09,180
who know things they don't.

864
00:46:09,204 --> 00:46:10,582
Washington was like that.

865
00:46:12,247 --> 00:46:15,268
<i>In his first 150 days,</i>

866
00:46:15,292 --> 00:46:17,395
<i>Washington, his advisers,</i>

867
00:46:17,419 --> 00:46:20,106
<i>and the Congress worked together</i>

868
00:46:20,130 --> 00:46:23,818
<i>to invent the American
government as we know it.</i>

869
00:46:23,842 --> 00:46:27,113
This is a enormously
productive time.

870
00:46:27,137 --> 00:46:29,284
Look at what they accomplished
in that first year.

871
00:46:29,308 --> 00:46:30,783
They created
the executive branch,

872
00:46:30,807 --> 00:46:33,119
the judiciary branch,
the first tax laws.

873
00:46:33,143 --> 00:46:34,620
The Bill of Rights

874
00:46:34,644 --> 00:46:35,961
that talked about the way
the government

875
00:46:35,985 --> 00:46:37,999
could not infringe
upon other people,

876
00:46:38,023 --> 00:46:39,500
the citizens' rights.

877
00:46:39,524 --> 00:46:41,089
They set up the Patent Office.

878
00:46:41,113 --> 00:46:43,796
They strengthened a system
of our economy.

879
00:46:43,820 --> 00:46:45,676
There's a proclamation
of Thanksgiving.

880
00:46:45,700 --> 00:46:48,175
<i>All these things were signed
in one way or another</i>

881
00:46:48,199 --> 00:46:49,635
<i>by George Washington.</i>

882
00:46:49,659 --> 00:46:51,556
It is this audacious experiment.

883
00:46:51,580 --> 00:46:53,556
Washington
and the Founding Fathers

884
00:46:53,580 --> 00:46:55,308
basically inspire a nation
to strengthen

885
00:46:55,332 --> 00:46:57,810
its civic backbone,
and in the process,

886
00:46:57,834 --> 00:46:59,520
it just creates the precedent

887
00:46:59,544 --> 00:47:02,148
that people
can selfgovern themselves,

888
00:47:02,172 --> 00:47:03,819
and I think we've lost sight

889
00:47:03,843 --> 00:47:07,028
of just how revolutionary
that idea is.

890
00:47:07,052 --> 00:47:09,322
<i>In June of 1790,</i>

891
00:47:09,346 --> 00:47:13,034
<i>Congress also chooses a site
for a new capital city</i>

892
00:47:13,058 --> 00:47:15,745
<i>on the banks
of the Potomac River,</i>

893
00:47:15,769 --> 00:47:19,707
<i>what will one day
become Washington, D. C.</i>

894
00:47:19,731 --> 00:47:23,669
<i>The plan is to build it
by the end of the decade.</i>

895
00:47:23,693 --> 00:47:26,672
<i>Until then, the government
and the president</i>

896
00:47:26,696 --> 00:47:30,776
<i>take up temporary residence
in Philadelphia.</i>

897
00:47:35,372 --> 00:47:37,725
Please clear the table.

898
00:47:37,749 --> 00:47:40,355
Ensure that all the plates
and silverware

899
00:47:40,379 --> 00:47:42,188
are put away before you leave.

900
00:47:42,212 --> 00:47:45,441
<i>For the Washingtons,
whose household is run</i>

901
00:47:45,465 --> 00:47:49,236
<i>by at least a half a dozen
enslaved women and men,</i>

902
00:47:49,260 --> 00:47:52,740
<i>living in Pennsylvania
is problematic.</i>

903
00:47:52,764 --> 00:47:54,867
<i>Governed by Quakers,</i>

904
00:47:54,891 --> 00:47:57,078
<i>it's one of the first states
to commit</i>

905
00:47:57,102 --> 00:48:00,122
<i>to ending slavery
within its borders.</i>

906
00:48:00,146 --> 00:48:03,501
The Gradual Abolition Act
of 1780 stated

907
00:48:03,525 --> 00:48:07,213
that if you were a nonresident
and you came to Pennsylvania,

908
00:48:07,237 --> 00:48:09,048
you could bring
your slaves with you,

909
00:48:09,072 --> 00:48:11,719
but you could only stay
for a period of six months.

910
00:48:11,743 --> 00:48:14,470
If an enslaved person
was in Pennsylvania

911
00:48:14,494 --> 00:48:15,890
for more than six months,

912
00:48:15,914 --> 00:48:18,349
they could be granted
their freedom.

913
00:48:18,373 --> 00:48:19,713
Hello, dearest.

914
00:48:24,087 --> 00:48:25,167
Christopher.

915
00:48:28,550 --> 00:48:31,800
Bring the president some tea
and see that he is comfortable.

916
00:48:34,013 --> 00:48:37,456
Washington, like many other
slaveholding presidents,

917
00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:40,162
is not willing to go
without his slaves,

918
00:48:40,186 --> 00:48:42,623
but he's also not willing
to follow the rules,

919
00:48:42,647 --> 00:48:44,727
and so he finds
a kind of loophole.

920
00:48:46,818 --> 00:48:48,754
<i>In case it shall be found</i>

921
00:48:48,778 --> 00:48:51,257
<i>that any of my slaves
shall attempt their freedom</i>

922
00:48:51,281 --> 00:48:53,968
<i>at the expiration of six months,</i>

923
00:48:53,992 --> 00:48:57,598
<i>it is my wish and desire
that you would send them home,</i>

924
00:48:57,622 --> 00:48:59,306
<i>for although I do not think</i>

925
00:48:59,330 --> 00:49:01,976
<i>they would be benefitted
by the change,</i>

926
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:05,646
<i>the idea of freedom might
be too great a temptation</i>

927
00:49:05,670 --> 00:49:07,606
<i>for them to resist.</i>

928
00:49:07,630 --> 00:49:09,650
Basically, they were to create

929
00:49:09,674 --> 00:49:11,694
a slave rotation plan.

930
00:49:11,718 --> 00:49:13,529
Every six months,

931
00:49:13,553 --> 00:49:16,118
the Washingtons
would rotate their slaves

932
00:49:16,142 --> 00:49:18,496
out of Pennsylvania
back to Virginia.

933
00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:21,871
And if that was too
problematic or cumbersome,

934
00:49:21,895 --> 00:49:24,748
a quick trip across the river
to Trenton, New Jersey,

935
00:49:24,772 --> 00:49:28,492
would basically stop the clock
on freedom.

936
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:34,633
<i>It behooves me to prevent
the emancipation of them.</i>

937
00:49:34,657 --> 00:49:38,512
<i>Otherwise, I shall not only
lose the use of them,</i>

938
00:49:38,536 --> 00:49:42,016
<i>but may have them to pay for.</i>

939
00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:44,727
<i>I wish to have it
accomplished under pretext</i>

940
00:49:44,751 --> 00:49:49,148
<i>that may deceive
both them and the public.</i>

941
00:49:49,172 --> 00:49:51,358
You want him to take
a leadership position

942
00:49:51,382 --> 00:49:53,866
on the slavery issue,
and you're gonna be disappointed

943
00:49:53,890 --> 00:49:55,321
as you read his correspondence.

944
00:49:55,345 --> 00:49:58,324
He doesn't think
the way you want him to.

945
00:49:58,348 --> 00:50:01,202
He sees the slaves
as his property

946
00:50:01,226 --> 00:50:04,580
that he can't afford to lose.

947
00:50:04,604 --> 00:50:07,374
Washington fears
that abolishing slavery

948
00:50:07,398 --> 00:50:10,169
would divide the union into two.

949
00:50:10,193 --> 00:50:13,720
The focus at that time was
establishing the new nation.

950
00:50:13,744 --> 00:50:17,218
So Washington
was pushing the decision

951
00:50:17,242 --> 00:50:19,889
about what to do with
the institution of slavery

952
00:50:19,913 --> 00:50:22,251
to people that came after him.

953
00:50:28,211 --> 00:50:30,898
<i>America's reckoning over slavery</i>

954
00:50:30,922 --> 00:50:33,484
<i>is still decades in the future,</i>

955
00:50:33,508 --> 00:50:35,194
<i>but Washington's about to face</i>

956
00:50:35,218 --> 00:50:37,218
<i>a more immediate threat
to the nation.</i>

957
00:50:39,055 --> 00:50:42,375
<i>A call to arms
against his own government.</i>

958
00:50:50,654 --> 00:50:52,501
<i>More than two years
into Washington's first term,</i>

959
00:50:52,525 --> 00:50:56,085
<i>the people are rising up</i>

960
00:50:56,109 --> 00:50:58,921
<i>over a new tax on whiskey,</i>

961
00:50:58,945 --> 00:51:02,195
<i>one the president
signed into law.</i>

962
00:51:04,951 --> 00:51:06,291
He's approaching. Come on.

