1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: On this episode of This World. The lives of these 2 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: men are essential to understand the American form of government 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: and our ideals of liberty. The founding fathers all played 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: key roles in securing American independence from Great Britain and 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: in the creation of the government of the United States 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: of America. And now the life of George Washington. I 7 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: wanted to start the entire podcast series with George Washington 8 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: because literally we all stand on his shoulders to the 9 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: degree that this is a country that has a remarkable 10 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: ability for freedom, that is open to everyone, and that 11 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: creates a framework within which normal people can lead usual 12 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: and extraordinary lives. All of that started and was based 13 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: in Washington. One of the best biographies of Washington describes 14 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: him as literally irreplaceable, that he is the man that 15 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: was the essential person for the entire creation of America. 16 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: And I think that's true. Every time clost and I 17 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: go down to Mount Vernon and we look at that 18 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,479 Speaker 1: house he lived in with Martha and we look out 19 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,839 Speaker 1: on the Potomac, we realize that he had this sense. 20 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: He loved being a farmer, he loved the land. He 21 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: had a sense of solidness, partly because he was so 22 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: big physically. I always tell people that if you played 23 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: Washington in the modern era, you should be basically an 24 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: nfl authensive blindman. He was physically so large for a 25 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: time when the average man was about five six. He 26 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: was also considered the best horseman in the colonies, which is, 27 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 1: if you're that big physically and you're that good a horseman, 28 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:16,679 Speaker 1: he's astonishing. And Washington had this strength, both physical and moral. 29 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: Part of his physical strength just came, I think biologically. 30 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: He was just that big. And he worked as a farmer, 31 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: he worked as a frontiersman, and he used his body 32 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,279 Speaker 1: his whole life. When he was serving in the legislature, 33 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: people often forget this. Washington was a professional politician. He 34 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: ran for office. In fact, there was a very funny story. 35 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: He'd been out on the West and thought of himself 36 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: as a hero and ran for office the first time. 37 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: And in that era, he had a one day election campaign. 38 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: Everybody gathered at the polls and the candidates bought alcohol 39 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: and got free beer, free wine, free whiskey, and Washington said, no, 40 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: I am a military hero. I don't need to buy 41 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,959 Speaker 1: anything primally, and he came in last. The following election, 42 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: he bought the largest quantity of alcohol ever bought in 43 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: a Virginia election, and he won. People said, I you'd 44 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: be going to learn the trade here, which also fed 45 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: Washington's general pattern. Many experts have studied his campaigns and said, 46 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: he made many mistakes once, but you never finally making 47 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: the same mistake twice. So he's down and at the 48 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: House of Burgesses. And I always recommend to people to 49 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,959 Speaker 1: go to Williamsburg because it is such a remarkable recreation 50 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: of that era. And you can go to the taverns, 51 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 1: and Washington went to in the evenings. They didn't have TV, 52 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: they didn't have computer games. So they'd sit around playing 53 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: cards and drinking and talking with each other. And it 54 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: was a very famous squire named Governor Bird. And Governor 55 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: Bird would find some stranger and he said, I'll bet 56 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: you a shilling that George Washington can break a walnut 57 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: between his thumb and his first finger. Now, I urge 58 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: you sometime to try this, because it takes extraordinary strength. 59 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: And so he'd go over Washington be playing cards or 60 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: telling stories, and he said, Colonel Washington. At this stage 61 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: he had become an honorary colonel in the Virginia militia, 62 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: would you mind breaking a walnut? And Washington would break 63 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: the walnut. He'd collected the shilling that presumably bought Washington 64 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: a drink for the favor, But it was again a 65 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: sign of in an age when people value being strong physically, 66 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: Washington was the strongest, but it was our show morally 67 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,320 Speaker 1: strong in the sense, first of all, you can get 68 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: from Mount Vernon the rules he wrote at fourteen years 69 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: of age, which he had copied out of several books, 70 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: and which were rules for being a gentleman. And he 71 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: wanted very much to have respect. He wanted what the 72 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: Romans had called vertu in the sense that you are 73 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: a virtuous person, not in our modern sense of sin, 74 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: but in the sense that you have served the community. 75 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: You are bigger the normal history. You're going to live 76 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: on in history as a person who's done his job. 77 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,600 Speaker 1: And so Washington wanted to project this sense of authority, 78 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: the sense of I am and it says, in fact, 79 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: I'm noble in a in a world where her there's 80 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: no nobility in the new world. At that point, it's 81 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: a famous story of Washington in Philadelphia, and I think 82 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: at the Constitutional Convention and Governor Morris takes a five 83 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 1: pound bet that he can walk over and slap Washington 84 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: on the shoulder, and he goes over. He gets close, 85 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: he gets closer, Washington turns and looks down on him. 86 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: Because Washington looks down, and everybody except Jefferson and Morris 87 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: stands and looks at him and says, good evening in 88 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: general Washington, he walks back over the eyes says, it's 89 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: your five pounds. It is physically impossible to touch Washington 90 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,840 Speaker 1: because he is projects this almost force field of dignity 91 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: that you can't penetrate. And he used that to enormous effect. Now, ironically, 92 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: when he was a general, for example, serving the places 93 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: that were pretty desperately valley forged in the winter, he 94 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: would go out and throw medicine balls with the troops. 