NARRATOR: Boston, 1765. Lately, life in the colonies
has been relatively tranquil. Certainly it has for
Thomas Hutchinson. A fifth generation
Bostonian, Hutchinson has enjoyed good fortune
and political success. The King has appointed him Chief
Justice and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. For years, Thomas Hutchinson has
been one of the colonies most admired citizens. Until now. Hutchinson's life is about to
take a dramatic and ugly turn. An angry mob is
surging through Boston. Hutchinson is about
to find out that he's the man they're after. He's the man in charge of
the intolerable new policies imposed on the colonies
by their British rulers. Tax policies that have incited
an increasingly violent rebellion among the people. A rebellion against
a tax imposed not by their own
local representatives, but by parliament 3,000
miles away in England. Lieutenant governor Hutchinson
is duty-bound to enforce this controversial new tax. Though he personally
opposes it, he is being denounced as a traitor. [glass breaking] Massachusetts has never seen
a mob as violent as this. They're not just
angry about the money. They're angry at the
assault on their autonomy by English rulers who neither
know them nor represent them. The revolt spreads
like an epidemic through all 13 colonies. It's hard to imagine that
the fallout from this tax will ignite a social revolution
unlike any the world has ever seen. Across the Atlantic,
England's King George III is losing his patience. His colonies are acting
like petulant children. These are his subjects. Englishmen born in America,
but Englishmen just the same. He is their ruler. And it's because of them that
his empire is going broke. A decade ago he sent British
troops across the ocean to defend the colonies
against French settlers and their Indian allies. The war went on for seven years. And it cost England
60 million pounds. Money it now desperately needs. There's a sense that
after the Seven Years War that America ought to
pay its way a little bit, that expenses to
protect North America should in part be
raised in North America. NARRATOR: Parliament's
solution is unprecedented. The Stamp Act of 1765
directly taxes colonies by having them pay for
stamps that must be affixed to virtually every piece
of paper they touch, from official documents
to playing cards. It goes badly from the start. The colonists resent
not only paying the tax, but also having it imposed
by a faraway parliament where no one represents them. Though the crown appoints
colonial governors and high officials,
each colony is long accustomed to ruling itself
and levying its own taxes. BRUCE CHADWICK: The
Americans believe that over 150 years of being
colonists, they had in a sense created a nation within
the British empire. They had free assemblies
democratically elected. They had free and independent
and very good newspapers. They had their own tax system. RAY RAPHAEL: It wasn't just
paying a little bit of money. The notion was that other people
were making them pay money. So it's an emotional issue. Who's in control here? We want to control our
own lives, which includes, of course, our own pocketbooks. NARRATOR: In 1765, a new
generation of colonists is rushing headlong
down an uncharted path to an unknown end. And the Stamp Act
is what starts it. CHRISTOPHER BROWN: Much of the
spirit, if not the exact words, is, don't you see
what they're up to? Don't you see what's going on? There's a strategy at work
here to gradually erode American liberties. If you let them do this, what
will they try to do next? NARRATOR: For the
British, the tax isn't about eroding liberties. It's about money. Stoking the colonial reaction is
a powerful underground movement known as the Sons of Liberty. They meet secretly in
taverns across the colonies and come up with
every tactic they can to keep government officials
from collecting England's tax. RAY RAPHAEL: People
really started forming alliances between kind
of street theater, street gangs and merchants, and artisans
and figuring out ways to all work towards
the common cause, which is to repeal the Stamp Act. NARRATOR: Soon enough,
things begin to get ugly. Intimidation is
a favored weapon. Those who remain
loyal to the King, known as Loyalists
or Tories, often find themselves terrorized by
these self-appointed Patriots. RAY RAPHAEL: They often use
very dramatic techniques. Tar and feathering,
for instance. This is a great way
to humiliate people. First you're stripped naked. The bucket of tar is heated. And you're coated with tar. And then they put these
feathers, these goose feathers, all over you. And you're all hot. And you're prancing
