Original subtitles

♪ I see a land with liberty for

♪ Yet still I know the truth will rise and fall ♪

♪ 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 ♪

♪ I'm searching for a hero to id

♪ Feeling the pain as innocence

♪ I'm looking at life with my ow

♪ I take my heart into battle ♪

♪ Give that freedom bell a rattl

♪ Get my independence signed ♪

♪ Declare it on the dotted line

♪ That Philadelphia freedom ring

♪ And patriotic voices sing ♪

♪ Red, white, and blue never giv

♪ You represent America ♪

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

♪ I listen to my heart and I obe

♪ How can I see it any other way

♪ I'm looking at life with my ow

- Here are some exciting scenes

today's episode of Liberty's Kid

- We are threatened by an excess of democracy,

a tyranny of the mob.

Our current system of government

has turned this country into the Disunited States.

- We've had four years of govern

under the Articles of Confederat

and they just don't work.

- If you think I'll sign a const

that takes away my state's rights, you're plum crazy.

- It's not our country, it's a c

- Dear reader, I'm in Massachuse

interview Captain Daniel Shays.

He and a lot of other soldiers

returned home to their farms whe

the war ended three years ago,

but times have been hard.

Farmers can't pay their debts an

the government's closing in to take their land.

- You're throwing me in jail 'cause I can't pay my debts?

I borrowed that money I owe 'cau

the government asked me to so I

buy more grain to grow more food

for our army and the French army

Take your hands off me sir.

Now that there's no more soldier

I can't sell my produce.

Instead of helping me who help y

you make me sell my farm to pay

When the money from the sale doesn't cover my debts,

you throw me in a cage!

Me and darn near every other farmer in Massachusetts,

we risked our lives fighting for your freedom!

- This is not justice! - Outrageous!

- We fought for this country!

- We were soldiers!

- Order, order!

- These, James, are what you des

the fruits of the continental soldier's courage.

- Let me go!

It's not fair!

I fought for you!

- And the state's answer to our honest petition is silence,

or just about.

- This won't stand!

We must act!

- If the courts mean to take away our farms

then throw us in jail,

maybe we have to close down the courts any way we can.

- To the honorable James Madison, my dear sir,

your last letter asked for my op

concerning the state of our government and our nation.

Both I fear are drifting towards certain collapse.

In Massachusetts, Daniel Shays,

a former captain in our army,

has led an attack by farmers on a federal arsenal

because the government took away their land.

(loud explosion)

- We fought for this country!

Give us back our land!

- Farmers in Maryland have mobbed a courthouse

in an effort to destroy tax reco

to avoid paying taxes they consider unfair.

- We do this for freedom!

- We want our freedom!

(crowd yelling)

- Even here in Virginia,

citizens destroyed a courthouse out of rage and frustration.

We are threatened by an excess of democracy,

a tyranny of the mob.

Our current system of government

turned this country into the Disunited States.

I look forward to our convention in Philadelphia.

There, we will probe our defects to their bottom

and provide a radical cure.

- Well General, enough delegates

arrived to begin the convention.

The eyes of the world are upon u

Frankly, I've come to the conclu

that unless we throw out the art

of confederation and start over,

we will not be able to hold our nation together.

- This is good news doctor.

Madison and I intend to use this convention

to rebuild the republic based on

central government stronger than the states.

May I count on your support?

- You have my word.

- Did you hear that?

They don't just want to fix the Articles of Confederation,

they want a whole new constituti

- Everything's going to change.

- Maybe it will and maybe it won

There are 13 states that have to

and barely any of them have abolished slavery.

What's a new constitution going to do about that?

- With your permission doctor,

I'd like to nominate you to be president of the convention.

- I'm grateful general, but the job belongs to you alone.

There's not another man in the c

who commands half your respect.

You're the only one who can hold everyone together.

- United we stand, divided we fa

(bell rings)

- My old friend James.

- Alexander Hamilton.

- This is a historic moment Jame

as important as when we agreed o

the Declaration of Independence.

We've had six years of governmen

under the Articles of Confederat

and they just don't work.

- What do you think should be do

- You tell your readers that Alexander Hamilton of New York

believes in a strong, central go

- Connecticut is here to fix the

Articles of Confederation and nothing more.

- Make no mistake about it.

Maryland won't let any of the big states push us around.

- Slavery is not the issue at this convention.