963
00:51:08,288 --> 00:51:10,145
No more taxes! No more taxes!

964
00:51:10,169 --> 00:51:13,144
<i>And now the tax collector
is a target.</i>

965
00:51:13,168 --> 00:51:14,562
No more taxes!

966
00:51:14,586 --> 00:51:16,836
No more taxes! Grab him!

967
00:51:19,174 --> 00:51:22,612
No more taxes! Come on!

968
00:51:22,636 --> 00:51:25,114
No more taxes. No more taxes.

969
00:51:25,138 --> 00:51:27,783
No more taxes! No more taxes!

970
00:51:27,807 --> 00:51:31,245
No more taxes! No more taxes!

971
00:51:31,269 --> 00:51:33,769
No more taxes! No more taxes!

972
00:51:37,984 --> 00:51:41,130
Paying back the debt
is a price of revolution.

973
00:51:41,154 --> 00:51:43,758
You will not find me
in disagreement,

974
00:51:43,782 --> 00:51:46,638
yet not everyone is drawing
the same conclusion.

975
00:51:46,662 --> 00:51:48,846
If they continue to doubt
that we are one country,

976
00:51:48,870 --> 00:51:50,160
we will fail.

977
00:51:51,581 --> 00:51:53,309
<i>The tax is the work</i>

978
00:51:53,333 --> 00:51:56,479
<i>of Treasury Secretary
Alexander Hamilton,</i>

979
00:51:56,503 --> 00:51:59,148
<i>who's also pushing
for a national bank,</i>

980
00:51:59,172 --> 00:52:02,182
<i>another unpopular idea.</i>

981
00:52:03,551 --> 00:52:07,156
So when the nation launches,
it's deeply in debt.

982
00:52:07,180 --> 00:52:11,452
There's no national financial
superstructure of any kind.

983
00:52:11,476 --> 00:52:14,664
Hamilton realizes
that there needs to be a way

984
00:52:14,688 --> 00:52:18,167
to raise money to pay
for aspects of governance.

985
00:52:18,191 --> 00:52:20,670
He also wants
to establish a standard

986
00:52:20,694 --> 00:52:23,050
that he can create
this kind of tax

987
00:52:23,074 --> 00:52:25,638
and that people will abide
by it and pay it.

988
00:52:25,662 --> 00:52:29,970
Washington believed a strong
and coherent federal government

989
00:52:29,994 --> 00:52:34,124
was the best bulwark
against disunion and chaos.

990
00:52:35,333 --> 00:52:38,354
No more taxes! No more taxes!

991
00:52:38,378 --> 00:52:41,023
No more taxes! No more taxes!

992
00:52:41,047 --> 00:52:42,525
No more taxes! No more taxes!

993
00:52:42,549 --> 00:52:45,194
Take it off. No more taxes!

994
00:52:45,218 --> 00:52:47,363
Take it off! No more taxes!

995
00:52:47,387 --> 00:52:49,031
Come on!

996
00:52:49,055 --> 00:52:51,534
The whiskey tax ends up
being very controversial

997
00:52:51,558 --> 00:52:53,994
because it hits very hard
in the West

998
00:52:54,018 --> 00:52:57,373
where whiskey is almost
a form of currency.

999
00:52:57,397 --> 00:53:00,209
We're not talking
about big whiskey producers.

1000
00:53:00,233 --> 00:53:02,545
We're talking
about grain farmers.

1001
00:53:02,569 --> 00:53:06,424
They pay their rent in produce,
in grain, and whiskey.

1002
00:53:06,448 --> 00:53:09,427
From the standpoint
of lot of people in America,

1003
00:53:09,451 --> 00:53:12,638
this is exactly what
the British government had done.

1004
00:53:12,662 --> 00:53:15,728
And, my gosh, we're gonna
have to fight against this

1005
00:53:15,752 --> 00:53:17,395
the way we fought
against the British

1006
00:53:17,419 --> 00:53:18,936
when they were levying taxes.

1007
00:53:18,960 --> 00:53:21,230
Come on!

1008
00:53:21,254 --> 00:53:24,191
Ha ha ha ha!

1009
00:53:24,215 --> 00:53:25,860
People started saying,

1010
00:53:25,884 --> 00:53:28,821
"We've traded George III
of Britain

1011
00:53:28,845 --> 00:53:30,906
"for George I of America,

1012
00:53:30,930 --> 00:53:32,247
and we don't like this."

1013
00:53:37,979 --> 00:53:41,519
Tell Mr. Hamilton
he can keep his taxes.

1014
00:53:46,613 --> 00:53:49,140
The powers of the Presidency
give you the right.

1015
00:53:49,164 --> 00:53:52,094
Yes, but we must take care

1016
00:53:52,118 --> 00:53:54,889
not to lay claim
to more than we are due.

1017
00:53:54,913 --> 00:53:57,480
A true leader must make
the right decisions,

1018
00:53:57,504 --> 00:54:00,644
not the ones
that will make everyone happy.

1019
00:54:00,668 --> 00:54:03,772
Happiness is not my aim.

1020
00:54:03,796 --> 00:54:07,443
What we must achieve is unity.

1021
00:54:07,467 --> 00:54:11,113
<i>But dissent over Hamilton's
financial plans</i>

1022
00:54:11,137 --> 00:54:15,784
<i>is also causing a rift
in Washington's inner circle.</i>

1023
00:54:15,808 --> 00:54:17,953
<i>Two of his closest advisers,</i>

1024
00:54:17,977 --> 00:54:20,873
<i>Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison,</i>

1025
00:54:20,897 --> 00:54:22,794
<i>are quietly recruiting allies</i>

1026
00:54:22,818 --> 00:54:25,735
<i>to oppose Hamilton's influence.</i>

1027
00:54:28,988 --> 00:54:32,218
Washington had the best team
that he could get,

1028
00:54:32,242 --> 00:54:34,136
and they eventually began

1029
00:54:34,160 --> 00:54:37,640
to drift apart
and into a rivalry.

1030
00:54:37,664 --> 00:54:39,438
They were all
revolutionaries together

1031
00:54:39,462 --> 00:54:41,143
but they all didn't have
the same idea

1032
00:54:41,167 --> 00:54:43,627
about what the revolution
was supposed to be about.

1033
00:54:44,921 --> 00:54:46,482
Now,

1034
00:54:46,506 --> 00:54:48,943
we would never speak ill
of Washington.

1035
00:54:48,967 --> 00:54:52,029
He's a good man,
the only man for the Presidency.

1036
00:54:52,053 --> 00:54:56,075
But that a pugnacious upstart
has corrupted his ear.

1037
00:54:56,099 --> 00:54:58,205
I'm sure you have seen it
for yourself.

1038
00:54:58,229 --> 00:55:00,788
No one carries
more sway now than Hamilton.

1039
00:55:00,812 --> 00:55:04,625
And, uh, we need not look far
for the consequences.

1040
00:55:04,649 --> 00:55:06,168
The whiskey tax.

1041
00:55:06,192 --> 00:55:07,378
It is a great disservice
to the people.

1042
00:55:07,402 --> 00:55:08,839
But at the end of the day,

1043
00:55:08,863 --> 00:55:11,715
it is a merely a symptom

1044
00:55:11,739 --> 00:55:14,329
of the far more
troubling disease.

1045
00:55:16,703 --> 00:55:18,690
Jefferson believes
that Washington

1046
00:55:18,714 --> 00:55:21,517
always sides with Hamilton.

1047
00:55:21,541 --> 00:55:24,478
And for the most part
he does because they share

1048
00:55:24,502 --> 00:55:27,356
a strong belief
in central government.

1049
00:55:27,380 --> 00:55:30,693
Jefferson is trying
to flesh out the idea

1050
00:55:30,717 --> 00:55:32,945
of creating
a separate political party.

1051
00:55:32,969 --> 00:55:35,406
They don't see it
as being antiWashington.

1052
00:55:35,430 --> 00:55:36,907
They feel like they're fighting

1053
00:55:36,931 --> 00:55:38,367
to preserve the integrity
of the revolution.

