Ellishistorian joseph leads a talk on the early revolutionary war through the letters of john and Abigail Adams. This is at amherst college. This is part 2 of a twopart lecture. We last saw Abigail Adams giving birth to four children, five really. Over a 12 year period. The question i asked you is, how should we assess her role in the coming of the American Revolution . Sexist ortent is it just the opposite of that, to call attention to the fact that the dominant events in her life are biological, rather than, political . Someone who wants to be true to the experience of women at this time, does that mean you are going to be not interested in the political story . The political story for them is about a lot of things. You know what im getting at here. A couple of comments, if we possibly can. Yes . Where are you from, maryellen . Student west chicago, 30 miles west of chicago. That is really west. Student i am thinking of catherine al gores book. She was a student of mine. Student that makes sense why i enjoyed the book. Tell us what that is. Student its about how people like Abigail Adams and Martha Washington were working in other venues in political ways, whether it be in the parlors, through correspondence. To make these connections and networking connections. Making connections that were helpful to their political careers of their husbands. Oftentimes making unseemly connections for their husbands to make. We read these letters about john, being unseemly to be overtly political and ambitious. But the women behind the scenes sometimes at work, making connections. Prof. Ellis catherines book is mostly about early 19thcentury president ial politics. Student im thinking that appeals to abigail as well. Prof. Ellis its the Dolly Madison principle. Every guy needs a Dolly Madison abigail and dolly. Aint dolly. Abigail is like eleanor roosevelt. Dolly is the one for whom they coined the term first lady. Abigail is never a first lady. Copartner in a sense. In that sense i will tell you for sure, you can conjure her up. If we could just read her letters back to her sisters, on what was most important to her. Her role as a mother. She doesnt think of that as constricting or anything like that. That said, she straddles the click world. The click world. She is reading these newspapers that john is writing. At this time, you cant get direct evidence of how influential she is. Later on you get it. You have to assume that you did not get it before because they were together at the same time. I read that she was herself part of the thought process that he was engaged in. Fact, in letters to certain women abroad there is a historian in britain. Abigail has a different take on british tyranny. It is operatic. The forces of light and the forces of darkness kind of thing. She talks about it. Is adams, the ultimate evil slavery. Slavery, but the british enslavement of us. Four abigail, guess what it is . Rape. Horrorwhat the ultimate would be. She has a feminist perception of what some what british tyranny feels like that is different from his. I do think, noticing that her life is dominated by pregnancy and child rearing is not a disservice to women of the world, to the feminist agenda. Its a recognition that it is a central part of it. Make me feel good about the fact that im not crazy about this. Do you agree or disagree . Yes . Kate. Miniseries wee were watching last night, there was a scene where shes talking about politics. She says, politics is my empty shell. The fact that there is no coffee, and i cant feed my kids. She was living the daily life, but was intelligence enough to make the connections about why this was happening. Prof. Ellis question who is in greater physical danger by the time you get to the middle 1970s . Abigail. Prof. Ellis i think so too. , and Boston Boston is occupied by the british army. Epidemica smallpox that probably already had started, but has now amplified by the presence of troops and unclean conditions. There is a wonderful book called pox americana. Some of you are smiling. It so happens that this war coincides with a huge smallpox epidemic. You have got to believe that they interacted with People Living in people bringing contagion in. The british army contains most guys who immunity. The American Army does not have immunity. One of the biggest things that washington does is to require all soldiers he foregoing online to be inoculated. All soldiers before going online to be an ocular did. Okay, i do think she is at greater risk. There is a scene where she leads john quincy by the hand up pe nns hill. You will be able to see that hill on thursday. To watch the battle of bunker hill in june 1775. Then she writes a letter to john about this. The battle of bunker hill is a big battle, not just in terms of the casualties. The british really lost over half their attack force. The political effects on each side is pronounced. What is the political effect on the americans . Hey, we can beat these guys. If they will just come attack us while we stand behind these breastworks, we can kill a lot of them [laughter] they miss, they over interpret this in terms of the capacity to deal with the british army. We cross the river company. This is now a violent struggle. We cant compromise anymore. At this point, george the third really says, we are going to lay it to these guys. all these wounded people come back into london, and their wives are standing at the dock. And the newspapers read huge casualties on the british side. Guyslike, okay, you started this, we are going to finish it. Its just that moment the play,itory act comes into they close american ports. They confiscate all debt. He goes to the British Ministry and says, i want you to raise an army to include at least 10,000 professional soldiers from prussia. Ssia or they say, prussia is better. That its so you get that is how you get the hessians. 