- But some states have already abolished it.

- No southern state ever will.

Every man here knows the importa

of slavery to the southern econo

You have my word.

We will be united on it.

- What do think so far?

- I don't know about you but I d

see how they'll ever agree on an

- We better go in.

(man grunting)

Let go!

This isn't fair!

- We're members of the press!

Mr. Madison, how are we supposed

cover the convention for our new

if we can't go inside?

- I believe in the free press,

but to succeed in our goals,

each delegate must know he can c

his mind without public embarras

Besides, I'll keep my own notes for the historians.

- I'm sorry but James Madison is

The delegates need to be left alone to do their work,

but I know if I tell you what's

you'd never write anything you s

- Not in a million years.

- So what did happen today?

- Edmond Randolph of Virginia in

a plan to scrap the Articles of Confederation

and create a whole new form of g

Madison and Washington are the ones behind it.

They wanna create a government made up of three branches.

First and foremost, the new Congress would be

made of two houses which Madison calls an uprun of for one.

They'll be an executive branch h

some sort of president and a judicial branch,

a kind of Supreme Court made up

judges who can overrule state co

It's a system of checks and bala

to make sure no branch can dominate any other.

That way we'll be protected from

tyranny of the monarchy and of t

- Hold on.

I understand about the president and Supreme Court,

but how many representatives wil

each state send to this new Cong

- That's the catch Sara.

Madison wants to throw out the

principle of one state, one vote

and base representation on the size of a state's population.

- Won't that give all the power

to the biggest states like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania?

- The small states will never ag

- Which will tear the country ap

- I only hope the delegates have

as much sense as you do because if they don't,

it's going to be a long, hot summer in Philadelphia.

- Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York,

why shouldn't we in Maryland have a vote equal to you?

- Luther, you've been talking for six hours straight!

- Oh sit down Luther!

- Let someone else speak!

- What?

I haven't even started!

(men yelling)

- Maryland's important too!

We have strong, good men,

men who've helped build this nat

as much as anyone else has and w

crabs, tons and tons of Maryland

Gentleman, have you ever eaten Maryland crabs?

(man snoring)

Fresh from the bay, cooked to pe

with a touch of melted butter, it's perfection itself.

(kids yelling)

- Pennsylvania demands proportional representation!

(men yelling)

- Connecticut demands one vote p

(men yelling)

- If you think I'll sign a const

that takes away my state's rights, you're plum crazy.

(man snoring)

So you Virginians can put that in your pipes and smoke it.

- What do you see?

- Alexander Hamilton's about to

These guards take their job too

- Mr. President, if I may.

- Mr. Pinkney from South Carolina has the floor.

- Gentleman, all this talk of Congress is well and good,

but unless our southern states a

guaranteed the continued existence of slavery,

we will be bound to oppose this

new constitution in any form.

- Thank you Mr. Pinkey.

We will keep that in mind.

- What do you see now?

- They're voting on Madison's pr

for proportional voting.

They're deadlocked.

Uh oh.

- Absolutely not.

- Mr. Sherman, can you tell me what's happening?

- We've come to a full stop.

- Full stop, this convention's falling apart.

- You two know that you shouldn'

- I'm sorry Dr. Franklin.

We just couldn't stay away.

- We needed to see how things we

- I'll tell you how they're goin

While we bicker in there,

the British still holds six forts on American soil,

Spain forbids us from trading goods to New Orleans,

Barbary pirates raid our ships in the Mediterranean

but we have no navy to stop them

because Congress has no money wh

we can't repay our loans from France and Holland.

It's not a country, it's a circu

- Dr. Franklin!

- My gall stones.

Afraid I can't walk.

- I'll get Moses.

We'll bring your sedan chair.

- I'll be alright Sara.

It's the country I'm worried abo

- Dr. Franklin, I thought you might like some soup.

- Thank you Sara.

Put it on the table there please

- How are you feeling?

- Better but stay a moment.

You're looking very happy today.

- Oh Dr. Franklin, I'm so happy.

Mother and I have heard from fat

He's bought land in upstate New

He'll be arriving here any day n

- Splendid.

You'll go with him to New York?

- Certainly, but I won't stay fo

There's so much I want to do.

- You're in the right country fo

There, all I needed were some st

lenses for my bifocals and I can see clearly again.

Of course!

- What is it Dr. Franklin?