95 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: He was physically very engaged. So it's not that he 96 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: was incapable of being close. He loved to dance. He 97 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: was capable of being close. But when he decided that 98 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: he was aloof, he was a loof beyond anyone normally 99 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: being able to deal with them. And that was very 100 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: important that he didn't start that way, but he grew 101 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: into that person. He started as a relatively poor kid, 102 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: went to the Caribbean, got a slight case of smallpox, 103 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: which turned out to be really valuable because it meant 104 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: that he was vaccinated. He also was in a position 105 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:53,479 Speaker 1: where he watched life in the Caribbean and realized he 106 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: didn't particularly like that life. Came back home. Was not 107 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: wealthy personally, he's adequately, but he knew he'd have to 108 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: earn a living, so became a surveyor. By the time 109 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: he is nineteen years of age, he is surveying. In fact, 110 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: if he had a little Washington, which is a town 111 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: that has a remarkable in called the End of Washington, 112 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: which is a Michelan the first place to get a 113 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: Micheline star in America. Washington laid out the entire town 114 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: at nineteen years of age. Now to give you a 115 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: sense of how the world's different. Look at a map 116 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: little Virginia and it is about seventy miles west of 117 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: Washington and about fifty miles south. That was the frontier, 118 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: not Kentucky, not Texas. I mean western Virginia was the frontier. 119 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: And Washington spent a large part of his youth in 120 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: the frontier, first as a surveyor. Where we aren't fairly 121 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: good money. He also learned something people tend to forget. 122 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: Surveyors can look at topography, so as when he's a 123 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: general officer later he looks at a battlefield with a 124 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: level of technical knowledge that no other general officer has 125 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: because he knows how to he knows the distances because 126 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: he's surveyed, he knows the rolling hills, he knows how 127 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: to look for gullies. He knows how in an age 128 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: when he didn't have helicopters, and he didn't have tanks, 129 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: and he didn't have cars, even a small rise is 130 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: a big deal if the other guy's got to come 131 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: up in because it wears them out and slows them down. 132 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: And so he's very good at looking at terrain. And 133 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: he learned all this by the time he was nineteen 134 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: to twenty years of age. He's given an assignment. He's 135 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 1: very precocious. He's very close to the Fairfax family and 136 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,719 Speaker 1: they're among the largest landowners in the colony of Virginia. 137 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: He gets an assignment to go west. This is supposed 138 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: to be a peaceful assignment. The French have come down 139 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: from Canada. They have occupied the place where the Ohio 140 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: River is formed by two rivers coming together and where 141 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,440 Speaker 1: Three River Stadium is nowadays. He's given a letter to 142 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: take to them that says you got to get out 143 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: of here, and the French basically think you're a nice 144 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: young goy. What we're not getting out of here? Washington 145 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: picks a fight. He's not he was not as signed 146 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: to pick a fight. He's just very pugnaciously, very young. 147 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: And he then ends up at a place called Fort Necessity, 148 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: where they stop and I've been out visiting Fort Necessity, 149 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: which still exists as a national historical monument, and this 150 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: is clearly a sign that he's not applying his survey 151 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: or skills, because the fort is in the bottom of 152 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: a valley where the other guys up above are shooting 153 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: down at you. Furthermore, they have huge reign. The place 154 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: gets totally wet, their powder gets wet. They have no 155 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: choice except to surrender. Very fortunate for America he wasn't killed. 156 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: I mean, at that point, the French and Indians who 157 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: are their allies, are really pissed off at Washington and 158 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: here's this young guy out here picking a fight. And 159 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: you can literally argue that the Seven Years' War, which 160 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: we call the French Indian War, the Seven Years War, 161 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: which is a global war in India. He goes in Europe, 162 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: it's in North America, it's in the Caribbean. It started 163 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: by George Washingington who just picks this fight, and the 164 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: fight starts going down to the Washington comes back home. 165 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: Imagine this the early twenties, your first big assignment. It's 166 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: a total mess. So what does he do? He writes 167 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: a pamphlet. He says, I was really right. I did 168 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: exactly the right thing, the only thing you could have done, 169 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: and none of it was my fault. And I'm really 170 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: proud of to do it well. I played well. The 171 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: average person doesn't know anything about what's going on. There's 172 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: no television, there's no live coverage from Fort Necessity, and 173 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: so the only explanation of what happened is Washington's and 174 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: copies of it get to London, and he's now a 175 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: persona He's a real person. So along comes the British. 176 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: Finally said okay, this is going to be real war. 177 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: You got to get engaged. They send an army and 178 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: Washington gets some of his first basic lessons, and this 179 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: is selling people often forget. Washington learned a lot about 180 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: war by being at war. He didn't learn about war 181 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:59,559 Speaker 1: by reading theoretical works, and so they need a colonial advisor. 182 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: British aristocracy was totally contemptuous to the colonials, and I 183 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: thought they were basically stupid and lazy and cowardly. And furthermore, 184 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: they want British aristocrats. They were also contemptuous of British soldiers, 185 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,559 Speaker 1: and they're contemptious of Heshman mercenaries because they're British aristocrats. 186 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: So Washington has assigned and he has some advice for him. 187 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,319 Speaker 1: He says, it is not helpful to march down the 188 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: middle of the road in red outfits because the other 189 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: side will cheat and they will fire from behind trees 190 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: and you're going to get killed. And General Braddock explains 191 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: to them, you obviously don't understand European warfare, but just relax. 