1054
00:55:38,391 --> 00:55:40,327
If we do not find
a permanent way

1055
00:55:40,351 --> 00:55:42,248
to check Hamilton's influence,
he will destroy

1056
00:55:42,272 --> 00:55:45,207
everything we have worked
so hard to build.

1057
00:55:45,231 --> 00:55:46,667
Jefferson and Madison

1058
00:55:46,691 --> 00:55:48,627
don't assume
that they're creating

1059
00:55:48,651 --> 00:55:50,379
an organized opposition
to the government.

1060
00:55:50,403 --> 00:55:52,339
What they assume
is that they're trying

1061
00:55:52,363 --> 00:55:54,850
to save the government
from people who are warping it.

1062
00:55:54,874 --> 00:55:58,887
<i>On the eve of the second
presidential election,</i>

1063
00:55:58,911 --> 00:56:02,600
<i>Washington remains wildly
popular with the public.</i>

1064
00:56:02,624 --> 00:56:04,476
<i>So Madison and Jefferson</i>

1065
00:56:04,500 --> 00:56:07,521
<i>mount a campaign to change that.</i>

1066
00:56:07,545 --> 00:56:10,608
One of the things that drove
the emergency parties was

1067
00:56:10,632 --> 00:56:12,860
to write newspapers that aimed
at a particular audience.

1068
00:56:12,884 --> 00:56:14,367
People tended to read newspapers

1069
00:56:14,391 --> 00:56:15,904
that supported
their own positions.

1070
00:56:15,928 --> 00:56:17,239
There was a gazette
in the United States

1071
00:56:17,263 --> 00:56:18,449
that was seen as very

1072
00:56:18,473 --> 00:56:20,579
proWashington's administration,

1073
00:56:20,603 --> 00:56:22,578
a mouthpiece
for Hamilton's views.

1074
00:56:22,602 --> 00:56:24,330
It's biased.

1075
00:56:24,354 --> 00:56:26,290
And so at an early point,
Jefferson and Madison think,

1076
00:56:26,314 --> 00:56:27,750
"We need another newspaper"

1077
00:56:27,774 --> 00:56:29,261
"that has a different
point of view,"

1078
00:56:29,285 --> 00:56:31,895
and they create
the "National Gazette."

1079
00:56:34,572 --> 00:56:39,094
<i>The newspaper is a betrayal
in more ways than one.</i>

1080
00:56:39,118 --> 00:56:40,765
<i>Jefferson's put the publisher</i>

1081
00:56:40,789 --> 00:56:43,390
<i>on the State Department payroll.</i>

1082
00:56:43,414 --> 00:56:46,560
<i>Washington's own government
is unwittingly funding</i>

1083
00:56:46,584 --> 00:56:49,813
<i>the attacks against
his policies.</i>

1084
00:56:49,837 --> 00:56:52,608
This is obviously, like,
80 different kinds of shady.

1085
00:56:52,632 --> 00:56:55,277
And his surrogate sons
are the people

1086
00:56:55,301 --> 00:56:58,551
spearheading these efforts
underneath his nose.

1087
00:57:03,267 --> 00:57:04,453
<i>He felt betrayed.</i>

1088
00:57:04,477 --> 00:57:06,622
<i>He was a man in psychic pain.</i>

1089
00:57:06,646 --> 00:57:09,625
<i>And he didn't want
to run for reelection.</i>

1090
00:57:09,649 --> 00:57:12,989
<i>He knew another four years
could very well kill him.</i>

1091
00:57:20,827 --> 00:57:22,805
<i>You see me again entering</i>

1092
00:57:22,829 --> 00:57:27,101
<i>upon the arduous duties
of an important office.</i>

1093
00:57:27,125 --> 00:57:30,813
<i>And perhaps
in no instance of my life</i>

1094
00:57:30,837 --> 00:57:32,940
<i>have I ever been more sensible</i>

1095
00:57:32,964 --> 00:57:35,984
<i>of the sacrifice
than in the present.</i>

1096
00:57:36,008 --> 00:57:38,987
<i>For at my age,
the love of retirement</i>

1097
00:57:39,011 --> 00:57:43,492
<i>grows every day
more and more powerful.</i>

1098
00:57:43,516 --> 00:57:45,119
Fetch me the box.

1099
00:57:45,143 --> 00:57:46,453
Yes, sir.

1100
00:57:46,477 --> 00:57:48,288
<i>As Washington's about to embark</i>

1101
00:57:48,312 --> 00:57:50,499
<i>on his second term in office,</i>

1102
00:57:50,523 --> 00:57:53,919
<i>he's feeling the effects
of his 61 years.</i>

1103
00:57:53,943 --> 00:57:55,629
<i>In particular,</i>

1104
00:57:55,653 --> 00:57:58,799
<i>a problem that's plagued him
for decades.</i>

1105
00:57:58,823 --> 00:58:00,509
George Washington suffered

1106
00:58:00,533 --> 00:58:03,303
from a horrible dental disease.

1107
00:58:03,327 --> 00:58:08,392
By the time he becomes President
of the United States,

1108
00:58:08,416 --> 00:58:11,206
he has maybe one tooth left
in his mouth.

1109
00:58:24,849 --> 00:58:26,994
<i>He now relies on a contraption</i>

1110
00:58:27,018 --> 00:58:30,539
<i>made from wires, screws,
and hippopotamus ivory.</i>

1111
00:58:30,563 --> 00:58:33,500
<i>The replacement teeth
are not made of wood.</i>

1112
00:58:33,524 --> 00:58:34,835
<i>They're real teeth,</i>

1113
00:58:34,859 --> 00:58:36,712
<i>including some of his own</i>

1114
00:58:36,736 --> 00:58:38,046
<i>that had fallen out.</i>

1115
00:58:38,070 --> 00:58:39,757
We know that he wanted them

1116
00:58:39,781 --> 00:58:42,384
to look as natural as possible.

1117
00:58:42,408 --> 00:58:44,720
Farm animals, cows were used.

1118
00:58:44,744 --> 00:58:46,561
And we also know
that those dentures

1119
00:58:46,585 --> 00:58:50,369
were made from the teeth
of enslaved people.

1120
00:58:51,918 --> 00:58:54,563
Washington actually paid money

1121
00:58:54,587 --> 00:58:56,064
to have teeth removed,

1122
00:58:56,088 --> 00:58:58,358
healthy teeth removed
from enslaved people

1123
00:58:58,382 --> 00:59:00,642
to be then be placed
in his mouth.

1124
00:59:01,719 --> 00:59:03,614
We know this because

1125
00:59:03,638 --> 00:59:05,908
it's written
in his account books.

1126
00:59:05,932 --> 00:59:07,409
He would often pay them

1127
00:59:07,433 --> 00:59:10,483
a couple of shillings
for a tooth.

1128
00:59:20,696 --> 00:59:22,593
This wasn't particular to him.

1129
00:59:22,617 --> 00:59:25,219
People of means would advertise

1130
00:59:25,243 --> 00:59:27,888
for teeth in the newspaper.

1131
00:59:27,912 --> 00:59:30,252
And one of Washington's
dentists said this.

1132
00:59:37,296 --> 00:59:40,526
The dentures are terribly
painful to wear.

1133
00:59:40,550 --> 00:59:44,112
That sort of grimace
on his face on the dollar bill,

1134
00:59:44,136 --> 00:59:45,864
angry Washington,
I mean, a lot of that

1135
00:59:45,888 --> 00:59:47,098
has to do with his teeth.

1136
00:59:51,352 --> 00:59:55,040
Well, that is done, then.

1137
00:59:55,064 --> 00:59:57,584
Now, let us hurry.
Time is wasting.

1138
00:59:57,608 --> 01:00:01,338
<i>Because of his dentures,
he avoids public speaking.</i>

1139
01:00:01,362 --> 01:00:04,758
<i>But on this day,
he'll have no choice.</i>

1140
01:00:04,782 --> 01:00:07,427
<i>Despite the rise
in partisan attacks</i>

1141
01:00:07,451 --> 01:00:09,348
<i>and dissension
in his own cabinet,</i>

1142
01:00:09,372 --> 01:00:12,432
<i>Washington's been
unanimously reelected</i>

1143
01:00:12,456 --> 01:00:14,810
<i>and is preparing
to take the oath of office</i>

1144
01:00:14,834 --> 01:00:16,562
<i>for a second time.</i>

1145
01:00:16,586 --> 01:00:19,439
The presidency was taking
a lot out of him,

1146
01:00:19,463 --> 01:00:21,360
but Washington
can't leave just yet.