10,000 navy. 42,000, 357 ships. They get ready to sail the largest Expeditionary Force effort across the atlantic. And the next time you ever get one this big is world war i, when we go across. This is a huge force. Its designed to deliver a massive blow and and this silliness once and for all. End this silliness once and for all. It very much comes in the wake of bunker hill. It was probably the most important battle of the war. And it happens before we even declared independence. Okay, where are we . Abigails personal career during this time. In march of 1970 1876 1776, she writes this letter that became famous. She talked about this yesterday afternoon a little bit. I think we should talk about it as much as we possibly can today, too. Hes the remember t ladies letter. Webpages it on in the what pages on indie formal reading . Page 110. Its a letter about a bunch of other things, like biting things of the store, what the markets are like. All of a sudden she says, by the way, piece of advice whenever you get the letter that says, baby. E way look out because something is coming meanshe way [laughter] anybody got that in front of them . Maureen, youve got it . Read the part that says by the way. Student by the way, in the new code of law, i desire for you to remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them then your ancestors. Do not put such a limited power into the hands of the husband. All men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment rebellion and will not hold ourselves downed any loss with which we have no voice or representation. Prof. Ellis that is good. There are other letters after this that usually dont get excited in most and so dont get excited in remote cited in most anthologies. What is it . The despotism of the petticoat . I love that. There are several volleys here that begin. She has a letter that says mercy, maybe you and i ought to write a letter to the massachusetts General Court saying we dont intend to pay taxes because we are being taxed without our consent. Reach someeeded to sort of compromise. John has got to find a way to make this ok. She says we can all agree that women do have a role, an Important Role to play that needs to be acknowledged in terms of education. , the revolution will mean an increase of schools for women. They could call them dame schools. Can we agree on something here . Two agendas going on here. Her agenda and what she was saying, and the context and the Continental Congress in the spring of 1776. Lets take her agenda first. Then i will put into context. Interpretation, plausible to me she is getting. She is kidding. This is banter. If you look at the early letters, they are always bantering. This thing you objected to about his phrase, david. Her. Ay of referring to they play roles here. It toole now is to stick t you. Lets not make too much of this. Theres a great poem called terrence, this is stupid stuff. Lets not take this too seriously. Everybody thinks that abigail is a feminist. Thats fine, but that is not what is going on her these are close peoplee. Playing board games and hes getting the kind of shakedown from her. Yeah, but, i think she is serious. Can you be venturing and can you be bantering and serious at the same time . Yes. Prof. Ellis erin says yes. Do you speak from great experience in this regard . [laughter] erin says what we are seeing here is a wreck and isley modern marriage. Is a recognizably modern marr iage. In which people are bantering, but trying to make a point about the nature of their relationship. If you say there is a serious agreeion to this, and i that there is, having lived through marriage. [laughter] this a direct assault on patriarchy . Patriarchy is the western traditions belief that women are inferior and that meant and that property cannot be held by women in a marriage. And that the household, the male is the leader of the household and finds the identity of everybody in it. And defines the identity of everybody in it. I am sure you can get a fuller definition of patriarchy. Male supremacy, female subordination. Is that what she is saying . I will let you have a go at this. The rest of you, too. I dont know that its so much an attack on patriarchy. I wonder, as i read some of these things, if its some of abigails frustrations. She is at home with young children. There was a scene last night that we watched in the miniseries where she is angrily scrubbing the floor. Prof. Ellis because of smallpox. Student and shes doing it in a passive aggressive way, scrubbing and giving him a face about it. Im wondering if some of the banter is not necessarily an attack on patriarchy, but almost to say, ugh im tired and frustrated with my current role. Not because she does not want to serve in that role prof. Ellis its an earlier version of betty for dan. Im sitting home eating chocolate cherries, but my life is not interesting enough . Wonder aboutmost the things that you read from her, if its not just some of their playfulness, just their relationship. I dont know. Prof. Ellis we agree that there is banter here, but a very serious dimension. The fact that there is banter does not mean she doesnt mean what she says. What im asking you is, is what she says a direct frontal assault on the central assumptions of patriarchy . Which is a more radical feminist position than saying, we want to vote. In the 19th century, the Womens Movement gets taken over by the right to vote. There are other things that we needed to be paid attention to. She is deeper than just give me the vote right . Michael this is a guy named after my son michael ellis. Oh, you are over here. You know that because you are named after my son you are definitely going to get prevalence treatment. I would say there is definitely an assault on patriarchy. Her comparing men into tyrants is an example of that. I would say she is using her closeness to her husband to lobby for women to try and make change. The letter that she writes to as she writesren, this letter is a tell sign to me that she is going further than just banter. Its beyond just talking to her husband. Its, maybe we can foment a movement. She is talking to her buddy, the most literary informed women in america. In which she does not feature john, and he gets upset with her. [laughter] yes,ead it absolutely this is a frontal assault on a need for meaning radical restructuring of American Society in order to you imposing othis ion but the agenda of the American Revolution requires fundamental change in gender relationships. Opening. She is an and shes going to take it. She tries, at least. Prof. Ellis we have to get to michael here. Gets michael the mic. Now dont screw up up, my own sons name is at stake. Student a lot of pressure. I will do my best. [laughter] attack, i agree its an but less a frontal assault and more a flank attack. Prof. Ellis you can send some men to the front and some men to the side, just as you can be bantering and serious at the same time. Student its not like an obvious opening at the front. Prof. Ellis follow up on that. This is good. My son would be so proud of you. Student i am trying really hard. [laughter] does she raise her daughter . On traditionally. Untraditionally. To be a good wife. The fact is, she is a good wife and she marries a shit. Excuse me. [laughter] does she ever try to vote . Though she do what, say, what the woman in france . The feminist. De bouviour. Leave