192 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: They actually leave. If you go to the Army War 193 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: College at Carlisle, you can see the post from which 194 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: they left, and they might again remember the Carlile. Pennsylvania, 195 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: which is next to Harrisburg, is the beginning of the frontier. 196 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:54,079 Speaker 1: So they're now marching through the Pennsylvania forest and surprise, surprise, 197 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: they get attacked by people who are cheating there. They're 198 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,959 Speaker 1: wearing outfits that blend into the forest, and the French 199 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: are not wearing the normal white French uniforms, which they 200 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: do when they're informal warfare, but when they're fighting in 201 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: the woods, they're wearing stuff that fits the woods. The Indians, 202 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: of course, have no uniforms anyway, and so the combined 203 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: French and Indian force attacks. Braddock is killed almost immediately. 204 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: The British force is disintegrating. I mean, they're confused, they're scared, 205 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: they've lost their commander. And the one guy who's on 206 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: the tallest horse is Washington, and so Washington starts to 207 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: rally them, get them reorganized, get them the hell out 208 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: of the way, because they're in real danger of being 209 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: a massacred. The Washington in that fight has four bullet 210 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: holes in his coat and has two horses shot out 211 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: from He reached his brother the next day. God must 212 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: have really been protecting him, because at some point one 213 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: of those bulls should have hit him and it was lucky. 214 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: And then he began insists on being up on these horses, 215 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: which is important for his men's morale because they can 216 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: see they at least have a leader, even if he's 217 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: a colonial. But at the same time it sort of 218 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: makes shift target. Decade later, he runs into an Indian 219 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: chieftain of a tribal council, and the chieftain says, God 220 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: must have some big role for you, because I personally 221 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: shot at you thirteen times. He said, all of us 222 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: are trying to kill you because you were so obvious, 223 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: and we just couldn't itch you. That's important later because Washington, 224 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,839 Speaker 1: after that fight in his own mind as a man 225 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: of destiny. So he goes back home, marries a very 226 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: wealthy widow who brings him Mount Vernon, and I think 227 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,839 Speaker 1: a genuine love match. She has two children. They never 228 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 1: have children on their own. Washington raises the children as 229 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: his own, and he and Martha entertainment. And this is 230 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: one of the things to remember Colonial Virginia. If you 231 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: were reasonably in Washington in Land was the wealthiest columnist, 232 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: not as wealthy as the Fairfaxes. But the Fairfaxes eventually 233 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: leave during the Revolution, at which point he becomes the 234 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: wealthiest person in America in Land, not in money, but 235 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: you always entertain if you look at the Fuda Mount 236 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: Vernon and you look at the register of who comes by. 237 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: There are always people coming to visit. I mean, at 238 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: one point later in his life, James Madison comes over 239 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: and spends I think six weeks living with Washington, writing, 240 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: arguing and writing about the Constitution and the just used 241 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: to this. This is this is their life. Washington regularly 242 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: will ride up to Alexandria, and if you want to, 243 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: you can go to Gatsby's Tavern, which still exists, which 244 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: was the site of Washington's birthday parties, and he would 245 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: they'd all ride up together and have a great party 246 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: and have a few drinks. Intended to party during the 247 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: daytime so they could get home around dark. But it 248 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: was this was It's all real. It was a social life. 249 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: It was a nice life. And Washington's faced with the 250 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: same problem as every other American, which is, you are 251 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: trying to have a cash based economy with no cash 252 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:15,760 Speaker 1: and you're dealing with British merchants who are constantly cheating you, 253 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: cheating you in the sense that they want to pay 254 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: you less for what you sell and charge you more 255 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 1: for what they sell. So you're always juggling us very 256 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: tight financial burden and you're not particularly happy with the British, 257 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: and Washington is serving in public life as a legislator, 258 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: but mostly he's a farmer and a gentleman who is 259 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: nice to people who come wandering through. And then the 260 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: British decide that they're going to pay for the debt 261 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: coming out of the Seven Years' War by raising taxes 262 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: on the Americans, and their rationale is not crazy. The 263 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: rationale is, look, we saved you from the French, we 264 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: saved you from the Indians. Things are relatively safe. You 265 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: ought to pay your fair share. Now the American attitude 266 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: is very different. The American attitude is, you know, it's 267 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: not our fault that you're a profigate government in London 268 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: and that you waste all your money and that you're 269 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: surrounded by corruption, and no, we're not going to pay anything. 270 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: You know, we're happy to have you around, but frankly, 271 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: since we no longer have any threat from the French, 272 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: why do we need you? And so you have this 273 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: weird moment where the British think the generosity is going 274 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: to leave the Americans out of gratitude don't want to 275 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: pay taxes, and the Americans are saying, no, the very 276 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: fact that you one means we don't need you. And 277 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: Washington's in the faction. That's fine. You know, I don't 278 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: think I want to pay any taxes. I mean, I 279 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: don't like those guys anyway. They'll always trying to cheat me. 280 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: He's not a fire Brown, He's not out there saying 281 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: let's rebel, let's do something, but he's clearly in the 282 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: group around Patrick Henry and others who want to stand 283 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: up to the English. And then, of course you end 284 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: up with a series of events. Again, thinking yourself as 285 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: a planter sitting on the Potomac River having a nice life. 286 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,600 Speaker 1: You're not connected by cable TV, you're not connected by internet. 