1147
01:00:21,384 --> 01:00:23,569
If he does, everybody tells him

1148
01:00:23,593 --> 01:00:26,658
the nation could very well
descend into civil war.

1149
01:00:26,682 --> 01:00:28,115
He didn't want to be President.

1150
01:00:28,139 --> 01:00:30,495
He did it because
there was no one else.

1151
01:00:30,519 --> 01:00:33,096
He did it for the good
of his country.

1152
01:00:34,520 --> 01:00:37,082
<i>Fellow citizens,</i>

1153
01:00:37,106 --> 01:00:39,501
<i>I am again called upon</i>

1154
01:00:39,525 --> 01:00:42,185
<i>by the voice of my country.</i>

1155
01:00:44,071 --> 01:00:46,348
<i>Washington's second
inaugural address</i>

1156
01:00:46,372 --> 01:00:49,845
<i>is the shortest ever
in American history</i>

1157
01:00:49,869 --> 01:00:53,159
<i>just 135 words.</i>

1158
01:00:54,332 --> 01:00:57,060
<i>I shall endeavor to express</i>

1159
01:00:57,084 --> 01:00:59,521
<i>the high sense I entertain</i>

1160
01:00:59,545 --> 01:01:02,941
<i>of this distinguished honor</i>

1161
01:01:02,965 --> 01:01:04,735
<i>and of the confidence</i>

1162
01:01:04,759 --> 01:01:07,696
<i>which has been reposed in me</i>

1163
01:01:07,720 --> 01:01:11,640
<i>by the people of United America.</i>

1164
01:01:14,226 --> 01:01:15,746
<i>In his first term,</i>

1165
01:01:15,770 --> 01:01:17,915
<i>Washington built a nation.</i>

1166
01:01:17,939 --> 01:01:23,045
<i>Now, in his second,
he must keep it together.</i>

1167
01:01:23,069 --> 01:01:25,213
<i>But his trusted advisers,</i>

1168
01:01:25,237 --> 01:01:27,716
<i>especially Hamilton
and Jefferson,</i>

1169
01:01:27,740 --> 01:01:29,217
<i>are increasingly at odds</i>

1170
01:01:29,241 --> 01:01:33,180
<i>over issues at home and abroad.</i>

1171
01:01:33,204 --> 01:01:36,975
<i>Britain and France
are once again at war.</i>

1172
01:01:36,999 --> 01:01:41,521
<i>Washington wants nothing to do
with the conflict.</i>

1173
01:01:41,545 --> 01:01:43,690
He was concerned about

1174
01:01:43,714 --> 01:01:47,402
keeping a fragile
nation together

1175
01:01:47,426 --> 01:01:51,782
and worried
that outside influences

1176
01:01:51,806 --> 01:01:53,533
might come in and stir things up

1177
01:01:53,557 --> 01:01:56,536
and make it more difficult
to remain unified.

1178
01:01:56,560 --> 01:01:57,913
He understood

1179
01:01:57,937 --> 01:02:01,416
that if the United States
became a toy

1180
01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:02,876
in this fight
between Britain and France,

1181
01:02:02,900 --> 01:02:04,586
if the United States took sides,

1182
01:02:04,610 --> 01:02:08,298
then it would give
the other side every incentive

1183
01:02:08,322 --> 01:02:10,139
to try to destroy
the United States.

1184
01:02:10,163 --> 01:02:12,970
Newspapers
are debating both sides.

1185
01:02:12,994 --> 01:02:15,514
People are wearing French flags,

1186
01:02:15,538 --> 01:02:17,599
and they're gathering outside
the President's house.

1187
01:02:17,623 --> 01:02:19,110
And within his Cabinet,

1188
01:02:19,134 --> 01:02:22,229
he has Hamilton
arguing for neutrality.

1189
01:02:22,253 --> 01:02:23,777
But Jefferson and Madison said,

1190
01:02:23,801 --> 01:02:25,732
"France bailed us out.
They're our friends."

1191
01:02:25,756 --> 01:02:27,609
"They are the reason
we won the war."

1192
01:02:27,633 --> 01:02:29,279
"We've got to back them
in this."

1193
01:02:29,303 --> 01:02:31,488
Washington says, "Actually,
our deal was with a king"

1194
01:02:31,512 --> 01:02:32,789
who no longer has a head."

1195
01:02:32,813 --> 01:02:34,825
Washington took upon himself

1196
01:02:34,849 --> 01:02:36,955
to declare neutrality
for the United States.

1197
01:02:36,979 --> 01:02:38,453
Washington and Hamilton,
they said,

1198
01:02:38,477 --> 01:02:40,124
"We need to be neutral."
Because of that,

1199
01:02:40,148 --> 01:02:42,249
they're castigated
as proEnglish.

1200
01:02:42,273 --> 01:02:44,626
And this is one of
the key things

1201
01:02:44,650 --> 01:02:46,128
in American history,

1202
01:02:46,152 --> 01:02:48,463
a fundamental dividing line

1203
01:02:48,487 --> 01:02:50,340
that helps sparks
partisan politics

1204
01:02:50,364 --> 01:02:52,175
as we know it.

1205
01:02:52,199 --> 01:02:54,511
Have you seen the papers? Hmm?

1206
01:02:54,535 --> 01:02:56,471
This is a baseless charge,

1207
01:02:56,495 --> 01:02:58,515
and it must be publicly
address as such.

1208
01:02:58,539 --> 01:03:00,475
The government
cannot be expected

1209
01:03:00,499 --> 01:03:02,978
to respond every time

1210
01:03:03,002 --> 01:03:06,148
an essay is published
that offends you.

1211
01:03:06,172 --> 01:03:08,608
The President
is not the head of a party.

1212
01:03:08,632 --> 01:03:09,818
He is the head of a nation.

1213
01:03:09,842 --> 01:03:11,862
A nation that ideologically

1214
01:03:11,886 --> 01:03:13,363
only seems to run
in one direction.

1215
01:03:13,387 --> 01:03:15,490
If you disagree
with President's policies,

1216
01:03:15,514 --> 01:03:17,961
perhaps you should find
more persuasive arguments!

1217
01:03:17,985 --> 01:03:20,265
Or perhaps I Enough!

1218
01:03:28,861 --> 01:03:30,111
If I may.

1219
01:03:31,739 --> 01:03:33,136
I fear this is an argument

1220
01:03:33,160 --> 01:03:36,117
that extends far beyond
this room.

1221
01:03:39,413 --> 01:03:42,463
They call it the funeral dirge
of George Washington.

1222
01:03:53,385 --> 01:03:54,965
A king?

1223
01:03:58,099 --> 01:04:01,439
So I wish to be a king, do I?

1224
01:04:02,603 --> 01:04:04,664
A tyrant?

1225
01:04:04,688 --> 01:04:06,898
Is that what I am now?

1226
01:04:11,904 --> 01:04:16,551
I did not want this.

1227
01:04:16,575 --> 01:04:19,445
I never asked for any of this.

1228
01:04:23,249 --> 01:04:26,686
My God!
I should rather be in my grave

1229
01:04:26,710 --> 01:04:28,688
than be made emperor
of this world,

1230
01:04:28,712 --> 01:04:32,222
and they charge me
with wanting to be a king?

1231
01:04:51,777 --> 01:04:53,237
Go on, then.

1232
01:04:56,615 --> 01:04:59,302
Woodrow Wilson once said that,

1233
01:04:59,326 --> 01:05:01,221
for some people,

1234
01:05:01,245 --> 01:05:04,558
words were more powerful
than bullets

1235
01:05:04,582 --> 01:05:06,462
and caused more pain.

1236
01:05:08,127 --> 01:05:10,438
So Washington, frankly,

1237
01:05:10,462 --> 01:05:12,779
compared to most other people
who've been President,

1238
01:05:12,803 --> 01:05:15,110
escaped most of the words,

1239
01:05:15,134 --> 01:05:19,447
but the one he didn't escape
hurt him.

1240
01:05:19,471 --> 01:05:20,949
You know, in the 18th century

1241
01:05:20,973 --> 01:05:22,619
when they worry about
their "fame",

1242
01:05:22,643 --> 01:05:24,165
they weren't worried
about celebrity.

1243
01:05:24,189 --> 01:05:26,435
They were worried
about their reputation.

1244
01:05:28,272 --> 01:05:30,792
American politics,
American media

1245
01:05:30,816 --> 01:05:33,003
during the 1790s

1246
01:05:33,027 --> 01:05:36,756
were as nasty as they've
ever been ever since.