- The delegates selected a grand

to settle the voting issue once and for all.

I didn't think I was well enough to participate

but now I must attend.

- But your gall stones.

- I don't care if they have to carry me in.

- Dr. Franklin.

There.

- The large states are quite different from each other.

They will act on their own interests, not their size.

To claim that the large states w

dominate the small is a false-.

- Gentleman.

I have the solution.

Gently.

Just as I wear bifocals with two kinds of lenses,

we have two houses in our Congre

that the upper house abide by th

principle of one state, one vote

but let the members of the lower

be elected by proportional vote.

It would be a house of represent

- That sounds reasonable.

- I can live with that.

- Good idea.

- Dr. Franklin, you are a genius

(men yelling)

- What?

- In our new government we'll have a Senate,

a House of Representatives, a Supreme Court,

and a President.

- A leader who's not a king.

What kind of president will we h

- That's one of the issues that hasn't been settled.

- Our president should serve for

- Congress should choose our pre

- We should have three president

- We'll settle the matters soon

- And I dare say we all know who

will be elected our first presid

- There's a more pressing issue

that still must be decided.

- Whether the new constitution w

allow my people to be kept in sl

- It can't do that!

I mean, will it really?

- It is an issue that I fear wil

be decided on the basis of politics, not morality.

- In order to have our fair shar

of representation in Congress,

we demand that the constitution

three fifths of a state's slaves

part of it's population.

- If Mr. Pinkney says slaves are nothing more than property,

why not let Massachusetts count

and cattle as part of our popula

- Slavery will bring the judgment of heaven upon us.

- Does not the honorable Mr. Mason own slaves himself?

Gentleman, if slavery is abolished by this convention,

Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina

will not be parties to this unio

(men booing and arguing)

- You're up late.

- Are you alright Dr. Franklin?

- Fine, just couldn't sleep.

- Me neither.

- Moses, you know what I think of the practice of slavery.

I despise it with every bone in

- It's not going to be abolished

the new constitution, is it?

- I'm sorry Moses.

The delegates have reached an od

compromise between the north and

It was the only way to save the

- How long will this union last?

A country that keeps so many of its people in bondage.

I'm a peace loving man Ben and I

afraid of the price we might hav

to win freedom for everyone.

- I am too my friend.

We've fought one war for liberty

I hope we won't have to fight an

- You might as well know, I'll be leaving here soon.

I'm moving forward with my plans

to open a school for free negro

- That's a school I'd like to su

- I appreciate that Dr. Franklin

but I've saved my own money for

just like I did when I bought my

- I understand.

Well governor Morris is reworkin

language of the constitution.

All that remains is to sign it

and send it to the states for their approval.

Goodnight Moses.

- Goodnight Dr. Franklin.

- See that sun on general Washington's chair?

I've sat here since May asking m

if that sun is setting or if it

Today I have the happiness of kn

that it is indeed a rising sun.

We the people of the United Stat

in order to form a more perfect

to establish justice, promote the general welfare,

and to secure the blessings of l

to ourselves and our posterity,

to ordain and establish this constitution for

the United States of America.

(crowd cheering)

- I solemnly swear that I will

faithfully execute the office of

the president of the United Stat

and will to the best of my abili

preserve, protect, and defend th

constitution of the United State

So help me God.

- It is done!

Long live George Washington, president of the United States!

(crowd cheers)

(bells ring)

- We did it, though I must confe

were times I nearly lost hope.

- Do you think this government will last Dr. Franklin?

- It will as long as the people want it to.

- There are going to be some hard challenges ahead.

- I'm afraid you're right Moses.

Nothing man does is perfect but,

all in all the world has never seen anything like it.

- I still can't believe it.

George Washington,

president of the United States o

- Father of his country.

- Suddenly, anything seems possi

- As long as we stay united.

- United we stand, divided we fall but remember,

the constitution doesn't guarantee happiness,

only the pursuit of it.

(bells ring)

You have to catch up with it you

♪ Looking at life through my own

♪ I'm searching for a hero to id

♪ Feeling the pain as innocence

♪ Looking at life with my own ey

♪ I take my heart into battle ♪

♪ Give that freedom bell a rattl

♪ Get my independence signed ♪

♪ Declare it on the dotted line

♪ Red, white and blue never give

♪ You represent America ♪

- [Kids] Cookie jar!

(kids giggling)