287 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: You know, you don't get any text messages. You occasionally 288 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: read things, and so one day you read or you 289 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,879 Speaker 1: hear from somebody who's riding through spending the night that 290 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: there was the massacre in Boston and the British troops 291 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 1: had shot Americans who were protesting. Well, you sort of 292 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 1: start thinking about that, did that happen here? Could it 293 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: happen at Williamsburg? Do I feel a little pissed off 294 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: that the British are shooting Americans? And the alienation starts 295 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: to build, and the call goes out to come to Philadelphia, 296 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 1: and let's talk about how bad this is getting. When 297 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,920 Speaker 1: the British decide to impose taxes that the Americans really 298 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,919 Speaker 1: get mad about, particularly tacks on tea, which leads to 299 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: the Bostonians dressing up as Indians and having a tea 300 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,280 Speaker 1: party throwing all the Indian East Indian Company tea into 301 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: the river. And ironically, the British thought they were being 302 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,439 Speaker 1: clever because they actually had organized it so that the 303 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 1: price he would be less under the new rules, even 304 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 1: though you paid taxes and the Americans got none. No, 305 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: it's the principle, we don't care that it's cheaper. We 306 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: care that part of the money goes to you, and 307 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: we're not going to pay your money. And so they're 308 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,199 Speaker 1: cheerfully throwing all of these bales of tea, which are 309 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 1: very valuable, into the Boston harbor, which really makes the 310 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,600 Speaker 1: British pretty bad. And so the British decided that they're 311 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:28,159 Speaker 1: going to close down on Boston and ultimately isolate the 312 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,360 Speaker 1: city of Boston to punish it, in the theory that 313 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: that will then scare the rest of the Americans into 314 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: being obedient. But what it really does is just makes 315 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: them angry. So the call goes out, they meet and 316 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,919 Speaker 1: then what is called the Continental Congress, which is a 317 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 1: huge breakthrough. I mean, these people hadn't thought of themselves 318 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: as Americans. They were Virginians, they were Georgians, they were Massachusetts. 319 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: They spoke very different dialects in the sense of the 320 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,119 Speaker 1: tone of their language, the patterns they ate differently, and 321 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: they hadn't really begun to identify them they were Americans. 322 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,639 Speaker 1: And now they have this problem, and Washington's one of 323 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: the people who's drifting towards being more and more alienated 324 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: and more and more angry, and he's ultimately affected, I 325 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: think in part by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin is a world 326 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: class scientist recognized all over the world. He is a 327 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: very successful businessman who makes enough money by forty to 328 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: sell his businesses and devote himself to public life. He 329 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: writes for Richard's Almanac every year and is very widely 330 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: known as the first postmaster General of the colonies, and 331 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: therefore has connections at all of the colonies because he 332 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: handles the mail. And he is sent by the Colony 333 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania to London to plead with the British and 334 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,120 Speaker 1: to basically say, look, there's some things we need solved, 335 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,320 Speaker 1: and we can be nice. He spends about seven or 336 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: eight years in London, and he ends up suddenly realizing 337 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 1: they'll never accept it. They're aristocrats. He's not an aristocrat, 338 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: even though he's a world famous scientist, even though he's 339 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: wealthier than some of the aristocrats. There'll never be anything 340 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: in British society. And it just totally infuriates And somebody 341 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,199 Speaker 1: once wrote that he left America as an Englishman and 342 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 1: he returned as an American, and so his spirit made 343 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 1: he's very widely respected. People like Washington look to him 344 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 1: and say, you know, you've been there, you've lived there, 345 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 1: what do you think And he's basically saying, I don't 346 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: think we have any choice. These people are never going 347 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,880 Speaker 1: to treat us fairly now they think they were servants. 348 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: And so the spirit begins to build, and the British 349 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: begins sending troops to Boston because they're determined to crush 350 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: the spirit of resistance and they think that if they 351 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: can break Boston that that will symbolically shift the whole country. Now, 352 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: one of the myths about Washington is that he's sort 353 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: of self effacing He's this guy who really wasn't ambitious. 354 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:00,879 Speaker 1: But I've always saw one of them telling things. In 355 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: the Commonal Congress, there is only one person wearing a 356 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: military uniform. He's also the one of the two biggest 357 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,880 Speaker 1: people of Jefferson and the other Jefferson Stein, but tall, 358 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,399 Speaker 1: very tall. The Washington is big. I see this huge 359 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,920 Speaker 1: guy walking around in the uniform of a Virginia militia 360 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: and saying to everybody, of course, I wouldn't want to 361 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,120 Speaker 1: go to Boston. I don't want you to think I'm 362 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: a military man just because I'm standing here in my uniform. 363 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: But it just seemed to me it was the appropriate 364 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: thing to wear. And gradually they all look around each 365 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: andy go aha, because they have a problem politically. They 366 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: need a Southerner to go to Boston because they need 367 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: to unify the columns. They can't appoint a Bostonian or 368 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,119 Speaker 1: a New Hampshire Rite to be commander of the army 369 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: because they'll have no linkage to New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 370 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: and Virginia is the biggest colony in wealth and population 371 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: at that point, so they could turn to Washington. He says, 372 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: with great reluctance, I will accept this burden, although I 373 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: fear that I will be inadequate and I probably will fail. 374 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: But as long as you recognize that I'm only doing 375 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 1: this because he wanted me to, I will go to Boston. 