Original subtitles

♪ I see a land

♪ With liberty for all

♪ Yet still I know

♪ The truth will rise and fall

♪ Ooh yeah, yeah

♪ That's just the way it goes

♪ A word now to the wise

♪ The world was made to change

♪ Each day is a surprise

♪ I'm looking at life through my own eyes ♪

♪ Searching for a hero to idolize ♪

♪ Feeling the pain as innocence dies ♪

♪ I'm looking at life

♪ Through my own eyes

♪ I take my heart into battle

♪ Give that freedom bell a rattle ♪

♪ Get my independence signed

♪ Declare it on the dotted line ♪

♪ Let Philadelphia freedom ring ♪

♪ And patriotic voices sing

♪ Red, white, and blue

♪ Never give up

♪ You represent America

♪ I'm hoping and praying for a brighter day ♪

♪ I listen to my heart and I obey ♪

♪ How can I see it any other way? ♪

♪ I'm looking at life

♪ Looking at life

♪ With my own eyes

(fireworks exploding)

- [Announcer] Here are some exciting scenes

from today's episode of Liberty's Kids.

- We engaged the red coats and their Mohawk allies

outside of Newton just a few days ago.

I was hoping we'd capture their murdering chief,

Colonel Joseph Brant.

But so far, he's managed to slip away.

Aye, he's the prize, the devil that fought against us

in General Burgoyne's army.

(dramatic music)

(gentle music)

(horses snorting)

- [John] My dearest Abigail,

I write you from France, for what may be the last time.

Congress, in its infinite wisdom,

has chosen not to reappoint me to my diplomatic post.

After 18 months away, I'll be coming home.

If my letters have been restrained,

it's only for fear they would be stolen by the British.

But Abigail, do not doubt my love for you.

It is all I have left.

Your dearest friend, John.

- Take heart, John Adams

and don't count this adventure a failure.

- Thank you, Doctor, for all your kindnesses.

- Not at all.

If I may have a word with John Quincy.

- By all means.

(harpsichord music)

- John Quincy, one day the state of our new nation

will rest upon the shoulders of young lads like you.

In the meantime, try to have a little fun.

Climb a tree, fly a kite.

- Yes, sir, Doctor Franklin, but I do think

I shall be better off learning physics.

- Of all my accomplishments, the one I am

most proud of I learned as a boy.

Do you know what that is?

- No, sir.

- There's your physics.

Remember, John Quincy, lost time is not found again.

(dramatic music)

(lively music)

- Better check your pie, Sarah.

(hinge squealing)

- I do believe apple is my favorite.

- It's John's, as well.

- Mother, remember how much he loves mince pie?

- (sighing) I'd almost forgotten.

If I don't see him soon, I swear I shall forget his face.

- How long has it been since you last heard from him?

- It seems like months.

I don't know how much longer I can carry on without him.

Why did he only send me two letters in 18 months

when I wrote him dozens?

(sizzling)

- Ow! Ee! Ow!

- Henri LeFevbre, that serves you right.

Mrs. Adams, look!

- Abigail!

- Ah, John!

- Father, father! - Father, father!

(laughs)

- Oh my boys, look at my boys.

- Oh, my dear John Quincy.

- It's so good to see you, we missed you.

- Oh father, I'm so glad you're home.

(sighs)

(lively music)

(grunting)

- John Adams, you're much too old to be climbing trees.

- Nonsense.

Got it!

(cracking)

Uh oh.

(shouting)

(thud)

- John, are you alright?

- Not even bruised.

- Honestly, what am I going to do with you?

- Keep me and put me to work.

Least I'll know I'll be appreciated.

For you, darling.

- I know it sounds selfish, but I'm tired of sharing you

with Congress, Paris, and the Revolution.

- After all we've been through

these last few years, I understand.

- And father sent me to the finest ecole in Paris.

That's French for school.

- Say something else in French.

- Tell us you like to eat fish.

- That's easy.

(speaks French)

(laughing)

And what is so funny?

- You just said you like to eat poison!

(laughs)

- Did not.

- Did too.

Le poison, poison.

Le poisson, fish.

- What do you know?

Have you ever been to school?

Do you know Latin or Greek?

Have you studied physics or chemistry?

- No, but I know how to catch birds and toads.

(laughing)

- Just as I thought.

You don't know anything, do you.

(lively music)

- General John Sullivan?

- Why, if it isn't James Hiller

from Doctor Franklin's newspaper.

- I hope this isn't a bad time.

- Not at all, me lad.

- I heard that Congress ordered you up here

to fight the Iroquois.

- Only because General Washington called it a necessity

after what they did to the families

at Wyoming and Cherry Valley.