her husband, carveout a life of her own. Abigail is so far ahead of , she tried to act this out now, she would have to become a single alienated person. This would have to be what she decides her life is. She is not going to do that. For her, the reward comes from family, it comes from being a mother and wife. Not from being an active or political person. To attempt tong agendat a feminist because she is rooted she herself is traditional new england wife and mother. She is. Derives thee she bulk of her fulfillment. Allete that is what she says over and over again. Why is she having these ideas . The woman i was try to think of his mary wollstonecraft. Starts readinghe out loud to abigail, later in the 1790s. If you go to the Boston Public Library that is where johns books are. The margin in mary waltzed on crops the margin in mary waltzed on craft understandesthou not humankind. Ist abigail letter reading is a statement about how one womans thinking is being affected by the values being described in the American Revolution. And that what she is saying is, by the way john, all of the arguments you are making about tradition tyranny have implications that you dont seem to understand. Says, uh, i do understand them, now shut up, because we cant take those into account now, if you allow that radical agenda that is implicit in our argument, we are going to kill the revolution in the cradle. What agenda . In theetting letters center of the wind tunnel in philadelphia from former and current slaves. As i said to some outside during the break, they are heartbreaking, because written by those who are not completely literate, but basically saying it seems that the tyranny you describe is present in us as well. And it will not go away until you take slavery on directly. You will be vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy. He does not have to think this himself. This is coming into him on his email account, okay . [laughter] second, a group of people, artisans in philadelphia. Where is philadelphia . Way, we saying, by the are the major sources of support for the revolution in pennsylvania. The quakers are going to sit this thing out. And we cant vote, because we dont own property. Because we are not farmers. And we have this guy speaking for us who is very good, named tom paine. Want to end slavery . We are going to end the property qualification to vote . And of all people, abigail says, by the way, we also need to and patriarchy. And at least begin to recognize that the values we espouse call for an equality between the sexes that is a revolution. Okay, lets do it slowly, lets be responsible about it. But the American Revolution has a powerful radical implication. John,ls job is to say to one of them is, by the way, women. Whats interesting is johns response. We would not have it if we didnt have this family correspondence. John is a conservative revolutionary. You, if you want to have revolutionaries that succeed, you want them to be conservative. Most revolutionaries are radical. Robespierre down the tubes, baby. She prof. Ellis he wants there to be he is a real radical on the issue of american independence. He is ahead of all of the moderates, ok . By the way. Was there a way to avoid this in the 1775. Just before bunker hill. Thee in retrospect only Real Advantage that this story has is time. Hindsight. This is the biggest diplomatic blunder in the history of british statecraft. Lose a northg to american empire, they are going 30,000 to 40,000 casualties, which is a lot to them. It is not going to be fatal. The sun will not set on the British Empire until the 20th century. Their golden days are really still ahead of it. But it is a big loss. It was unnecessary. What do i mean it was a necessary . There is an answer to this problem. It is looking right at them. And they cannot grab it. Tells him what the answer is in the house of lords in the fall of 1774. Admin burke tells them what the answer is in the house of commons, shortly thereafter. This is a nobrainer. Ok,we have to do is say, you guys can tax themselves and legislate for yourself, you stay in the empire economically because it is in your advantage, and youre going to have to pay tariffs, but that is ok because you pay them anyway, but you get the benefit of the market. This is a good deal for you. And you recognize that you are under a protective canopy of the british monarch. Legitimacy of the british monarch. Guess what that is . That is the british commonwealth. They have figured this out when hundred years later. That is the reason why australia and canada stay in the empire. India, for a while. They cant do it. Not in 1775, why . Two reasons. Central to the british mentality is the political talk of blackstone, a Great British jurist, who has said and everybody believes that this is true, it is as true as a principal from aristotle on to the present, and every political late unit whether it is a nation or in empire, there has to be one final, allpowerful source of sovereignty. A place where all critical and controversial questions can go for resolution. Otherwise, chaos. Colonists are proposing is multiple sovereignties. Decide,e they get to over there to get to decide that stuff. That is no good. It is a recipe for failure. What is the constitution but multiple sovereignties . Some for this day, some for the fed. Blurring,thing is ambiguity. Somebody smart. Admin burke knew this. Anyway, this was a missed chance, why did they not do it, because of blackstone and a sovereignty. The other reason we dont need to do it. We can just send an army over there and squash those son of the guns, like that. And that is what we are going to do. Why should we compromise when we have the military power to resolve this decisively . And that is the reason there is no turning back after we get to the battle of bunker hill. They have moved a military direction. The troops are getting ready to come. And in the summer of 1776, which on may 15,entering, 1776, just about six weeks after abigail since her letter, john writes this thing, this prelude, sent to all to be the colonial governors. If you read the request, it has certainly which in it that sounds sort of like the declaration of independence. We have been patient. Prudence dictates. Says, each colony should now begin the process of rewriting its colonial constitution, from a colonial constitution to a state constitution. This, is the referendum a de facto referendum on independence. Grave,oes to his believing that he wrote the real declaration of independence. That jeffersons thing six weeks later, whatever, is like the thunder after the lightning has struck. Ok . He, was the lightning. Of course, it is can begin to with john adams attitude he has a pretty good case here. They send this to each colony. Anybody from rhode island . Rhode island comes through here. The only time in our entire story that rhode island is actually doing what it is supposed to do. Documents that were generated and the response to this request. In june ande in into july. Example, wes, for are there, so we think they are important. There is like 38 towns that respond to respond. The governor sent it to the assembly, and instantly send it to all the towns. In virginia they do not have towns, but counties. They send it to other counties. Massachusetts has 38 towns. We have the response of all 38 towns. , you dont get this very often in early American History. This is like a poll on independence. Because they are supposed to say that they support are they going to rewrite their constitution from akoni to a state. Whiche, the resolution on the condo congress is going to vote comes from virginia. It is written at about the same time as this may 15 document is written, and it is sent to the full Continental Congress on june 7. This is what they are going to vote on. Are these United Colonies and have every right to be, independent states. That is going to be the vote. That is going to be what they vote for. Notice, we do not rebel as a nation. We rebel as a series of states. But, the request in may of 1976 1776, from each colony from state is a request. Are you willing to go with us . There are some strength, who say that is really not what it is. That is what it is. That does not mean i mean john adams thought it was that. What do they say . Ive read all of the ones for massachusetts. They all say, almost all say, the exact same thing. Say, this is they the biggest thing that we have been asked to consider in a long time. We need to discuss whether the can move on tos the comments, or that sort of thing. , if you hady say asked us this question a year ago, we would have said, what are you talking about . This would have been an unnecessary, ridiculous question. Of course not. We have a loyalty to the British Empire. But, everything has changed. You are asking us whether we want to essentially declare independence. We have no choice. He has already declared his independence of us. Which, he has. They lovending to talk about the foreign troops. Because they are famous for taking no prisoners. And for raping our women. Not totally justified, but somewhat justified. And so they got these scenarios going. There is one town in massachusetts of the 38 that says, we are not sure about this, and they are out on the cape. They are like, data, the british fleet is going to land here and that we are in trouble if we have taken the wrong position. It is a close vote there anyway, but everybody else basically choice. Have no that the british, themselves, are responsible for having created this situation. King george the third is responsible. If old historiography august the on this, back in the 19 century, then in the 20 century it gets much work obligated. In the end, it is really simple. It is george iii. He is try to recover his monarchy and the power of the monarchy. He has decided to impose a british rule on the colonies in , and that is unprecedented he thinks he can get away with it, and he thinks it is going to be easy. He thinks hes going to win the war, and he is wrong on all counts. Ministry and the british house of commons pretty much go along with him, because there is no opposition. The real source of leadership for britain is from the top down. In london, people hate this. London is opposed to the war, and they enjoy american commerce and have a lot of american friends, and they will be a source of antiwar sentiment throughout the American Revolution. But, that is how it happens. How does the declaration get written . And then we can back to john adams. This would be a good essay question, just for a simple narrative. Tell us how tell me how the declaration of independence comes into existence, and is june 7 andrting on ending on july 4. Why do i say june 7 . June 7 is the data condo Congress Takes up the virginia resolution and puts it on the docket. That these United Colonies are and have every right to be independent states. Several of the colonies have representatives that are under strict orders from their state legislature or governor, not to vote on independence until they come back and get the support of the legislatures there. Especially in new york and pennsylvania. Recess. Say, so that members can go back. , wee the recess is going on are going to appoint three committees. And john adams is going to be on two of them. One is a committee of five. Adams, bridgman franklin, jefferson, who are the other two guys . Robert livingston or William Livingston . I think it is robert. And, the connecticut guy. Roger sherman. One of the most boring talkers in the history of american eloquence, but he is like if you look at all the scenes of early American History, he is in everyone. Anyway. Roger sherman. And, this is a committee designed to draft this document that if we vote independence, and have to announce it to the world, this will be the document that announces that fact. Ok . Second committee, if we decide or independence, we sort of have to have a government that represents us after we throw off british role. Therefore, lets appoint a big committee, 13 people, one from every colony to serve on this. John dickinson would be the chair of this committee. They say, we will figure out what kind of government we are going to have. Theyt understand think it is a civil matter, they will need a couple of times and figure it out. There is no way that this is going to work. They are going to discover this. There committee, chaired by john adams. Called the committee on treaties. We have to have a foreign policy. We are a nation. Specifically, once we declare our independence, we have to get allies. European allies, primarily france. And therefore, what can we do to encourage french support and what are the outlines for our american foreignpolicy . John adams writes this singlehandedly. Because hey good announces the basic principle of american foreignpolicy, which will hold true until the 20 century. We are going to have commercial relations with everybody, but the diplomatically and otherwise isolated from the rest of the world. That is in our interest. It sounds pretty simple. But that is the way. Washingtons farewell address is really a comment on what john adams had already decided. All right. Meets this five Person Committee meets a couple of times in Benjamin