376 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: And I think it's hard for us to realize. You're 377 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: this guy who's in many ways an aristocrat. He's very wealthy. 378 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,399 Speaker 1: You know, he rides a horse very well in the 379 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: style of the wrist. If you're a farmer, you don't 380 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: ride a horse the way George Washington does. He rode 381 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: to the Foxes and he shows up, and you have 382 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: to think about this. You have a new England Army 383 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: and this weird guy shows up from Virginia, speaking in 384 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: a slightly strange English and with an attitude of being 385 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: sort of a little lustere and a little you know, 386 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: And he's got to really think about this because he 387 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: realizes he's got to find a way to get all 388 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: these new wonders to follow him, or he's got a problem. 389 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,679 Speaker 1: And so he works at it, and he spends a 390 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 1: lot of time with the troops. And again, I think 391 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:09,679 Speaker 1: there's an advantage that we underestimate. If you imagine this 392 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: as a movie scene, you'd have this, as I said, 393 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:14,919 Speaker 1: a guy in the modern era who's the size of 394 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:20,159 Speaker 1: an NFL offensive lineman and you're walking around the camp. Well, 395 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 1: it's pretty obvious when he walks around the camp because 396 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: he towers over everybody. He's also the strongest guy in 397 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: the army. Well, it gives them a certain sense of 398 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: immediate acceptance that he should be the leader. And he 399 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: designs a very intelligent strategy and they move from the 400 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: cannon in a position where the British have to flee. 401 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 1: And so Washington, in a matter of a couple months 402 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: has driven the British out of Boston, which is an 403 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: enormous achievement. And at that point, you can imagine everybody's excited, 404 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: everybody's positive, and there's a problem because of the British 405 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:58,680 Speaker 1: have a navy and they're not leaving. They just left Boston. 406 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 1: They went to Canada group and they're probably going to 407 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: come back to New York, which is in many ways 408 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: the key town for the whole war is it's a 409 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 1: big port. It leaks that if you can break New York, 410 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: then you cut off New England from the rest of 411 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: the country. So Washington takes his army and marches to 412 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: New York, and they feel him pretty good about themselves. 413 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,679 Speaker 1: And in his first grade outing he's been very successful. 414 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 1: And he has the dequition independance read to everybody, and 415 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: they're all pumped up, and they have a real problem. 416 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,680 Speaker 1: It's not a very good army. They're not trained very well, 417 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: they don't have very good equipment, and they're up against 418 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 1: the best starting in the world and the British land 419 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: and just knock them all over the place, capture a 420 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: bunch of them, kill a bunch of them, and they're 421 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: in real danger of being annihilated. And one of those 422 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 1: miracles of Washington refers to and when he has said 423 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: later in life that anybody who thinks that God wasn't 424 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: watching over us, he used the word providence misunderstands how 425 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: it happened. Because what happens is the Gloucester fishermen common say, look, 426 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: we can we can get the army across and get 427 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: you out of Brooklyn before you're annihilated if we go 428 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 1: at night and the Royal Navy probably won't see us, 429 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: and we'll get certainly a large part of you across. Well, 430 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 1: the night they decide to do this, a huge fog 431 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: grows in and the British can't see anything. And so 432 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: Washington's getting these troops and he goes last. He's getting 433 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 1: all these troops in these boats. They're rowing across to Manhattan. 434 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: But they've been beaten. You know, there's no question they 435 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: just they just ran head out into the British and lost. 436 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: They get into Manhattan, well, they're this huge problem. One 437 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: British man of war has more artillery than the entire 438 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: American army has at any point in the governess. These 439 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: are big ships, the equivalent of modern naval aircraft. Payers 440 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: they're powerful, and if you're close to the water, they're 441 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: going to just knock you about with arty. And so 442 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: they're driven out of Manhattan where they losing him. And 443 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,399 Speaker 1: at one point General Green of Rhode Island has probably 444 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 1: his best general, has this clever idea. We're going to 445 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: name this fort Fort Washington, and the moral effect of 446 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: defending Fort Washington, three thousand men will stand firm well 447 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: for Washington falls because in fact they're not capable of 448 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: fighting Verige. So Washington suggests agree that in the future 449 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,920 Speaker 1: they should probably not try gimmicks, and he flees across 450 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: to White Plains and then he flees across into New Jersey, 451 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: and a week by week he gets smaller, tirer, more defeated. Washington, 452 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: who's a very smart guy about people in a way 453 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: that you wouldn't expect, and his austerity. Washington knows that 454 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: Thomas Pain has written tremendously important pamphlet on the revolution 455 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 1: and probably the best selling pamphlet describing the revolution, and 456 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: so he goes to him and he says, look, you 457 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,399 Speaker 1: wrote that when everything was great in the summer. Now 458 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 1: we had a problem because all of us thought we were 459 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,200 Speaker 1: going to win easily, and now we're getting beat and 460 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: I need a new pamphlet. And so he said, I 461 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,199 Speaker 1: don't need you to be a rifleman. Pain's actually in 462 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: the army and he says, you've written common Sense. It's 463 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: the most widely read explanation of the revolution. And he says, 464 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: go to Philadelphia and write, explain to us what we're 465 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: living through. And so Pain writes the crisis which begins. 