about like a silly goose. After a display like
this, how is this person going to publicly oppose
the Patriot position? GARY B. NASH: A Loyalist
printer in New York City publishes a Loyalist newspaper. And they come in and
smash his printing press while they are also proclaiming
free speech as a principle to fight for. That's the nature of war and
the nature of revolution. NARRATOR: While the angry
rabble takes to the streets, men of property and education
use printing presses and politics to denounce
the Stamp Act tax. One of the most outspoken
is 29-year-old John Adams, a bright, ambitious attorney
who brings logic and intellect to this very emotional argument. He drafts anti-tax resolutions
for some 40 Massachusetts assemblies. NARRATOR 2: "We have
always understood it to be a grand and
fundamental principle of the English constitution
that no free man should be subject to any tax
to which he has not given his own consent." John Adams. NARRATOR: Adams has always
envisioned great things for himself. And the cause of liberty
presents the opportunity of a lifetime. His wife, Abigail, is his
trusted confidant and partner in all things great and small. STACY SCHIFF: I think it's hard
to overestimate the importance of Abigail Adams. I mean, not only is she
more than an equal partner to her husband. But she comes to this contest
with perfectly formed ideas about which she
feels passionately. She's an enormous
influence on her husband. NARRATOR: One day,
these two will be counted among the
founders of a new nation. For now, John Adams is one
of many voices of protest in a Stamp Act rebellion
that engulfs all 13 colonies. Down in Virginia, a
fiery young legislator named Patrick
Henry ups the ante. NARRATOR 3: "Resolved that
the inhabitants of this colony are not bound to yield obedience
to any law or ordinance designed to impose any taxation
whatsoever other than the laws of their own General Assembly." Patrick Henry NARRATOR: In other
words, no taxation without representation. Henry's Virginia resolves
become a radical touchstone for all the colonies. 3,000 miles away in London,
another important player in the colonial drama,
America's Benjamin Franklin, is doing what he does best-- playing chess, flirting
with a pretty young thing, and keeping an eye
on developments for his countrymen. STACY SCHIFF: Franklin
becomes the point man. He is the man in England
who is there, essentially, trying to hammer out
some kind of compromise on issues of taxation
with the crown. NARRATOR: At 59, Franklin
is the most famous American in the world. He has spent the better part
of two decades in England as a trade representative
and the colonies unofficial ambassador, wooing and wowing
a London society with his wit and wisdom. This is the Philadelphia
printer and writer who created "Poor Richard's
Almanack," the colony's best selling annual, rich
with homespun advice. He is the scientist who famously
flew a kite to experiment with electricity, who
invented the lightning rod and the bifocals. A self-made man who went
from lowly apprentice to wealthy
entrepreneur, Franklin is the embodiment of what
it means to be an American. Yet he adores England,
the mother country. And especially London. STACY SCHIFF: He's
absolutely in his element. This is where the great center
of science is at this point. It's like being in the city
as opposed to having been in the country. He's really hit the
right group of people. He writes these down as the
happiest years of his life. NARRATOR: Now the
uprising at home has put Franklin
at center stage, a place he generally enjoys. London's baffled
politicians come pounding on his door, desperate for
a solution to the problem, hoping he can use his
considerable influence to bring the colonists to their senses. But it's business, not politics,
that settles the matter. The decisive blow is the blow
to the British pocketbook. CHRISTOPHER BROWN:
North American merchants said, well, OK. While the Stamp Act is
in place, we're just not going to trade with you. It's a way of getting
merchants in England to say, if this is going
to ruin business, then the Stamp
Act has got to go. NARRATOR: Now England's
merchants and bankers are feeling the pinch from
the loss of business created by colonial boycotts. And they too start railing
against the Stamp Act. The tax crisis has become
just too big a headache. And in March, 1766, a
beleaguered parliament finally repeals the Stamp Act. Unbelievably, the
people of the colonies have forced the world's
greatest power to back down. The rebel colonists
can celebrate their first sweet taste
of victory, and of power. But the battles
are far from over. England still needs