1247
01:05:36,780 --> 01:05:39,305
The really critical editors
would deliver three copies

1248
01:05:39,329 --> 01:05:42,012
of their paper every day
to the President's house,

1249
01:05:42,036 --> 01:05:44,306
even after he cancelled
their subscriptions,

1250
01:05:44,330 --> 01:05:46,308
just to piss him off.

1251
01:05:46,332 --> 01:05:48,147
But from Washington's
perspective,

1252
01:05:48,171 --> 01:05:50,145
freedom of the press came with

1253
01:05:50,169 --> 01:05:52,986
what the American victory
in the Revolutionary War

1254
01:05:53,010 --> 01:05:54,024
was all about.

1255
01:05:54,048 --> 01:05:55,609
He was not one

1256
01:05:55,633 --> 01:05:57,068
who was gonna abridge
freedom of the press.

1257
01:05:57,092 --> 01:05:58,619
He wasn't gonna be the one
who's gonna say,

1258
01:05:58,643 --> 01:06:00,296
"Okay, we're gonna
make this illegal."

1259
01:06:03,474 --> 01:06:06,171
<i>But with protests
against the government's taxes</i>

1260
01:06:06,195 --> 01:06:08,496
<i>growing more violent,</i>

1261
01:06:08,520 --> 01:06:10,999
<i>Washington's
revolutionary ideals</i>

1262
01:06:11,023 --> 01:06:14,653
<i>are about to face
the ultimate test.</i>

1263
01:06:21,867 --> 01:06:23,678
<i>For three years,</i>

1264
01:06:23,702 --> 01:06:25,680
<i>the people of Pennsylvania
have refused to pay.</i>

1265
01:06:25,704 --> 01:06:28,225
<i>Alexander Hamilton's
whiskey tax.</i>

1266
01:06:28,249 --> 01:06:31,686
<i>Now,
when federal marshals arrived</i>

1267
01:06:31,710 --> 01:06:33,521
<i>to enforce the law,</i>

1268
01:06:33,545 --> 01:06:35,857
<i>a mob of 7,000 armed rebels</i>

1269
01:06:35,881 --> 01:06:38,568
<i>respond by marching
on Pittsburgh</i>

1270
01:06:38,592 --> 01:06:41,052
<i>to run them out of town.</i>

1271
01:06:44,223 --> 01:06:47,702
A lot of the people
who resented and opposed this

1272
01:06:47,726 --> 01:06:48,912
have been soldiers
in the revolution.

1273
01:06:48,936 --> 01:06:50,872
They knew how to take up arms.

1274
01:06:50,896 --> 01:06:52,457
It's not just a matter
that there are people

1275
01:06:52,481 --> 01:06:53,875
in Western Pennsylvania

1276
01:06:53,899 --> 01:06:55,046
who don't want to pay
a whiskey tax.

1277
01:06:55,070 --> 01:06:56,836
The power of the government

1278
01:06:56,860 --> 01:06:58,217
and the authority of
the government is being tested.

1279
01:06:58,241 --> 01:07:00,048
There weren't very many laws,

1280
01:07:00,072 --> 01:07:02,550
federal laws,
that touched individual lives.

1281
01:07:02,574 --> 01:07:04,271
Most laws that people
encountered

1282
01:07:04,295 --> 01:07:05,553
were state laws.

1283
01:07:05,577 --> 01:07:07,224
But this was one
of those rare ones,

1284
01:07:07,248 --> 01:07:10,100
and so does
the federal government

1285
01:07:10,124 --> 01:07:13,061
have the authority
to enforce these laws?

1286
01:07:13,085 --> 01:07:15,438
Can it in effect defend itself?

1287
01:07:15,462 --> 01:07:17,607
So Hamilton encourages

1288
01:07:17,631 --> 01:07:20,443
that there should be armed
forces

1289
01:07:20,467 --> 01:07:21,903
sent to western Pennsylvania

1290
01:07:21,927 --> 01:07:23,738
to quash this rebellion

1291
01:07:23,762 --> 01:07:25,039
and really show
that the government

1292
01:07:25,063 --> 01:07:27,117
can enforce its mandates.

1293
01:07:27,141 --> 01:07:30,245
<i>Many persons
have been hardy enough</i>

1294
01:07:30,269 --> 01:07:34,040
<i>to perpetrate acts
which amount to treason,</i>

1295
01:07:34,064 --> 01:07:39,296
<i>being overt acts of levying war
against the United States.</i>

1296
01:07:39,320 --> 01:07:42,424
<i>Washington issues a proclamation</i>

1297
01:07:42,448 --> 01:07:44,676
<i>ordering the rebels to disperse</i>

1298
01:07:44,700 --> 01:07:46,870
<i>or face the consequences.</i>

1299
01:07:48,037 --> 01:07:50,640
<i>It is in my judgment</i>

1300
01:07:50,664 --> 01:07:54,561
<i>necessary to call forth
the militia</i>

1301
01:07:54,585 --> 01:07:59,107
<i>to cause the laws
to be duly executed.</i>

1302
01:07:59,131 --> 01:08:03,511
<i>The essential interest
of the union demand it.</i>

1303
01:08:05,179 --> 01:08:07,782
<i>By October 1794,</i>

1304
01:08:07,806 --> 01:08:11,536
<i>nearly 12,000 militia men
from four states</i>

1305
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:14,456
<i>are assembled
on Washington's orders</i>

1306
01:08:14,480 --> 01:08:17,000
<i>to end the uprising.</i>

1307
01:08:17,024 --> 01:08:19,794
<i>Washington, now 62,</i>

1308
01:08:19,818 --> 01:08:22,464
<i>and Hamilton are back in uniform</i>

1309
01:08:22,488 --> 01:08:25,884
<i>to personally command
the operation.</i>

1310
01:08:25,908 --> 01:08:27,635
Think about that. He's President

1311
01:08:27,659 --> 01:08:31,473
and leading an army potentially
against other Americans.

1312
01:08:31,497 --> 01:08:33,143
That's a quirky moment, right?

1313
01:08:33,167 --> 01:08:35,685
We haven't, since then,
had a President

1314
01:08:35,709 --> 01:08:38,646
in uniform leading an army
in that way.

1315
01:08:38,670 --> 01:08:40,857
Rules matter. Law matters.

1316
01:08:40,881 --> 01:08:43,446
You're bound together
by a notion of law.

1317
01:08:43,470 --> 01:08:45,195
That was very important to him.

1318
01:08:45,219 --> 01:08:48,323
But Washington wants to show

1319
01:08:48,347 --> 01:08:50,867
that the federal government
is willing to use force.

1320
01:08:50,891 --> 01:08:52,327
He doesn't want to use force.

1321
01:08:52,351 --> 01:08:55,497
He wants to provide a way
for the rebels

1322
01:08:55,521 --> 01:08:57,481
to sort of back out.

1323
01:09:04,530 --> 01:09:06,637
<i>Alarmed by the number of troops</i>

1324
01:09:06,661 --> 01:09:08,218
<i>mustering against them,</i>

1325
01:09:08,242 --> 01:09:10,266
<i>the rebels send their spokesman</i>

1326
01:09:10,290 --> 01:09:12,865
<i>to meet face to face
with the President.</i>

1327
01:09:20,796 --> 01:09:23,858
I believe the army
camped outside this door

1328
01:09:23,882 --> 01:09:26,528
cannot be misunderstood.

1329
01:09:26,552 --> 01:09:28,780
But in case there is
any confusion,

1330
01:09:28,804 --> 01:09:31,574
let me make this clear.

1331
01:09:31,598 --> 01:09:33,410
Rebellion...

1332
01:09:33,434 --> 01:09:36,454
will not be tolerated

1333
01:09:36,478 --> 01:09:40,750
by myself or this nation.

1334
01:09:40,774 --> 01:09:43,378
Now, I understand

1335
01:09:43,402 --> 01:09:47,549
and sympathize
with your position.

1336
01:09:47,573 --> 01:09:51,052
These people are your family,

1337
01:09:51,076 --> 01:09:53,221
your friends, neighbors.

1338
01:09:53,245 --> 01:09:56,224
Your concerns are valid.

1339
01:09:56,248 --> 01:10:00,228
I believe, together,

1340
01:10:00,252 --> 01:10:04,052
we can work towards a solution
that benefits us all...

1341
01:10:07,092 --> 01:10:15,022
after you offer your complete
and unequivocal submission.

1342
01:10:22,858 --> 01:10:23,938
You may go now.