Men were deserting in droves so they could go home

to protect their loved ones.

- Have you done any fighting yet?

- We engaged the Redcoats and their Mohawk allies

outside of Newton just a few days ago.

(shouting)

(explosion)

Our cannons sent 'em running like rabbits.

I was hoping we'd capture their murder-in-chief,

Colonel Joseph Brant, but so far he's managed to slip away.

- Joseph Brant?

- Aye, he's the prize, the devil that fought against us

in General Burgoyne's army.

He was there when they massacred all those women

and children at Cherry Valley as well.

- How do you plan on capturing him?

- I have an army of 4,000 men.

We'll find Brant even if it means

scorching the earth between here and Canada.

(dramatic music)

- Would you mind if I wrote a story about it?

- Why not?

After all, it could make me a national hero.

(dramatic music)

(wood splitting)

(hoofbeats)

- John Adams?

- Honestly, how could he have let his clothes

get into this state and present himself

to the court at Versailles?

- Abigail, Massachusetts holding a convention,

drafting a new constitution!

- Slow down, John.

- It's exactly what I envisioned.

Nothing like this has ever been done before.

The citizens themselves will actually

have the chance to vote on it.

- As they should, but what does that

have to do with us?

- The good people of Braintree have asked me

to be a delegate.

- But you've barely been home a week!

- The convention's close by, and I'll be

one of only 250 delegates.

- If your country needs you, I suppose you'll need this.

- You'd think she'd be happy.

(fire crackling)

- You should see some of their castles.

That's what the Iroquois call their villages.

Living better than we do.

Of course that'll change after the war.

- Will you really destroy everything?

- The Iroquois Confederacy had their chance to join us,

but that devil Brant convinced four of the six

Indian nations to side with the British.

- But what if you're destroying crops

that belong to the Indians on our side?

- Fortunes of war, me lad, fortunes of war.

(fire crackles)

- Look at it.

(laughing)

- How am I supposed to prepare for Harvard

with all this racket going on?

- Maybe you'd like to try?

- Don't be ridiculous.

- Tell you what, I'll teach you how to fly it

if you help me with my reading and writing.

- Are you seriously proposing to trade

my knowledge for yours?

- I'll even toss in my own method of catching toads,

unless that's something you're going to learn at Harvard?

I'm sorry I laughed at you.

What do you say?

- Well, I suppose we could try it.

- Great, here.

- What do I do now?

- Have fun!

(fire crackling)

(silverware clinking)

- Was that you I saw flying a kite today, John Quincy?

- I was merely interested in the physics of it.

(laughter)

- Abigail, children, I have good news to share.

The convention was a shambles until I arrived.

Then the delegates formed a committee of 30 men

to draft the constitution.

That committee in turn chose a subcommittee of three men

who naturally picked me.

- That's splendid, John.

Might we talk outside for a moment?

- It's nothing, just continue eating.

I thought you'd be pleased at the honor.

- I am, John, as I've always been pleased

at the work you've done for the Revolution,

but how much longer will this go on?

You left me for 18 months.

Now that I've gotten you back,

I don't want to lose you again.

- I'll work here at home.

- Shut away in your office.

I understand, John, I really do,

but what about the children?

Little Thomas barely knows you.

- Look at me.

How could John Adams, leader of the American Revolution,

turn down the chance to write a document

that may very well serve as a model for a new nation?

- What about John Adams, father and husband?

When do I get that John Adams back?

(sighs)

- How could we have done this?

(dramatic music)

- What are you doing here?

- I'm a journalist writing a story for a newspaper.

- I am Thayendanegea of the Mohawk Nation.

- I had nothing to do with this, I swear.

- No, just those you write about.

- General Sullivan's army is only doing this

because Chief Joseph Brant and his Mohawks

massacred women and children at Cherry Valley.

- What do you know of that?

Come with me, journalist, and soon you will see

which side is truly savage.

(epic music)

- "The people have always some"--

- Champion.

- Merci.

"Champion, whom they set over them

"and nurse into greatness.

"This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs."

Should I keep going?

- That's quite enough for one day.

Now it's my turn.

- What would you like to do first,

climb a tree or catch a toad?

- Hmm, catching a toad would be quite a dirty business.

Let's do that.

(somber music)

- What do you see here?

- Trees, a river, farmland?

- You see with a white man's eyes.

I look, and I see the past.

(wind blowing)

Once thousands of my people prospered here.

Six nations formed the mighty Iroquois Confederacy:

Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

(wind blowing)

Now because of the Bostonians, that time is gone forever.

- The Bostonians?