the money, and still needs to show who's boss. Over the next four
years, parliament devises new taxes, which
trigger renewed upheaval and end up being repealed. As this seemingly
endless cycle continues, England dispatches
two military regiments to Massachusetts from
New York to keep order, adding fuel to the fire. In 1768, four more
regiments sail from England on a collision
course with America. Boston, 1770. 1,000 British troops
occupy this city of 15,000. It is a volatile brew. Boston is an accident
waiting to happen, literally. JOHN HALL: Conditions are ripe. You've got an indigenous
population that is very, very sensitive to having
British soldiers quartered amongst them. You have all of these
British regiments in Boston. This is something that the
Bostonians simply chafe under. NARRATOR: Resentment grows
against the soldiers in Boston streets. On the night of March 5,
a band of local Patriots heckles a British sentry
standing guard at the Customs House. At first, they
merely hurl insults. But soon, they're
hurling snowballs. And eight more soldiers come
to the aid of their comrade. CHRISTOPHER BROWN:
You have a group of men who are egging
on British soldiers, looking for ways to
kind of stir up a fight. And now they've created
the antagonism that they've been trying to gin up. NARRATOR: Hundreds more
colonists pour into the street. They launch a barrage of
ice, oyster shells, and rocks at the soldiers. The guards panic. Their guns go off. [gunshots] And when it's over,
five civilians lay dead on the frozen street. JOHN HALL: It was a tragically
predictable sort of event. It's one of those situations
in which the soldiers that are there to impose
order are actually that seat of discontent that's
going to produce disorder. NARRATOR: Within hours
of the deadly shootings, the Patriot spin machine
roars into high gear. A tragic accident is
recast as a murderous crime against the colonial people
in what becomes known as the Boston Massacre. JOHN HALL: This was not
remotely a massacre. This was a case in which a mob
assailed a small detachment of British soldiers,
which may have panicked, but had very legitimate cause
to fear for their well-being. NARRATOR: But
that's not how it's portrayed to the outside world. A local silversmith and artisan
named Paul Revere renders an exaggerated version
of the event that makes it look like an
unprovoked slaughter by the British soldiers. [gunshots] Boston papers are quick
to print and distribute Revere's version. RAY RAPHAEL: And this becomes
the Patriot image of the Boston Massacre, which shows the
British lined up in a row firing their muskets all
at once, as if they got the command to fire, which
didn't happen that way. NARRATOR: The first to die in
the gun fire is a black man. A sailor and runaway slave
named Crispus Attucks. He is widely viewed
as the first martyr of the American Revolution. In this explosive
atmosphere, the public outcry pressures the British to pull
their troops out of Boston. The soldiers responsible
for the so-called massacre are put on trial for murder. And they are hard pressed
to find an attorney to take their case. Surprisingly, one of
Boston's most vocal Patriots steps forward. John Adams. Adams is willing to risk
everything-- his and his family's safety
and his reputation as an ardent advocate
of colonial rights. But he believes passionately
in the right to a fair trial. Without human rights,
the Patriot cause isn't worth fighting. NARRATOR 4: "It was one of
the best pieces of service I ever rendered. Judgment of death
against these soldiers would have been a foul
stain upon this country." John Adams. NARRATOR: Adams wins
an acquittal for seven of the soldiers and light
sentences for the other two. Only his unquestioned
devotion to the Patriot cause keeps him from being
branded a traitor. The crisis is resolved for now. Back in England, the
colonial rebellion becomes a national
preoccupation. Over the next three
years, parliament keeps trying to
impose its authority with new laws and new taxes. As each new law
inflames the rebellion, it ends up getting repealed. Except for one-- a tax on tea. CHRISTOPHER BROWN:
The principle involved is that parliament is sovereign. It can pass laws on
whatever it wants. So we're going to just keep
this one in place just because-- to assert the fact
that we can do this. NARRATOR: The Tea Act
puts only a three penny tax per pound on the drink
of choice for most Americans. It's hardly a burden. But in the current climate,
a three penny tax still equals oppression. It's all that militant Patriots
need to strike another blow against the empire. Feathers and coal dust