466 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: These are the times the trimensuls and people read it 467 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: and they said, they go, oh, yeah, this is what 468 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:58,159 Speaker 1: I'm living through. And Pain basically says, look, you know, 469 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: hell is going to grab onto you as long as 470 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: it can, and it's not going to be easy to beat, 471 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: and you've got to be and he compares basically fighting 472 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: the British to trying to fight your way out of hell, 473 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 1: and people read it and they go, look, okay, it's 474 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: not going to be easy. It's not going to be 475 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: this week. So Washington ends up at Christmas Day, and 476 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: the week before Christmas he's dropped from thirty thousand men 477 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: to five thousand. Of the five thousand twenty five hundred 478 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,680 Speaker 1: or sick, so he's actually got twenty five hundred defectives. 479 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 1: Of the twenty five hundred effectives, one third do not 480 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: have boots and are actually marching in burlet bags, leaving 481 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: a trail of blood. So Washington is sitting here, twenty 482 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: five hundred men left. Cross the river in New Jersey, 483 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: Washington in Pennsylvania. Cross the river in New Jersey. Is 484 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: the British army, and Washington brings all of his generalism 485 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: and says, we have a really big problem. We don't 486 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: win a victory. Most of our men actually expire in 487 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: their enlistment sometime in January. If they don't have some 488 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: reason to stay, we will have no army left. So 489 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:18,959 Speaker 1: we have to win something. So I propose, let's cross 490 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: the Delaware at night during a snowstorm in the ice 491 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: march eleven miles to treaden surprise the British Army, actually 492 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: Hessian who were there, who were paid mercenaries, which is 493 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: an honorable job back then, and then we'll have won 494 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: a great victory and then people will be excited and'll 495 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,080 Speaker 1: be okay. Every one of his generals looks at him 496 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: like he's insane, and they go, we've been losing. Now 497 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: since September, we've shrunk down from thirty to twenty five. 498 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: And Washington has a plan which has three units that 499 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:00,000 Speaker 1: are going to cross the river at three different places 500 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: in the coordinator attack, which even a first class professional 501 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: army would have had a hard time doing. And they're 502 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: just staring at it. And it's really important to this 503 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: point to go back and think about Washington in the ambush, 504 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: because he's sitting there as a guy who's had two 505 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: horses shot off under him and four bullet holes, and 506 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 1: he's thinking, you got to take risks. You know, there 507 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: are all guys who hadn't had that experience, and they're going, 508 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: I don't want to take are you crazy? I don't 509 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: want to take this risk, and then he has the 510 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 1: winning argument. He says, look, this army disappears. The revolution's over. 511 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: The revolution's over. We're all going to be hung, so 512 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: you don't have anything to risk, so we might as 513 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 1: well try to wound, because at least that way we 514 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:53,400 Speaker 1: have a shot. So they cross over, and interestingly he 515 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: has the officers who can read, reading pains the crisis 516 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: to the troops as they get in the boat. Again, 517 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,760 Speaker 1: this is a very subtle man he has. He's got 518 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 1: to get the morale up. The instry line. Mausei Dungwan 519 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: said all power comes out of the end of a rifle, 520 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: and somebody corrected it and said, no, all power comes 521 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 1: from the person who's willing to shoot the road. And 522 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: it's exactly right. You've got to keep morale up. So 523 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: he takes his twenty five hundred men and then, in 524 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: a situation which can only be described as a miracle, 525 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: they cross over. There's this huge snowstorm coming from the north, 526 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: which means it's coming to their back, but it's coming 527 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: to the face of the Hessian troops. The Hessians run 528 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 1: into a small Virginia unit which is off on its 529 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 1: own without any authority, which arouses them about two or 530 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: three in the morning. They jump up with the stand arms. 531 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: They're all getting cold and wet, and this small unit 532 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: takes off. Washington runs into this unit and thinks they've 533 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: ruined the chance of success. The Hessians are going to 534 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: be awake, probably going to get slaughtered about what the 535 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: hell with no choice. Well, just the opposite happened. The 536 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: Hessians stand outside for about an hour. They get totally soaked. 537 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 1: They realized that this was just a griller unit that 538 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,920 Speaker 1: was wandering through. They all go to bed. It's not 539 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: that Theassians were drunk. The Hessians were in the middle 540 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: of a snowstorm. Now here's the key thing to remember. 541 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: In Europe, there are no real battles fought in winter. 542 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: From I think seventeen sixty seven to nineteen forty four, 543 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,479 Speaker 1: the German Army never launches a winter of place. Fredericks 544 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,480 Speaker 1: Cred launches the last one I think it's in seventy 545 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 1: sixty seven, and then the Battle of Balgim forty four. 546 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: Because winter is hard, I mean it's cold and it's miserable. 547 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: Americans deer hunt in the winter. Americans are all in 548 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 1: the woods, in the winter. So the Americans are gone. 549 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: Oh we had a snowstone. Okay, the Hessians are gone. 550 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 1: We got a snowstone. Let's stay in the house because 551 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,600 Speaker 1: no rational European army would be out in the snowstop 552 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,240 Speaker 1: so they're safe. Well, they wake up in the morning 553 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,120 Speaker 1: and Trenton back then is a very small town and 554 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,840 Speaker 1: has just two streets, and so if you put cannon 555 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,240 Speaker 1: at the end of the two streets, you control the town. 556 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: And the Hashians are all in these little houses and 557 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: they can't get out of them, and they finally get 558 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: a semi organized Washington captures eight hundred first class professional 559 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 1: soldiers for the loss of one American, and then does 560 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: a very intelligent thing. They run like him because the 561 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,200 Speaker 1: British army's coming, and they get across the river before 562 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: the British can get there. Now victory really matters. They 563 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 1: go from twenty five hundred effectives within two weeks to 564 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: fifteen thousand because people are this is cool, we're winning. 