1343
01:10:41,960 --> 01:10:43,050
What now?

1344
01:10:44,463 --> 01:10:46,775
I will return to Philadelphia.

1345
01:10:46,799 --> 01:10:48,276
You remain in command here.

1346
01:10:48,300 --> 01:10:49,617
March the militia west

1347
01:10:49,641 --> 01:10:52,363
and end this uprising for good.

1348
01:10:52,387 --> 01:10:54,057
It would be my pleasure.

1349
01:10:56,975 --> 01:10:59,954
I do not want anyone killed.

1350
01:10:59,978 --> 01:11:02,290
If necessary, make arrests.

1351
01:11:02,314 --> 01:11:04,375
Arrests? This...

1352
01:11:04,399 --> 01:11:07,359
is a matter for the courts.

1353
01:11:09,321 --> 01:11:12,871
And we are not executioners.

1354
01:11:14,493 --> 01:11:16,703
Of course, sir.

1355
01:11:21,917 --> 01:11:24,145
It doesn't come
to the kind of blows

1356
01:11:24,169 --> 01:11:27,649
that it might have come to.
And in large part,

1357
01:11:27,673 --> 01:11:29,400
this was precisely

1358
01:11:29,424 --> 01:11:32,121
because Washington
understood the moment.

1359
01:11:32,145 --> 01:11:34,948
He's not really treating them
as enemies.

1360
01:11:34,972 --> 01:11:36,157
He didn't
He doesn't chase them down.

1361
01:11:36,181 --> 01:11:37,328
He doesn't try to destroy them.

1362
01:11:37,352 --> 01:11:39,269
He simply disperses them.

1363
01:11:44,690 --> 01:11:47,001
If Washington wasn't Washington,

1364
01:11:47,025 --> 01:11:49,170
I'm almost certain that some

1365
01:11:49,194 --> 01:11:51,341
that the republic
would have fallen apart

1366
01:11:51,365 --> 01:11:53,675
in the 1790s,
in its early years,

1367
01:11:53,699 --> 01:11:55,844
as almost all republics do.

1368
01:11:55,868 --> 01:11:58,137
Washington's foresight

1369
01:11:58,161 --> 01:12:02,308
was to understand the power
of a national government.

1370
01:12:02,332 --> 01:12:05,186
You have an allegiance
to an idea

1371
01:12:05,210 --> 01:12:07,689
that's put forth under
the federal constitution

1372
01:12:07,713 --> 01:12:09,150
which makes the country.

1373
01:12:09,174 --> 01:12:12,151
Washington's whole point
was that they had

1374
01:12:12,175 --> 01:12:14,696
a special responsibility
to validate the idea

1375
01:12:14,720 --> 01:12:16,364
of selfgovernment.

1376
01:12:16,388 --> 01:12:19,200
That it was our
responsibility collectively.

1377
01:12:19,224 --> 01:12:21,999
It's one of the reasons
Washington adopted the mantle

1378
01:12:22,023 --> 01:12:24,416
of presidency
against his personal wishes.

1379
01:12:24,440 --> 01:12:26,040
It's why he stayed on
for a second term

1380
01:12:26,064 --> 01:12:27,864
when he really wanted
to go back to the farm.

1381
01:12:29,359 --> 01:12:32,297
<i>After nearly eight years
in office,</i>

1382
01:12:32,321 --> 01:12:35,717
<i>and with the country's
partisan divide deepening,</i>

1383
01:12:35,741 --> 01:12:39,929
<i>George Washington declines
to stand for a third term.</i>

1384
01:12:39,953 --> 01:12:41,890
Many people who started
with him in the Cabinet

1385
01:12:41,914 --> 01:12:43,558
are now in opposition.

1386
01:12:43,582 --> 01:12:47,770
He's seen his friends disappear
and finds himself alone.

1387
01:12:47,794 --> 01:12:52,817
He wants to go home and get away
from the vipers in politics.

1388
01:12:52,841 --> 01:12:56,029
When he eventually retires,
Thomas Paine writes,

1389
01:12:56,053 --> 01:12:57,910
"We're pleased to see you go,"

1390
01:12:57,934 --> 01:12:59,407
and asked the question

1391
01:12:59,431 --> 01:13:01,248
"whether you have simply
lost all your integrity

1392
01:13:01,272 --> 01:13:03,620
or whether you ever had any."

1393
01:13:03,644 --> 01:13:04,854
This is George Washington.

1394
01:13:06,939 --> 01:13:08,769
Think about that.
That's what they're saying.

1395
01:13:09,942 --> 01:13:12,420
<i>But outside the political elite,</i>

1396
01:13:12,444 --> 01:13:13,963
<i>among the public,</i>

1397
01:13:13,987 --> 01:13:15,924
<i>Washington is revered</i>

1398
01:13:15,948 --> 01:13:17,800
<i>as the father of his country,</i>

1399
01:13:17,824 --> 01:13:21,429
<i>the man who delivered
the nation its freedom.</i>

1400
01:13:21,453 --> 01:13:24,018
He could have served
for three terms, four terms,

1401
01:13:24,042 --> 01:13:26,267
five terms.
As long as he was alive,

1402
01:13:26,291 --> 01:13:28,519
he would have been
President of the United States

1403
01:13:28,543 --> 01:13:29,817
because of his reputation

1404
01:13:29,841 --> 01:13:31,648
as a man who could be trusted,

1405
01:13:31,672 --> 01:13:34,609
as a man who put country
ahead of himself.

1406
01:13:34,633 --> 01:13:36,029
People at the time understood

1407
01:13:36,053 --> 01:13:38,328
that the main threat
to a republic

1408
01:13:38,352 --> 01:13:42,200
was a demagogue who would
seek power for himself,

1409
01:13:42,224 --> 01:13:44,121
and Washington wasn't
that person.

1410
01:13:44,145 --> 01:13:49,165
Washington himself believed
there cannot be a monarch.

1411
01:13:49,189 --> 01:13:52,627
There cannot be
a person who lives on

1412
01:13:52,651 --> 01:13:54,170
and just dies in office.

1413
01:13:54,194 --> 01:13:56,339
It's hard to overstate how that

1414
01:13:56,363 --> 01:13:58,800
and the peaceful transfer
of power is revolutionary,

1415
01:13:58,824 --> 01:14:00,561
almost as revolutionary
as the war itself.

1416
01:14:00,585 --> 01:14:03,805
For nearly 150 years after that,

1417
01:14:03,829 --> 01:14:06,140
every subsequent President,
even in the absence

1418
01:14:06,164 --> 01:14:07,651
of a constitutional amendment
to that effect,

1419
01:14:07,675 --> 01:14:11,020
had to step down,
because they all faced

1420
01:14:11,044 --> 01:14:12,647
the challenging question.

1421
01:14:12,671 --> 01:14:14,527
"So you think you're better
than Washington?"

1422
01:14:14,551 --> 01:14:17,318
And no one was willing to answer
that in the affirmative.

1423
01:14:17,342 --> 01:14:21,322
<i>George Washington's presidency
ends on the afternoon</i>

1424
01:14:21,346 --> 01:14:25,827
<i>of March 4th, 1797,
when his successor.</i>

1425
01:14:25,851 --> 01:14:29,191
<i>John Adams is sworn in.</i>

1426
01:14:34,359 --> 01:14:37,675
<i>In that retirement,
which is his voluntary choice,</i>

1427
01:14:37,699 --> 01:14:41,009
<i>that he long lived to enjoy
the delicious recollection</i>

1428
01:14:41,033 --> 01:14:43,011
<i>of his services.</i>

1429
01:14:43,035 --> 01:14:44,721
<i>In his inaugural address,</i>

1430
01:14:44,745 --> 01:14:48,099
<i>John Adams, never
Washington's biggest fan,</i>

1431
01:14:48,123 --> 01:14:51,352
<i>sends him off
with a soaring tribute.</i>

1432
01:14:51,376 --> 01:14:53,104
<i>His name may be still a rampart</i>

1433
01:14:53,128 --> 01:14:55,525
<i>and the knowledge
that he leaves a bulwark</i>

1434
01:14:55,549 --> 01:14:58,234
<i>against all open
and secret enemies</i>

1435
01:14:58,258 --> 01:14:59,902
<i>of his country's peace.</i>

1436
01:14:59,926 --> 01:15:00,926
Stop here.

1437
01:15:05,891 --> 01:15:07,208
I thought it would be nice

1438
01:15:07,232 --> 01:15:10,079
to walk the rest of the way.