are their weapons. On December 16, 1773,
the Sons of Liberty enlist 50 men to
darken their faces, stick feathers in their
hair, and arm themselves with hatchets in a bad
impersonation of Mohawk Indians. 5,000 people follow them
down to Boston Harbor and watch as they climb aboard
a merchant ship loaded with tea from England. With British soldiers absent
since the Boston Massacre, there is no one to stop them. 342 crates of tea worth
10,000 British pounds are cast overboard. This wanton act
of sabotage, which becomes known as the
Boston Tea Party, will soon push the two
sides to the brink of war. CHRISTOPHER BROWN:
The British reaction was disgust and outrage. From a British point of view,
you had an entire colony running amok. And the British government,
after the Tea Act, frankly said we've had enough. We've had enough
of Massachusetts. And we're going to
clamp down on them. And we're going to
make Massachusetts an example of what
happens if you defy the authority of Parliament. NARRATOR: At that
very same time, the British discover
yet another outrage committed by an
American, someone they thought they could trust. Benjamin Franklin. Over a year ago, Franklin
was passed a stolen packet of confidential letters
written to a British official by Massachusetts Governor
Thomas Hutchinson. Ever since Stamp Act rioters
tore down Hutchinson's house nine years earlier,
he had tried to juggle serving his King with serving
his angry fellow citizens. The letters given to
Franklin exposed Hutchinson's true Loyalist sympathies. NARRATOR 5: "There must
be an abridgement of what are called English liberties. I wish for the
good of the colony to see some further
restraint of liberty rather than the connection
with the parent state should be broken." Thomas Hutchinson. NARRATOR: Franklin sent
the incriminating letters to colonial assemblymen in
Massachusetts, who had recently made them public as irrefutable
proof of Hutchinson's treachery against the Patriot cause. The reaction in the
colonies was torrential. Mobs burned Hutchinson's effigy. The press vilified it. By December, when the Patriot
raiders throw the Boston Tea Party, they have destroyed
Hutchinson's long career as a public servant. Within six months,
Thomas Hutchinson will pack up his family
and sail to England. The relentless strife that has
set American against American will force this man, long
devoted to colonial causes, into exile. Heartbroken, he
will never again set foot in his beloved homeland. Now in London, in January,
1774, Benjamin Franklin is summoned to appear
before the King's council. On the heels of the recent
looting of the tea in Boston Harbor, Franklin's
recently revealed role in the Hutchinson fiasco is
more than British officials can tolerate. He must answer for his sins
and the sins of his countrymen. STACY SCHIFF: Franklin is
dressed down by the Solicitor General of England for a full
hour in the strongest possible language-- it's really
abusive language-- in front of a crowd
that is going wild at this venomous attack. Franklin stands stock still in
this humiliating moment, head erect, and doesn't say
a word for an hour. Many people have dated that is
the moment at which Franklin becomes a revolutionary. NARRATOR: Franklin
the revolutionary is done with England. And England is done with him. Parliament punishes
Massachusetts with a vengeance. It revokes the colony's
80-year-old charter, dissolves its local assemblies,
and after a four year absence, sends 3,000 troops
to reoccupy Boston. The crown now runs
Massachusetts. RAY RAPHAEL: These
people had been meeting in town meetings for 150 years. When they can no longer
decide their own fate, they said, this is the end. People throughout
Massachusetts rose up as one and said, no way. NARRATOR: There is no
turning back for either side. The tension between the
people of Massachusetts and the British troops
becomes unbearable. It's only a matter of
time before someone fires the shot that will
echo around the world. [gunshot] Boston, August 10, 1774. John Adams is
donning a new suit. And if he's not careful, the
British will bury him in it. The Patriot leader is
heading for a secret meeting in Philadelphia that will
change the course of history, and could cost him his life. Adams is one of four men
representing Massachusetts at the first Continental
Congress, an unprecedented-- and as far as the King is
concerned-- illegal meeting of delegates from up
and down the colonies. 55 delegates of America's
best and brightest who gather to come up
with a unified strategy to oppose Britain's
increasing encroachment on their liberties. If the king had his way, they