565 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,800 Speaker 1: Same the fact happens a football, you know, people like 566 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 1: to hear the game where they win. So they show 567 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: up and Washington now has enough troops to go back 568 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 1: across the river and one of those important examples of 569 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: Washington's system. They get to Trenton this time Cornwallis and 570 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: the British are ready. They are charging down the road 571 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: from Princeton. Washington calls a council of War. And in 572 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 1: the Council of War there are two farmers. And I 573 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: always said, I'm teaching military courses. I always say the officers, 574 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: why do you think there are two farmers? Because they 575 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: are the only two people who knew the territory. So 576 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: the British would never have done this because as an aristocrat, 577 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: you don't listen to farmers. They haven't had military training. 578 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:40,319 Speaker 1: They only have one great advantage. They actually know the neighborhood. Well, 579 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:43,440 Speaker 1: it turns out that there is a sunken road on 580 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:47,040 Speaker 1: the south side of Trenton. He goes from Trenton to 581 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,400 Speaker 1: Princeton that you cannot see if you're on the northern 582 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: road from Princeton to trent So Washington takes his entire 583 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 1: army runs down the road and the British are running 584 00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: towards Trenton. He's running towards Princeton. And my favorite war 585 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 1: Washington paigning is Washington and Princeton with the cannon sitting 586 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: there and the British captured British flags behind it, and Washington, 587 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 1: at this point is about forty four years old, is 588 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 1: standing jauntily leaning on a British cannon, looking like the 589 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: Fox center who's called the Fox. I mean it's the 590 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 1: best picture because we tend to see Washington backwards. We 591 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,200 Speaker 1: see the guy who's president late in his life. This 592 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:35,719 Speaker 1: is still a young, energetic, aggressive guy. So the revolutionists survived, 593 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,760 Speaker 1: and Washington's now in a position to continue to develop 594 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 1: the army. But it's important remember this is not everybody 595 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 1: worships Washington. I mean, if you're not in the army 596 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,000 Speaker 1: with Washington, you're thinking, this guy's not had a very 597 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:53,880 Speaker 1: good run here. I mean, okay, did okay in Boston, 598 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:56,840 Speaker 1: got cleaned out in New York, cleaned out in New Jersey? 599 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,040 Speaker 1: I mean, can we do better? Of course, during this period, 600 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 1: when the Americans win at Saratoga with the British army collapses, 601 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 1: you suddenly have an interest in somebody other than Washington. 602 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 1: So this' about a third of the continent of Congress 603 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: would like to fare Washington and is actively plotting. And 604 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: one of the reasons when Washington ends up the next 605 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: year going into Valley Forge, where he'd been promised to 606 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:28,440 Speaker 1: be food, there'd be equipment to build houses, et cetera, 607 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:48,760 Speaker 1: and they had nothing. People in Congress are deliberately setting 608 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: him up to fail because they want to get rid 609 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,360 Speaker 1: of it. And again you get a sense of Washington 610 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:59,720 Speaker 1: settled it. Washington, who had no children himself, had basically 611 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:02,800 Speaker 1: opted the Marquis de Lafayette, who's in his early twenties, 612 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: as kind of like a steps. He loved Lafayette, Lafayette 613 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,879 Speaker 1: loved him, and so Lafayette happens to write a letter 614 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:15,440 Speaker 1: to the Congress. It says, you know, French King thinks 615 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: so highly of General Washington that if something were to 616 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,360 Speaker 1: happen to him and he was no longer in command, 617 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:28,680 Speaker 1: I really fear that all French money, French ammunition, French uniforms, 618 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: French assistants would disappear. And I, certainly, because of my 619 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:37,760 Speaker 1: deep belief in the Revolution, wouldn't want that to happen. Well, 620 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: that's it. Washington has reasserted that he's in charge. He 621 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:45,479 Speaker 1: also understands that he still doesn't have a very good army. 622 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 1: And a guy shows up named Astoivan, who is a 623 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,879 Speaker 1: character in his own writer, I mean almost somebody could 624 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 1: do an entire novel about He's a German officer, claims 625 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:03,200 Speaker 1: more credit than he really deserves, claims higher rank than 626 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,239 Speaker 1: he really deserves, shows up and says, you know, I 627 00:38:07,239 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: can train your army. And this is one of those miracles, 628 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,040 Speaker 1: A little bit like Washington listening to Farmers. Is when 629 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 1: Stryman looks around for a little while and realizes, if 630 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:20,720 Speaker 1: I try to apply European systems, they will all rebuild 631 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,400 Speaker 1: because they're Americans. So I can't just go and enforce 632 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:28,400 Speaker 1: the being in Europe, I can force obedience because the 633 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:32,360 Speaker 1: peasants expect me to force able. In the US, they all, 634 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:35,120 Speaker 1: you know, does just throw me out. And so he 635 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:38,359 Speaker 1: figures out, you have to tell Americans why you're doing it. 636 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:41,440 Speaker 1: But if you'll tell them why you're doing it, they 637 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:45,360 Speaker 1: actually learn faster than the Europeans. And so he begins 638 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,680 Speaker 1: to train this army. And when they're in Valley Forge, 639 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,320 Speaker 1: Washington again is very careful about a number of things. 640 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:55,040 Speaker 1: They have a huge bakehouse which makes all the bread 641 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:59,600 Speaker 1: for the army, and they turn it into a theater, 642 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,360 Speaker 1: and so they bake bread good morning in the evening 643 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,920 Speaker 1: they have plays. Washington's favorite play is Cato, which is 644 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:12,799 Speaker 1: a remarkable study. In eighteenth century Britain, you could not 645 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,759 Speaker 1: directly attack the king, because that'll be treason. So they 646 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:18,960 Speaker 1: tended to write about the Romans, because you could write 647 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:22,000 Speaker 1: about tyranny and corruption in Rome, and that's not really 648 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:24,759 Speaker 1: attacking the king, although everybody who sees the play knows 649 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:30,800 Speaker 1: you're talking about the king. So Cato is about the 650 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:36,560 Speaker 1: Roman senator who, at the time of Caesar, refuses to 651 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:42,120 Speaker 1: accept Caesar as the head of the government, and Caesar 652 00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:46,800 Speaker 1: ultimately chases him across the Mediterranean and ends up face 653 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,959 Speaker 1: to face and says, look, I want you to live. 654 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:53,239 Speaker 1: You're my friend, I really believe in you. All you 655 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:56,960 Speaker 1: have to do is swear loyalty and you'll be rich 656 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,480 Speaker 1: and happy to us joy and Cato basically says, you know, 657 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,719 Speaker 1: my son's already been killed. Freedom is worth everything, and 658 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:09,760 Speaker 1: would rather die as a free person than live swearing loyally. 