1439
01:15:10,103 --> 01:15:12,582
That sounds lovely.

1440
01:15:12,606 --> 01:15:14,417
Washington was so excited
to go home.

1441
01:15:14,441 --> 01:15:16,377
He was so excited
to be on his plantation.

1442
01:15:16,401 --> 01:15:19,380
He was going to complete
the renovations to his house.

1443
01:15:19,404 --> 01:15:22,219
Finally, he was gonna be
able to do the experiments

1444
01:15:22,243 --> 01:15:23,910
he wanted to do in the garden.

1445
01:15:37,130 --> 01:15:40,610
Lovely, isn't it?

1446
01:15:40,634 --> 01:15:41,934
Beautiful.

1447
01:15:47,265 --> 01:15:50,912
<i>Washington has held
many titles in his long life,</i>

1448
01:15:50,936 --> 01:15:55,583
<i>General, Commander,
and President.</i>

1449
01:15:55,607 --> 01:15:58,586
<i>Now, in one
historymaking moment,</i>

1450
01:15:58,610 --> 01:16:02,280
<i>he becomes simply citizen.</i>

1451
01:16:16,633 --> 01:16:19,737
<i>After two decades
of public service,</i>

1452
01:16:19,761 --> 01:16:22,740
<i>George Washington's
longawaited return</i>

1453
01:16:22,764 --> 01:16:26,535
<i>to private life
is being cut short.</i>

1454
01:16:26,559 --> 01:16:29,497
He ends up getting two
and a half years of retirement

1455
01:16:29,521 --> 01:16:31,582
in Mount Vernon.

1456
01:16:31,606 --> 01:16:34,627
He deserves more than that,
and he wanted more than that.

1457
01:16:34,651 --> 01:16:36,504
That is it.

1458
01:16:36,528 --> 01:16:38,088
I am sending for the doctor.

1459
01:16:41,699 --> 01:16:45,721
Washington catches
what is a throat disease.

1460
01:16:45,745 --> 01:16:47,473
Now he would be cured
with antibiotics

1461
01:16:47,497 --> 01:16:48,974
in a matter of hours.

1462
01:16:48,998 --> 01:16:52,038
Stay with me, old man.

1463
01:16:53,795 --> 01:16:56,398
Martha.

1464
01:16:56,422 --> 01:17:00,277
Washington believes
in bloodletting.

1465
01:17:00,301 --> 01:17:03,158
It's considered modern medicine
at the time.

1466
01:17:03,182 --> 01:17:06,889
It's literally cutting someone
and bleeding them.

1467
01:17:08,518 --> 01:17:12,957
What we would consider
nowadays a release of toxins.

1468
01:17:12,981 --> 01:17:16,919
He's bled over and over again
at his own request.

1469
01:17:16,943 --> 01:17:21,215
More.

1470
01:17:21,239 --> 01:17:23,509
I mean, it's prolonged torture,

1471
01:17:23,533 --> 01:17:25,413
and he's not improving.

1472
01:17:31,791 --> 01:17:35,091
My breath cannot last long.

1473
01:17:37,088 --> 01:17:39,692
And eventually he says,

1474
01:17:39,716 --> 01:17:41,986
"Stop. I'm just going."

1475
01:17:50,852 --> 01:17:54,112
Wait... three days...

1476
01:17:55,857 --> 01:17:59,253
to put my body

1477
01:17:59,277 --> 01:18:00,857
in the vault.

1478
01:18:06,075 --> 01:18:09,785
He says, "Wait three days
to bury me."

1479
01:18:11,122 --> 01:18:13,859
He wants them to be sure
that he's actually dead.

1480
01:18:13,883 --> 01:18:17,896
It's such an interesting
concern and worry.

1481
01:18:19,839 --> 01:18:23,569
It maybe speaks
to his need for control.

1482
01:18:51,245 --> 01:18:53,849
<i>George Washington's
epic life ends</i>

1483
01:18:53,873 --> 01:18:56,352
<i>sometime between 10:00 and 11:00</i>

1484
01:18:56,376 --> 01:19:00,439
<i>on the night
of December 14th, 1799.</i>

1485
01:19:00,463 --> 01:19:03,013
<i>He was 67 years old.</i>

1486
01:19:04,759 --> 01:19:06,695
When he died,
it was really clear

1487
01:19:06,719 --> 01:19:09,865
that an age of American history
had ended.

1488
01:19:09,889 --> 01:19:14,244
Given Washington's symbolic
as well as political importance

1489
01:19:14,268 --> 01:19:15,788
in the founding of the nation,

1490
01:19:15,812 --> 01:19:18,540
his death
had an enormous impact.

1491
01:19:18,564 --> 01:19:20,292
There was a huge response.

1492
01:19:20,316 --> 01:19:22,586
Enormous funeral processions
and ceremonies

1493
01:19:22,610 --> 01:19:23,967
held throughout the nation.

1494
01:19:23,991 --> 01:19:25,297
People understood

1495
01:19:25,321 --> 01:19:29,009
that this was the passing
of a moment.

1496
01:19:29,033 --> 01:19:32,805
When Washington is buried,
it's at home.

1497
01:19:32,829 --> 01:19:34,556
He wants to be at Mount Vernon,

1498
01:19:34,580 --> 01:19:36,767
as he always did.

1499
01:19:36,791 --> 01:19:38,227
There are many in attendance,

1500
01:19:38,251 --> 01:19:40,104
with one notable exception

1501
01:19:40,128 --> 01:19:41,378
Martha Washington.

1502
01:19:43,005 --> 01:19:44,585
She stays in the house.

1503
01:19:46,008 --> 01:19:48,320
Whatever existed
between the two of them,

1504
01:19:48,344 --> 01:19:49,863
their relationship,

1505
01:19:49,887 --> 01:19:52,032
her sadness over his death,

1506
01:19:52,056 --> 01:19:53,056
we don't know...

1507
01:19:54,684 --> 01:19:56,604
because she didn't want us to.

1508
01:19:58,312 --> 01:20:01,333
<i>At some point after
her husband's death,</i>

1509
01:20:01,357 --> 01:20:04,670
<i>Martha Washington destroys
nearly all of the letters</i>

1510
01:20:04,694 --> 01:20:06,471
<i>they'd written to each other</i>

1511
01:20:06,495 --> 01:20:08,737
<i>over their 40 years of marriage.</i>

1512
01:20:10,742 --> 01:20:13,729
There's not very many letters
that exist between them.

1513
01:20:13,753 --> 01:20:15,764
One of them in particular,

1514
01:20:15,788 --> 01:20:17,935
we know
is the "My Dearest" letter.

1515
01:20:17,959 --> 01:20:19,893
It was discovered
in a writing desk

1516
01:20:19,917 --> 01:20:22,020
that had been owned
by Martha Washington,

1517
01:20:22,044 --> 01:20:24,398
kind of behind
one of the drawers

1518
01:20:24,422 --> 01:20:27,592
by one of Martha's
descendants in the 1840s.

1519
01:20:28,760 --> 01:20:30,612
<i>My dearest,</i>

1520
01:20:30,636 --> 01:20:33,743
<i>as I am within a few minutes
of leaving this city,</i>

1521
01:20:33,767 --> 01:20:36,160
<i>I could not think
of departing from it</i>

1522
01:20:36,184 --> 01:20:38,495
<i>without dropping you a line.</i>

1523
01:20:38,519 --> 01:20:41,623
<i>I retain an unalterable
affection for you,</i>

1524
01:20:41,647 --> 01:20:45,085
<i>which neither time
or distance can change.</i>

1525
01:20:45,109 --> 01:20:48,505
<i>With the utmost truth
and sincerity,</i>

1526
01:20:48,529 --> 01:20:52,779
<i>your entire, George Washington.</i>

1527
01:20:55,036 --> 01:20:57,681
Martha lives out
the rest of her days

1528
01:20:57,705 --> 01:20:59,767
quite quietly.

1529
01:20:59,791 --> 01:21:03,061
She passes from old age

1530
01:21:03,085 --> 01:21:04,897
quite peacefully at home

1531
01:21:04,921 --> 01:21:08,221
and is interned
next to Washington.

1532
01:21:13,429 --> 01:21:16,658
In Washington's
last will and testament,

1533
01:21:16,682 --> 01:21:19,038
he stipulates
that the enslaved people

1534
01:21:19,062 --> 01:21:21,417
will be granted their freedom
when Martha dies,

1535
01:21:21,441 --> 01:21:23,916
except for William Lee,
who he gives

1536
01:21:23,940 --> 01:21:25,530
grants his freedom right away.