- That is my name for John Adams

and the other American revolutionaries,

the ones who seek to make this their nation

and who will take this land that was meant for all to share.

Have you ever thought of writing about that?

- But the English are far worse.

- Are you hungry, journalist?

- I suppose.

- I will fill your belly with a tale

of the English and Joseph Brant.

- I'm sorry if my mood is dark, Sarah.

- With your permission, Mrs. Adams,

may I speak from my own experience?

- By all means.

- After not seeing my father for so many years,

not knowing whether he was alive or dead,

I had to leave him in Ohio.

Then I went to England to be with my mother,

only to leave her again as well.

It's because of the war, Mrs. Adams,

the fight for liberty.

- Thank you for reminding me of what I'd almost forgotten.

These are indeed times that call for great sacrifices,

but even more so for great strength and understanding.

- Joseph Brant was raised by an Englishman,

Sir William Johnson, Britain's Superintendent

of Indian Affairs.

Sir William brought Joseph to Connecticut,

saw to his education, even married his sister.

(wind blowing)

Joseph joined the Anglican Church

and even translated part of the Bible

into the language of our fathers.

(wind blowing)

Have you been to England?

- No.

- Joseph Brant, as chief of the Mohawks,

sailed there on an English ship.

(wind blowing)

He saw plays by Shakespeare.

He even broke bread with King George.

(wind blowing)

The British warned Joseph Brant

that the Bostonians would steal our lands

if we remained neutral.

Our mothers and sisters were afraid.

What would you have done in our situation?

- I don't know.

- Joseph trusted the British and the promises to protect us.

Yet by siding with them, we have given the Bostonians

good reason to take our lands.

Like a prophecy come true, we have brought

our own destruction upon our heads.

(somber music)

(paper crumpling)

- John, will you walk with me?

(lively music)

(croaking)

- Now reach under and grab it.

Go on.

- Got it.

I dub thee King George.

(wind blowing)

- Across this river is the great castle of my people.

The nights grow longer and the days colder.

Tell me, journalist, what will my people eat this winter?

Where will they live?

We supplied food for the British soldiers.

Who will feed us now?

Oh, brave new world that has such people in it.

William Shakespeare, the English playwright,

once I thought to translate his words as well.

Now there seems no point.

- You, you're him!

You're Colonel Brant!

Why didn't you want me to know?

- One can only tell the truth

when he has seen it with both eyes.

(epic music)

- What a story.

- I've written about the form of government

and its guarantees--freedom of speech,

freedom of the press, and so on.

Yet something is still missing.

- If I may.

- You know how much I value your thoughts.

- Perhaps you need to include a section

that captures not just the form of government

but its hopes and dreams for our people as well.

- Yes, yes!

But what are those hopes and dreams?

(children laughing)

- "Let early education be a sort of amusement.

"You will then be better able to find out

"the natural bent."

- I quite agree.

Don't you, King George?

(croaking)

- Of course. (kiss)

(wind blowing)

It shall be the duty of this commonwealth

to cherish the interests of education,

of literature, and the sciences,

of public schools and grammar schools in the towns,

to encourage the arts.

To promote the principles of humanity

and general benevolence, public and private charity,

honesty and sincerity, good humor,

and generous sentiments among the people.

(dramatic music)

(gentle music)

- I've got a letter from Abigail Adams!

- May I read it, please?

I'm a good reader now.

- I don't see why not.

- Let's see.

"My dear Sarah, I trust this letter

"finds you safe and well at Dr. Franklin's in Philadelphia."

- Very good, Henri.

- "The children all miss you and Henri very much."

They miss me!

"The consta, consta"--

Here, you can read this part.

- "The Constitutional Convention unanimously ratified

"John's document, and the people of Massachusetts

"will soon vote to accept or reject it."

- [Abigail] As I write this, I must tell you

how empty the house feels now.

Congress wrote to John asking him to return to France

to negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain.

Without so much as a word to me first, he accepted.

Charles is old enough to go with him now.

John Quincy, however, wanted to stay here with me.

I told him these are times in which

a genius would wish to live.

It is a time when great character is formed.

Thank you, Sarah, for helping me remember

that great necessities call out great virtues.

All will be well.

(sigh)

(croaking)

(dramatic music)

♪ Looking at life through my own eyes ♪

♪ Searching for a hero to idolize ♪

♪ Feeling the pain as innocence dies ♪

♪ I'm looking at life

♪ With my own eyes

♪ I take my heart into battle

♪ Give that freedom bell a rattle ♪

♪ Get my independence signed

♪ Declare it on the dotted line ♪

♪ Red, white, and blue

♪ Never give up

♪ You represent America

- [Children] Cookie Jar. (laughter)