Franklins chambers because he gout. Doubt the he always has the gout. One of the problems is that because this become so important , everybody starts telling stories about it later in their lives, and john adams has a version, most of which is a lie, and then jefferson has a version that is sort of hypocritical commie , and franklin has his version. What seems theou most plausible version of all these gossipy stories. For who is choice the chair of the committee adams says that it is me. They actually dont have one. They dont appoint a chair of this group. John adams ask as if you were the chair. Because somebody has to do that. But natch the natural person to pick to write the declaration is Benjamin Frank lim. Pros stylist in america, and the most of eric famous american of his time by far. The equivalent of a nobel hes price thing scientist. He has friends in england. He has friends in france. Benjamin franklin says that he refuses to do it. Why . Im not feeling well. I have the gout. Plus, and this is the great line i have made it a role never to write anything that will be edited by a committee. [laughter] and therefore, no. Adam says they then turned to why, because he is the leading spokesman for the independent position in the Continental Congress and has been for the last year. He has been ahead of the game. History, as he said, was going to happen. It is happening. Breaking with england, impossible to imagine, now, inevitable. He says, i dont want to do this. I am on like 38 committees. Im also serving as the head of the board of war and ordinance. That is a big deal. War or like secretary of secretary of defense. Even though we have not declared independence, the war has started and we have this invasion happening. And so, i have a lot on my plate. Now he is the one who says this, i have made myself noxious of noxious. No one else calls and that, he calls himself of noxious obnoxious. Because he has it set people i supporting a radical position toward independence. He has written letters that have been captured by the British Group and released that are not kindly letters about dickinson. Says, if you was John Dickinson that if you John Dickinsons wife and mother, he would have committed suicide. [laughter] that dickinson is a victim of his quaker mother and quaker wife. He says no. What about jefferson . Ok. , oh, jefferson. It is like an afterthought. This is one of the most significant accidents in American History. Jefferson has been the guy who does the drafting behind the scenes guy. He never speaks in public. Or even in committee. But, adams says that he is always there when you need him, and he is a loyal supporter of independence, no question about that. Its just that he has a really low voice and nobody can hear him. And he seems to compensate for his rhetorical deficiencies on his feet by being a pretty good writer. So, yes, jefferson. Ok, the four i leave, before we end the second meeting, can we at least outline the document that we think you want me to write. So they do that. They say, there ought to be a preface to justify our cause on the principles and says that we have been patient and then it goes forward and we have plenty of miles. Following the bill of indictment against charles i and other british monarchs in history. If you are a monarch in british history and you see like i said before, you can see the sentence. By the way, if you are a monarch and you see a paragraph that begins with wherefore, get out of town fast. Because, they are about ready to come for your head. Yes, you write that kind of thing. Spends a couple of it is hard to know, they meet this gets written in the third week of june. It is written on the second seventh an apartment on and philadelphia. Seventh and market street. Nobody else in the room. He is writing it on a portable desk that was made i a former slave. Made by a former slave. Did god appear . Not to our knowledge. [laughter] prof. Ellis did fire appear . We do not think so. What books did he have . Not many. He has got the copy of the virginia constitution that is being written, mostly the preface by torch mason. That is where you get pursuit of happiness. Document that he is referring to, implicitly, when he says, life, liberty, and what does locke say . The second treatise on government says property. Life, liberty, and property. He drops property. You can build an entire arsenal on the implications of this change. Because, what does property protect . Slavery. Property, then slaveowners will not be able to say that they are protected. And therefore, in the virginia constitution, it says, life, liberty, property, and the right to pursue your happiness. Jefferson drops property. Act to makenscious the revolution and Antislavery Movement . Yeah, maybe. What does jefferson mean by pursuit of happiness . Again, we could write a metaphysical doctrine on this, but what he means, i think, is that property and wealth is not necessarily the only or the highest interest and source of the film and were human beings. Sense, was antislavery . It was anticapitalists. See how you can do that. This is like early karl marx and all that. Thing, youreery going to ask about this later. Let me say something. Later in the document, among the things that we did, they beat this is what you are going to paragrapht the wrong give it to him. Let him do it. There is a long paragraph deleted in the declaration that basically condemn slavery. And blames it on iii. Nt king george prof. Ellis its a great idea. We have this problem and we have to get rid of it. We are blaming him for Everything Else under gods green earth, we might as well throw that went right on the funeral pyre. So, blame it on him. They deleted. Because the way he structures it, first of all, i do not want any mention of slavery in this document, the same way they do not want any mention of it in the constitution, but, secondly, the way you phrase that is awkward because he refers to the fact that the governor of virginia, the kings are presented, has offered emancipation to all of the slaves in virginia who come to him at this moment. Weird. Hat is kind of butlames it on george iii then he says this and it confuses it. Because it basically says that the british are the ones willing to in slavery and we are not. What he is really trying to say is their motives were doing it are not good. Draft. Shes the we did not pass without. Billups. On the back of this passes around. On the back of this, i cannot move too far. Pass these around if you would. There is a portrait. We have an artist coming in this afternoon who is the leading theican world expert on arc of the American Revolution. He really is. Lets hope that he is articulate. He is. Portrait byamous john trumbull, the original of which is now available in the congress of the united states, but you have seen it. And if you google this thing, it says, john trumbull, declaration of independence, and a lot of places it says, july 4, 1776. Wrong. You can get him on this. You will in jeopardy on this. It is june 28. Everybody thinks that it is a picture of the signing of the declaration. They are coming up they have it in their heads. 