would all hang for treason. JAMES O. HORTON: That
illustrates how strongly they felt that they must take steps
to remove themselves from what they saw as the arbitrary
power of the British crown. NARRATOR: Britain has already
suspended Massachusetts' constitution and imposed
martial law there. The other colonies fear that
it's only a matter of time before they all
meet the same fate. CHRISTOPHER BROWN: Even
though these colonies have different economic
interests, they have different
political histories, they have different
populations, they recognize that in our
relationship with Britain, we have much in common. RAY RAPHAEL: Not all of these
people have met each other. Most have heard
about each other. Now they're eager
to meet each other, see what's going to happen. People know that there's
going to be moderates and not so moderates. And there's already kind
of little factions forming. NARRATOR: Joining John
Adams from Massachusetts is another radical, 37-year-old
John Hancock, a wealthy Boston merchant who has been using his
considerable fortune to fuel the cause. Pennsylvania has sent a moderate
lawyer, John Dickinson, 42, who's widely read essays
back in the '60s helped launch the anti-tax movement. From Virginia comes
Patrick Henry, the volatile young orator whose
Virginia resolves helped stamp out the Stamp Act. And also from Virginia, a
wealthy 42-year-old planter and veteran of the Seven
Years War, George Washington. GARY B. NASH: One
of the problems is they all thought
of themselves as Pennsylvanians, Rhode
islanders, South Carolinians much more than they thought
of themselves as Americans. Patrick Henry really
just electrifies everyone when he says, I am no
longer a Virginian. I am now an American. John Adams says the trick is
to get 13 clocks to strike all at the same time, 13 ships to
sail in the same formation. It's not easy. NARRATOR: 13 conspirators
against the crown. Finally, after two months of
arguing and pontificating, the Congress adjourns with a
unified message for England. Until colonial
rights are restored, all 13 colonies will halt
all trade with Great Britain. Local militias are to arm
and stand in readiness. As one might expect, kings
don't do well with ultimatums. No one tells the King
of England what to do. NARRATOR 6: "The
die is now cast. The colonies must either
submit or triumph. I do not wish to come
to severer measures. But we must not retreat. I trust they will
come to submit." JOHN HALL: He makes
the assumption that a simple show of
force, of military might, will be enough to scare the
rebels back to their senses. NARRATOR: Not likely. Certainly not in Boston. The city is a tinderbox
waiting to explode. The British have turned it
into a virtual police state. They have sealed
off Boston Harbor, disbanded the
colonial assemblies, and forced locals to
house British troops. The man in charge is
commanding general Thomas Gage. His orders are to
quash the rebellion. And while he has the guns,
the rebels have the numbers. He repeatedly asks the
crown for a larger army. RAY RAPHAEL: Thomas Gage only
has 3,000 soldiers in Boston. He's looking at 5,000 in
Worcester County, 4,000 in Plymouth, all over like this. He's looking at this--
he says, what am I going to do with my 3,000 people
against a force like this? He's playing a losing hand. He can't do anything, for which
he is called an old woman. CHRISTOPHER BROWN: He's
very much a man in between. He's a military officer who is
charged with a political task for which he's not really
equipped to handle. NARRATOR: With
Hutchinson's departure, Gage is now Massachusetts'
governor and commander of an occupying army that no
longer faces a small rebellion. It is a population in uprising. RAY RAPHAEL: They start
smuggling cannons out of Boston. And they start purchasing arms. And the militiamen
start training. And they form the Minutemen. They actually sign associations. "I will mobilize on
a minute's notice." NARRATOR: This is no longer
a skirmish over taxes. The Patriots believe their
way of life, their liberty, and their property are at stake. Nothing short of
war will settle it. In April, 1775, Gage
gets orders from England to break the uneasy stalemate. He will send a full force
out to the countryside to seize a huge store
of rebel ammunition. Unknown to Gage, parliament,
King George, or anyone else, the fate of the British
empire hangs on this decision. April 18, 1775. British troops are on the march. Colonial militia are
arming and stockpiling ammunition for what many fear
is an inevitable showdown. British commander,
general Thomas Gage, has ordered his soldiers to
capture a huge hidden store of gunpowder in Concord,