1537
01:21:26,776 --> 01:21:30,547
<i>Lee, who served by
Washington's side in the war,</i>

1538
01:21:30,571 --> 01:21:33,178
<i>suffered injuries
in two separate accidents</i>

1539
01:21:33,202 --> 01:21:35,677
<i>before Washington's presidency,</i>

1540
01:21:35,701 --> 01:21:38,514
<i>making him physically
unable to continue</i>

1541
01:21:38,538 --> 01:21:40,891
<i>serving as Washington's valet.</i>

1542
01:21:40,915 --> 01:21:45,062
<i>He spends the rest
of his life at Mount Vernon.</i>

1543
01:21:45,086 --> 01:21:48,774
Lee was given the option
of immediate emancipation

1544
01:21:48,798 --> 01:21:51,235
and an annuity of $30 a year.

1545
01:21:51,259 --> 01:21:54,488
He was to be taken care of.

1546
01:21:54,512 --> 01:21:58,575
So it's a moment where we see
Washington's thoughts,

1547
01:21:58,599 --> 01:22:01,912
his changing feelings
and sentiments

1548
01:22:01,936 --> 01:22:04,976
about slavery revealed.

1549
01:22:06,983 --> 01:22:09,920
Now, you can say
he doesn't free him

1550
01:22:09,944 --> 01:22:12,591
in his own life,
but he's the only member

1551
01:22:12,615 --> 01:22:14,387
of the Virginia dynasty
to do this.

1552
01:22:14,411 --> 01:22:15,926
Jefferson doesn't do it.

1553
01:22:15,950 --> 01:22:17,886
Madison doesn't do it.
Monroe doesn't do it.

1554
01:22:17,910 --> 01:22:19,200
Patrick Henry doesn't do it.

1555
01:22:20,746 --> 01:22:25,519
And we have to recognize it
as significant

1556
01:22:25,543 --> 01:22:27,690
as the first President
of the United States,

1557
01:22:27,714 --> 01:22:28,856
as a founder,

1558
01:22:28,880 --> 01:22:30,607
that his decision

1559
01:22:30,631 --> 01:22:33,443
to emancipate his slaves
meant something.

1560
01:22:33,467 --> 01:22:35,529
And it also signaled

1561
01:22:35,553 --> 01:22:39,491
that slavery eventually

1562
01:22:39,515 --> 01:22:41,118
would come to an end.

1563
01:22:41,142 --> 01:22:44,705
He knew even at the time
that his mark on history

1564
01:22:44,729 --> 01:22:46,748
would be a large footprint.

1565
01:22:46,772 --> 01:22:49,084
And I think
he was thinking ahead

1566
01:22:49,108 --> 01:22:51,738
in ways that we don't
necessarily think about today.

1567
01:22:53,571 --> 01:22:56,341
George Washington
had a remarkable sense

1568
01:22:56,365 --> 01:22:58,051
that he was performing

1569
01:22:58,075 --> 01:22:59,928
not only to lead people
in his own time

1570
01:22:59,952 --> 01:23:01,702
but for all time.

1571
01:23:03,122 --> 01:23:07,519
<i>15 miles north of Washington's
final resting place</i>

1572
01:23:07,543 --> 01:23:11,398
<i>sits the capital city
that now bears his name.</i>

1573
01:23:11,422 --> 01:23:12,983
<i>It's the beating heart</i>

1574
01:23:13,007 --> 01:23:15,861
<i>of George Washington's
real legacy</i>

1575
01:23:15,885 --> 01:23:17,988
<i>the government
he fought to create</i>

1576
01:23:18,012 --> 01:23:20,369
<i>and then pass
to future generations</i>

1577
01:23:20,393 --> 01:23:24,995
<i>along with some advice
on how to keep it alive.</i>

1578
01:23:25,019 --> 01:23:27,164
<i>Friends and fellow citizens,</i>

1579
01:23:27,188 --> 01:23:28,832
<i>the unity of government</i>

1580
01:23:28,856 --> 01:23:31,877
<i>which constitutes you one people</i>

1581
01:23:31,901 --> 01:23:36,340
<i>is also a main pillar
of your real independence.</i>

1582
01:23:36,364 --> 01:23:38,300
Washington's farewell address

1583
01:23:38,324 --> 01:23:40,848
is a political
last will and testament.

1584
01:23:40,872 --> 01:23:43,475
This is the sum total
of his hardwon wisdom

1585
01:23:43,499 --> 01:23:45,891
explicitly written for you.

1586
01:23:45,915 --> 01:23:49,603
<i>Let me warn you against
the baneful effects</i>

1587
01:23:49,627 --> 01:23:51,521
<i>of the spirit of party.</i>

1588
01:23:51,545 --> 01:23:53,106
And if you keep
these principles in mind,

1589
01:23:53,130 --> 01:23:55,108
you'll be fine. If you don't,

1590
01:23:55,132 --> 01:23:56,860
there can be real trouble ahead.

1591
01:23:56,884 --> 01:23:58,403
<i>It opens the door</i>

1592
01:23:58,427 --> 01:24:00,113
<i>to foreign influence
and corruption.</i>

1593
01:24:00,137 --> 01:24:01,990
He laid out the warnings

1594
01:24:02,014 --> 01:24:04,910
about how we have to protect
this system we have created.

1595
01:24:04,934 --> 01:24:07,996
<i>Cunning, ambitious,
and unprincipled men</i>

1596
01:24:08,020 --> 01:24:11,875
<i>will be unable to subvert
the power of the people.</i>

1597
01:24:11,899 --> 01:24:14,086
He understood
that this was still

1598
01:24:14,110 --> 01:24:16,421
a very fragile experiment,

1599
01:24:16,445 --> 01:24:19,883
and he had no idea
this is gonna last 200 years.

1600
01:24:19,907 --> 01:24:23,011
<i>Citizens by birth or choice,</i>

1601
01:24:23,035 --> 01:24:27,140
<i>the name of American
which belongs to you</i>

1602
01:24:27,164 --> 01:24:32,688
<i>must always exalt
the just pride of patriotism.</i>

1603
01:24:32,712 --> 01:24:36,027
Ever since George Washington,
people looking at us

1604
01:24:36,051 --> 01:24:38,195
and have been betting
against America.

1605
01:24:38,219 --> 01:24:40,153
So far, they've all lost money.

1606
01:24:40,177 --> 01:24:44,032
<i>I shall carry it
with me to my grave</i>

1607
01:24:44,056 --> 01:24:46,410
<i>that the free Constitution,</i>

1608
01:24:46,434 --> 01:24:49,454
<i>which is the work of your hands,</i>

1609
01:24:49,478 --> 01:24:53,818
<i>may be sacredly maintained.</i>

1610
01:24:55,735 --> 01:24:58,088
There are very few
Washingtonlike figures

1611
01:24:58,112 --> 01:24:59,506
in American history

1612
01:24:59,530 --> 01:25:01,967
people who they weren't perfect,

1613
01:25:01,991 --> 01:25:05,262
but you had a sense that,
when the crisis came,

1614
01:25:05,286 --> 01:25:07,389
when the winds were howling,

1615
01:25:07,413 --> 01:25:09,269
when the wolf was at the door,

1616
01:25:09,293 --> 01:25:11,226
you would want them in charge.

1617
01:25:11,250 --> 01:25:13,061
Washington did a good job

1618
01:25:13,085 --> 01:25:14,855
in making our union
more perfect.

1619
01:25:14,879 --> 01:25:16,775
And I think America has no idea

1620
01:25:16,799 --> 01:25:17,944
how indebted to him they are.

1621
01:25:17,968 --> 01:25:20,861
Washington is the embodiment

1622
01:25:20,885 --> 01:25:23,405
of America's selfevident truth.

1623
01:25:23,429 --> 01:25:26,491
He is the foundingest
father of them all.

1624
01:25:26,515 --> 01:25:28,368
Adams is his best read.

1625
01:25:28,392 --> 01:25:30,666
Jefferson is the most
intellectually sophisticated.

1626
01:25:30,690 --> 01:25:33,749
Benjamin Franklin is,
in some ways, the wisest.

1627
01:25:33,773 --> 01:25:35,959
Washington's the greatest.

1628
01:25:35,983 --> 01:25:37,836
No question about it.

1629
01:25:37,860 --> 01:25:39,796
<i>Primus inter pares</i>

1630
01:25:39,820 --> 01:25:41,490
first among equals.