1776. The end of the play. They are all coming up to sign their names. Never happened. They never signed it on the fourth. They never signed it at one time, together. On auguste signed it 2 and august 4, but there are people signing it in october and november. So, what is this . What is this picture . It is a picture of the committee of five, delivering the draft to the full congress. You have john adams, you have Benjamin Franklin there. You have jefferson, and then you have the other two guys. And the guy at the desk is john hancock. Happens, they deliver this draft on the 28th. They have the draft, and they have the resolution. Lets vote on the resolution. Rightcolonies have every to be independent states. Me, johns excuse dickinson argues against eloquently, we have shreds of his speech. It basically says that this is suicidal. Once we do this, there is no turning back. The chances of us winning this war are remote to extreme. If you do it, i am going to fight on our side. Dont get me about that. And he means, right after the vote to join the new jersey rallying inch is defense of an attack coming. Who gets up to defend independence . Our boy. It is the most consequential speech he ever gave and everybody, including jefferson, says that it was brilliant and we dont know what he said. [laughter] prof. Ellis nobody wrote it down. They may generalizations about it. But, we can sort of say, he did not say i told you so, there is no turning back, we can win, blah blah blah. The vote on july 2, the vote is overwhelming positive, it is 1201. New york cannot be sure what the legislature will do. My copy of who has the book . Fromt to read the letter john to abigail on july 3. On page 121. This is the letter in which he is talking about the implications here it is. It is 125. July, 1776, heof is writing this on the third. It will be the most memorable time in the history of america. Im apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It will be converted commemorated as the debt day of deliverance. It out to be solemnized with prompt and parade, with shows, games, bonfires, and illuminations. He even gets the fireworks right. From one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore. Everything perfect, except he gets the day wrong. Chris . Student july 2 is my birthday. Prof. Ellis chris says that he always tells his students that it is july 2 because it is his birthday. I presume you are right about your birthday. You could also make a pretty strong case that the proper date is the second. How does it end up the fourth . Printing. Is that what you said . Aaron . Printing, go with that. It was sent to the printer on the fourth, and then the printer road across the top of the document, printed, july 4. So when the document is sent out to everybody else, all of the newspapers and foreign governments and dignitaries, it says july 4. Therefore, we celebrate july 4. Now, i would like to make the case that we have been celebrating the wrong date for a long time. That it should be the second. That is an the action voted on independence. Prepared to make the case like were going to take hamilton off of the 10 bill, or we are going to change the date, because, i believe that both john adams and Thomas Jefferson recognizing this it and, chose to correct their own decisions and we have to respect that. What am i talking about, chris . , that is they died day you have to die on now too, chris. [laughter] prof. Ellis can you pick your own day . No. Them, theth of anniversary, you can make that kind of stuff up. Munro dies on the fourth two. Madison dies on the 28th of june, he is getting there but he cannot quite make it. These guys will their own debts. What are jeffersons last words . Is at the fourth . [laughter] prof. Ellis that is what he is thinking about. , thomasms vs last words jefferson still lives. That is not made up. There are people in the room to testify. Jefferson has died at 12 30 p. M. That same day. John adams dies at 4 30 p. M. They made it right. Henrythrow went thoreau went out to walden on the fourth. They retreated from gettysburg on the fourth. The Louisiana Purchase arrived in washington on july 4, 1803. Something big is quick to happen in our lifetime on the fourth. We just keep making it happen. To conclude our deliberations today on the declaration by offering an alternative declaration as it might have been written by john adams. And you have the tax the text before you. And if we had a projector we could throw it up on the screen, but we do not have a projector. We do, but i dont use that kind of stuff. [laughter] prof. Ellis what i am trying to call attention to hear, i will be specific in a second, is the way in which jeffersons additions to the declaration, the ones that are the most important words in American History, the 55 words that begin well, that are. We hold these truths to be selfevident. Selfevident. What does that mean . He did not write that initially. He wrote, we hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable. That got changed by the committee. It is the only thing the committee changed. Probably franklin. You can hear franklin saying, we do not need god. Selfevident, ok. We hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equal. Really . That is nonsense. Of course they are not. Men and women. There are rich people and poor people and ugly people and pretty people and lucky people and unlucky people. But, somehow, ok. Thats the start of the gettysburg address. [laughter] we hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are good at equal and they are endowed by their creator oh, here he comes again. That certain and a label rights what is an alienable . A means you cannot take them away. Guessong these rights what, that means there might be others, too. That we have not even thought of. Among these rights are life we get that, that is pretty good. Liberty, that is tricky. It is a really expensive mandate. Movements call for incantations of this sort. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Oh, god. Everybody gets to pursue their happiness . We have noted in earlier discussions that this has implications that neither jefferson or adams or anybody else at that moment thought. The implications will get included in the constitution and eventually, most probably in the 14th amendment with regards to write for citizenship. And it will be the basis for the decisions of brown versus board of education, and to overthrow plessy versus ferguson, and most recently i dont even have her the name of the gay marriage decision . He felt he will be eventually. This is language which has implications. That no one at the time understood. In the same way that we saw abigail calling attention to these gender implications from families and for patriarchy, this, even more than they ever knew, has applications. Rights,e these governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the government. This is a big deal, here. Ok . If we say that there are questions about whether the American Revolution is a revolution and if we say that the near secession from the British Empire does not all apply does not qualify, there is buried here, a nuclear weapon. That has revolutionary implications. Namely, that until this moment in history and medieval europe, political power has flown downward from god to monarch and then to the people. God speaks to the monarchs. Can you imagine george iii having a conversation with god everyday . This is what thomas pain made fun of in common sense. They were all a bunch of crooks who got the crown and the legal way. But that the whole argument about the flow of political power is reversed. It does not flow from the top down, it flows from the bottom up. And, in what is the name of the senator from kentucky who is running for president . Ron paul. This is where he has a point. Because, what is the sovereign unit in this new arrangement . But, all men are treated equal. It is the individual. Rights, you cannot take them away from me and if you do so, legally, i can overthrow your government. Right, that is the argument here. And it is not like you get to decide what rights i have, i get to decide what rights you have as a government. To limit my freedom. Take this seriously, we are talking anarchy, baby. This is a utopian vision. And i think that the vast of the congress at the time, and even the readers, this is before a movie, the little symphony beforehand. The overture. You dont have to pay much attention to this, because he will get on to the real thing, which is that we will nail ge iii with these accusations that proved to be justification for our revolution. They change 123 places in the document. In the debate on the third and the fourth. They call themselves the , andttee of the whole adams is defending the document. He is defending it just as it was. And jefferson says, he defended every one of my words and he keeps losing because people want to knock out this passage about slavery etc. And jefferson apparently turns to no, franklin turns to jefferson during the debate and says, i told you never to write anything to be edited by a committee. [laughter] prof. Ellis then he says that there is this funny story about haberdasher. And he wants to have a sign for his store. Here, by hats. And a guy comes in and says no, that is too long. Take office. Take off that. Eventually, it is a sign with a picture of a hat. That is it, there is nothing else. That is what is happening to jefferson. Adams does his best to defend it, but the drafted emergence is now the one that we know, and the bulk of scholarly opinion is that the coherence of the draft is dramatically improved. All the changes are made in the second 2 3s of the draft. The part that we do not care about. The part that they care the most about. Because what is going on there is that almost every colony has a different history or version of what has happened over the last 10 years, and they want to be sure that their version is represented in the document. We cannot tell that now, but that is what is going on. The first part, the overture part, they do not touch it. Have you ever read sherlock holmes, the dog that did not bark . This is the dog that did not bark. It is the most important piece of evidence in the story and it is a nonexistent piece of evidence. The fact that the dog did not bark. Smuggled the liberal tradition in American History into the document. It is. In their it is buried in there. The guy who will discover it is lincoln. And lincoln is going to make a big deal about this and then Martin Luther king is going to eventually say, when he appears on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as he is coming to collect the promise ring, that they nobody knew, at the time, what they were doing. Including adams. Or jefferson. But, they had smuggled into the founding document a set of values which are inherently utopian. The world that jefferson imagines is impossible on this earth. A group of free individuals who are allowed to coexist, harmoniously, without any interference and practice what they wish and they will never collide either politically or economically and they will generate collective harmony and economic productivity in the marketplace. Marxist view of what happens in paradise when the state withers away. It will never happen. Say,lincoln would say, did we can keep getting closer. That is what we are doing. Im getting us closer by ending slavery. Martin luther king is going to get us closer by ending segregation. Barack obama is going to get us closer i ending the threat to the planet. That is to be decided. Area set of goals which inherently unattainable, but which are there to drive us forward. Adams, i am saying, would not do that. Saying, and we can continue this discussion next time, first of all, that adams would insist notice jefferson have you ever been to a high school or College Graduation . Many, many. All do thew if they same things that they do in massachusetts. But in massachusetts they say, and we award you this degree with all its rights and response ability. Now, you can say to the current millennials, response ability . [laughter] prof. Ellis that is not fair to them. [laughter] prof. Ellis jefferson is all about rights. Because, he assumes everybody will internalize responsibility, naturally. Dream on. But, nevertheless, adams does not think that way. With mutually dependent rights and responsibilities, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit not of happiness, but a virtue. What does virtue mean . Selfsacrifice. This render of selfish interests to the larger whole of the collective. That is much more in keeping with Republican Values at the time, in terms of what other evil are saying. And among these response abilities