a Massachusetts village 20 miles west of Boston. JOHN HALL: The
British detachment that marches out of Boston,
roughly 800 soldiers, marched out knowing
that the countryside is on the verge of armed action. Once Gage sends
that mission out, he really has set into motion
a chain of events that is beyond his ability to control. NARRATOR: The British
are indeed coming. RAY RAPHAEL: The news
starts leaking out. And people start mobilizing. They're ready. NARRATOR: Out into the
countryside to spread the word goes Paul Revere,
whose engraving of the Boston Massacre fanned the flames of
outrage five years earlier. Poems and school
books will one day mythologize Revere's
midnight ride, as if he were the
lone heroic messenger. But in fact, he is just
one part of a whole system of communication. RAY RAPHAEL: Paul Revere
is one of dozens and scores and literally hundreds of
messengers going every which way. Bells are ringing. Shots are being fired. And so before dawn, hours before
dawn, the whole countryside is mobilized and knows
what's happening. NARRATOR: They arrange a signal. One lantern light in
Boston's old north church if the British are coming
by land and two if by boat. British troops row to the
Cambridge side of the Charles River and wade through
reeds and thick marshland to begin their overnight
march to Concord. At around 1:00 in the
morning at Lexington, Massachusetts,
farmers, blacksmiths, and shopkeepers gather
to intercept the British at Lexington Green. 130 civilians, some too
old, some too young, most with no formal
military experience, stand ready to risk it all
against the world's most feared army. CAROLINE COX: These were men
who literally felt under attack. And in fact, they
were under attack. The British army were walking
to seize colonial property. And they felt
compelled to defend it. NARRATOR: 2:00 AM. After an hour of waiting,
no sign of the British. The night's chill
sends many home. Others choose nearby Buckman's
Tavern to await another alarm, most hoping it will never come. [drumming] 4:30 AM. Drums announce that the
British are on their way. CAROLINE COX: I'm sure the
mood at Lexington Green was extremely tense. The best trained, most
professional army in the world is bearing down on them. So even though
they were fired up with a great sense of injustice,
they were probably nervous. And if they weren't,
they should have been. BRUCE CHADWICK: Both sides
are each other suspiciously. Both sides not wanting
to take a misstep. All of a sudden, a
single shot is fired. Nobody knows who fired the shot. After the war, investigations--
nobody ever found out. As soon as that shot
was fired, both sides commenced firing at will. And the American
Revolution was on. [gunfire] Fire. Fire. Ready. Release. Quickly. Fire. NARRATOR: In less
than two minutes, 8 militiamen lay
dead, 10 wounded. GARY B. NASH: It really lit
up the newspapers everywhere. Blood had been shed. And there was really no
looking back after that. NARRATOR: It will take six weeks
for the news to reach London. By then, the course is set. CHRISTOPHER BROWN: I think
there's a recognition in London after Lexington that the
battle has been joined, that the chances for preventing
this conflict from degenerating into war has just about passed. NARRATOR: The conflict
calls Benjamin Franklin home from London. After nearly 20
years in England, he is leaving for good, no
longer loyal and no longer welcome. Branded a revolutionary
traitor by the British, Franklin will set sail
for his Philadelphia home to take a seat in the
Continental Congress. A man of peace, he will
now have to counsel war as he helps his fellow
delegates navigate the new and bloody conflict
that threatens to blow America apart. ] NARRATOR: April 19, 1775,
Lexington, Massachusetts. For the first time ever, British
soldiers and colonial citizens have stood face to face
and fired upon each other. Eight colonists lay dead. But it's not over. The British continue
their advance to get what they came for,
the colonial ammunition stored in nearby Concord. Along the way, detachments of
redcoats storm into local homes and ransack for weapons. [glass breaking] The word spreads. And militia from
all over the area rush toward Concord to
head off the British. This time it's the
Americans who are coming. They find not just the Concord
militiamen, but all sorts of other militiamen coming, and
still coming, and still coming, and still coming. The British are certain they
can swat these militia away like pesky flies and find
that they cannot, that they've encountered
hard fighting men. NARRATOR: The British
are badly outnumbered. They are forced to retreat. 16 miles separate them