are selfdenial, duty to the commonwealth, and a decent respect for the wisdom of the ages. For jefferson, the past is a dead hand. That is what he calls it. The dead hand of the past. Priests, and kings, and he believes, as did pull taire, that the last king should be strangled with the entrails of the last priest. When that happens, we go into the sunlight and everything is great and we can live happily ever after. Adam says no. Once you kill the last king and the last priest, and you have to deal with human nature itself. And it is not necessarily going to be as happy a thing as you believe. Rights,e these governments are instituted in all civilized societies, deriving the just cause from consent of the government and from the accumulated experiment experience of preceding generations. He wants to learn from history what mistakes are made and what can we learn. Jefferson says that history is over and we are in a new era. Adam says, no. Adams is a historian. Jefferson is a platonic philosopher. Prudence will be to dictate the governments long established should not be changed. We can agree on that. And they said can also back to the last year. Adams has been trying to get the british to understand that they are willing to make compromises. It wont happen. And though and experience would demonstrate that human passions aligned with dreams of perfection ought not to reduce governments to embrace revolutionary change, with imperfect evolution is possible. If you have to pick between revolution and evolution, always go with evolution. And if you have to have a revolution, put it in the hands of conservatives who will do it implement it in an evolutionary way. Revolutionary change is usually impermanent and gets replaced with dictators. We can talk about stalin. That is what happens to revolutions. Unless, there is lamented implemented slowly and gradually. Accordingly, all experience has shown that mankind resists the tyranny of despots, and the tyranny of majority. In a jeffersonian world, the notion of a majority can be to radical and is inherently encumbrance of all incomprehensible. Majorities are by definition right, because they are majorities. Not in adamsworld. You think it was smart to invade iraq after 9 11 . Probably not. Why did we do that . We had to. Everybody wanted to do something. In 1954 wasopinion certainly not in favor of integration. Are dangerous things. We must balance the urge for freedom and their obligation to others. Oh, boy. I will have to tell you students about this. [laughter] example, howfor weyour students react have a major problem in the workplace. There are not enough jobs for you. There are all these infrastructure problems. Why dont we say, everybody has to serve to yours two years mandatory National Service . It does not have to be military, and probably will not be. Everybody serves. The students i teach say, if i do this, my peers would get ahead of me. Theyll be working right there with you. Everybody has to do it. And i think adams is in favor of context, he, in our thinks the National Service is a good thing and that because you have a commitment to the collective as well as to yourself, it teaches you that. You have absently no chance of ever passing, but it is something that i think should be inserted into our conversation. And i am pretending to be john adams here. He concludes and a jeffersonian way. Let these principles the eclair to a candid world that at this moment with a Firm Alliance on the protection of Divine Providence and the civic sense that our mutual pledge binds us together within the expansive limits of our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred arms. It is a combination of jeffersonian lyricism and adams. What you call it . Adamite . Adamsonian . Adaminian . We dont have a word for it. We have jeffersonian. But we do not have a word for adams, even though he is probably the most brilliant political thinker of them all. There is no word for him. Thank you. [applause] join us each saturday evening at 8 00 p. M. At midnight eastern for lectures from across the country on different topics and eras of American History. Plextors in history are also available as podcasts. Visit our website at cspan. Org history podcast, or download them from itunes. Tveach week American History asterisk railamerica rings you archival films that helps you to the story of the 20th century. Thousands of demonstrators opposed to the vietnam war assembled on the Nations Capital or a mass protest. For the most part, orderly, a minor scuffle occurred between demonstrators. The parade takes demonstrators across the atomic on the way to the senate gone. The crowd is estimated at around 50,000 people and was a loose confederation of some 150 groups which included adults, students, and children. It is at the pentagon or the first test of strength is. Military police contain the crowd, but clashes still break out. Federal marshals arrest several would tend to break through the protective line. They reinforce the marshals and a wave of people with bayonets move in to position. 400 demonstrators are arrested, and to shoulders two soldiers are injured. Six break into a pentagon side door, but are apprehended quickly and the daylong disturbance. The next day, campfires are lighted to hold off the autumn chills. The same we can solve nationwide demonstrations supporting gis in vietnam. The twoday protest ends with over 600 arrested and the widespread opinion that the demonstration made everyone a loser. Jet transport plane on display. It will carry 55 passengers. It was manufactured jointly by holland and england. Brake lights and lowpressure tires for short takeoffs and landings. It is for medium and short range trips. South vietnamese greets someone else at sign saigon airport during a brief goodwill visit. It is part of the controversial Southeast Asian tour. The four hour stopover included a private conference on the war. A very carefully avoided criticizing the north vietnamese, but added that peace is not possible until hanwell hanoi decides to accept u. S. Offers to negotiate. 150 gallons of motor fuel spread over 600 feet, becomes a gigantic tool of flames. It is a demonstration of the navys newest fire extinction fire extinction. Tragic fires aboard aircraft carriers led to its invention. It may be the answer for a recommended massive fire extinction system. One man and 25 seconds proves its power. Join American History tv for chores and live interviews from the National WorldWar Ii Museum in new orleans saturday, november 7. Will explore the road to berlin and the African American story. We will take your questions from historians