from the safety of Boston. 16 miles on foot. They are sitting ducks for
armed and angry colonials. It is a trauma they
won't soon forget. NARRATOR 7: "All the
hills on either side of us were covered with rebels so
that they kept the road always lined and a very hot fire on
us without an initiative." Henry Debuerne, British soldier. NARRATOR: 20 hours
of constant barrage bring heavy losses to
the beleaguered British. 73 dead, 174 wounded,
and 26 missing. The Americans suffer 49 killed,
with 40 wounded, and 5 missing. By the time British
soldiers get back to Boston, the colonials have
the city surrounded, with militia from neighboring
colonies on their way. Gage and his troops are trapped
with their backs to the sea. NARRATOR 8: "The rebels have
added insult to outrage. They have possessed the roads
and other communications by which the town of Boston
was supplied with provisions. And with a preposterous parade
of military arrangement, they have affected to
hold the army besieged." Thomas Gage. NARRATOR: Three weeks
later, on May 10, 1775, Benjamin Franklin is back
home in Philadelphia, just as the Continental Congress
is called back into emergency session. The bloodshed in
Massachusetts demands a new colonial strategy. Assembling a continental army
and complete independence from England are subjects
now on the table. The delegates eagerly
await the thoughts of their venerated elder
statesman, Benjamin Franklin, only to find him unusually
quiet and withdrawn. The long voyage from
England has made him ill. But it is the short trip he
will soon make that troubles Franklin most. Franklin is headed
to a confrontation with his only son,
43-year-old William. The rift in the colonies
has brought a terrible split between father and son. William Franklin has been
New Jersey's royal governor for over a decade, a post
granted him by the King, owing in no small part
to being Benjamin's son. William is vehemently
opposed to the rebellion and unalterably
devoted to the King. Now his father will make one
last attempt to win him over to the Patriot side. Once, they were as close as
a father and son could be. It was William who held the
kite during his father's famous experiment
with lightning. It was William who was his
father's constant companion in the early days in England. But now, neither the
strife in the colonies nor the humiliation heaped upon
his father by the British turns William away from the King. Now father and son must choose
between country and family. But neither will bend. Like the growing civil war
between Patriots and Loyalists, reconciliation between father
and son is no longer possible. STACY SCHIFF: There were
two sides to this issue. Most people could
have seen both sides. Everyone had reasons
to see those sides. Franklin isn't buying it. He's absolutely
unyielding with his son. NARRATOR 9: "Nothing
has ever hurt me so much and affected me with
such keen sensation as to find myself deserted
in my old age by my only son. And not only deserted,
but to find him taking up arms against me in a cause
wherein my good fame, fortune, and life were all at stake." WILLARD STERNE RANDALL: When I
think about Benjamin Franklin, the great revolutionary,
and his son, the leader of those conservative Loyalists,
it seems very strange to me that the old man
should be the radical and the young man should
be the conservative. NARRATOR: Once, they
were inseparable. Now the wound between father
and son will never heal. GARY B. NASH: William Franklin
doesn't get very good press in the American textbooks. But you know, there
were many others just like William Franklin. Which side are you on? That became the question. NARRATOR: The political argument
the tears the Franklin's apart will also be replayed in
thousands of colonial families. Politics have become
intensely personal. Every American had to choose. Do I support the Patriots? Do I support the Loyalists? Is there any neutral
ground between them? NARRATOR: A bitter time is
coming, when everyone must choose sides, when fathers
may have to fight sons, when brother may fight brother. There are twice as many Patriots
in the colonies as Loyalists. But more than half
the population just wants to be left alone. In the coming months
and years, no one can remain on the sidelines. The ship has sailed. The revolution is on
an irreversible course. It will take sturdy leadership
from men as different in temperament as the
people they represent. Whether they know it or not,
these are the men of destiny who will guide the
American people into their uncertain future. And these are the men
who will shed their blood and give their lives
to make it happen.