659 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:12,719 Speaker 1: View This is Warshington's favorite play. He cried every time 660 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,279 Speaker 1: he saw it, and it was the center in the 661 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: way of Washington's own belief that he is in rebellion 662 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,440 Speaker 1: because he is a Freeman and he is not going 663 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:25,719 Speaker 1: to give him, and so they would. I think they 664 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:29,280 Speaker 1: showed it three times that winter, and then they showed 665 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,880 Speaker 1: other things. He was very concerned about morale, I mean, 666 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 1: how do you keep morale up? And they began to 667 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,920 Speaker 1: build a real army. They collide with the British shortly 668 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,319 Speaker 1: after Valley Forge and they beat him head to head, 669 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,520 Speaker 1: and the British suddenly realized that they have a real problem. 670 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,080 Speaker 1: They can no longer count on the Americans breaking them. 671 00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:51,080 Speaker 1: Washington then chases them across New Jersey. At the British 672 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,120 Speaker 1: ended up going back into New York City, where the 673 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:57,239 Speaker 1: Royal Navy can sustain them. Now by this stage you've 674 00:40:57,239 --> 00:40:59,680 Speaker 1: also got a French army showing up, have the French 675 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,919 Speaker 1: Navy occasionally showing up, your French money showing up, which 676 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:09,439 Speaker 1: is really important. But Washington can't win. He cannot break 677 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,520 Speaker 1: into New York. You can't drive the British out of 678 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:15,080 Speaker 1: New York. And what the British have done is they've 679 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: got Washington sucked into basically laying siege to New York, 680 00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:23,520 Speaker 1: while the British army is moving troops into South Carolina 681 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:27,359 Speaker 1: and Georgia and trying to reconquer the colonies from the 682 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: South coming north, which turns out also to fail because Washington, 683 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:37,040 Speaker 1: since Green, was his best general, and they organized guerrilla 684 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:41,480 Speaker 1: warfare and altimately organized regular warfare and gradually start chewing 685 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:45,040 Speaker 1: up the British in the South. But the Southern War 686 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,759 Speaker 1: is a really miserable, nasty war, and it was good 687 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,480 Speaker 1: that Washington couldn't go there because he would not have 688 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 1: liked it. It isn't who he wanted. He believed deeply 689 00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:58,680 Speaker 1: you had to have a regular army that had discipline, 690 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:02,200 Speaker 1: because it was the base civilization. And he did not 691 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:04,399 Speaker 1: want to be involved in World War. He knew how 692 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:06,480 Speaker 1: to me. He had thought he'd fought the Indians. He 693 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,400 Speaker 1: understood a lot about how to fight at Glewar. He 694 00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:11,839 Speaker 1: thought in the end it would be so bitter and 695 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,120 Speaker 1: so bloody that it would shatter the society. And so 696 00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:18,560 Speaker 1: he really worked hard at keeping on together. And one 697 00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:20,520 Speaker 1: of the great gambles, if you, if you ever get 698 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:24,600 Speaker 1: a chance, is look at him out Washington sitting in 699 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:29,520 Speaker 1: New York. The French army is actually sitting in Rhode Island, 700 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,600 Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, cornwallis who has a large 701 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:38,040 Speaker 1: British army finds himself cooped up at York Town in Virginia. 702 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,360 Speaker 1: I remember this is people are marching with no trains, 703 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:46,080 Speaker 1: no airplanes, no cars, and Washington has to make a decision. 704 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:52,640 Speaker 1: If I leave New York there's people are really getting 705 00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:57,239 Speaker 1: terrible matter for seven years, I leave New York. I 706 00:42:57,400 --> 00:43:05,080 Speaker 1: marched down through Philadelphia and get to York Town. Will 707 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:09,560 Speaker 1: Cornwell still be there? Will the French navies show up? 708 00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:13,040 Speaker 1: And will the French army walk with me? Go with me? 709 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,800 Speaker 1: And can I raise the money to pay the troops? 710 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,359 Speaker 1: And if it works, I might be able to win 711 00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:25,080 Speaker 1: the battle that will lead the victory in the war. 712 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:29,960 Speaker 1: If it fails, we may well collapse because we've been 713 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,719 Speaker 1: at this so long and we're so tired. This is 714 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:34,919 Speaker 1: one of the great strategic game. I'll takes some normal 715 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:39,680 Speaker 1: if you imagine the courage to sit there and think 716 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:42,640 Speaker 1: this through and go. You know what I'm gonna do 717 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:47,240 Speaker 1: is I'm gonna move. I'm going to decoy the British 718 00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:50,279 Speaker 1: with just in our forces left behind that they think 719 00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:53,000 Speaker 1: I'm still in New York and We're going to march 720 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,480 Speaker 1: as fast as we can. And when I get to Philadelphia. 721 00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:58,960 Speaker 1: I'm going to see governor, want some big him to 722 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:00,719 Speaker 1: bring together all the rich people in the city to 723 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,840 Speaker 1: steve Is enough money to pay the army to keep moving. 724 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:09,120 Speaker 1: And hopefully by the time I get to Yorktown, if 725 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:12,800 Speaker 1: you're marching, this is a long march, hopefully by then 726 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,960 Speaker 1: the French navy will have shown up so we can 727 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,920 Speaker 1: cut Cornwallis off. So he can't the British navy can't 728 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:25,959 Speaker 1: take him off Yorktown. Well, it is said that when 729 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:34,120 Speaker 1: Washington crossed the last ridge and could see Yorktown and 730 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:37,320 Speaker 1: beyond Yorktown could see the French fleet, that he physically 731 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:42,160 Speaker 1: jumped off his horse and did a jig. The only 732 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:44,279 Speaker 1: people said it's the only time in the entire war 733 00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:46,960 Speaker 1: that he saw him just lose control. He was so 734 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:52,120 Speaker 1: excited because he had him, so the French and the British, 735 00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:56,640 Speaker 1: I mean the French of the Americans lay siege. Cornwallis 736 00:44:56,800 --> 00:44:59,960 Speaker 1: is a good professional British officer and later on goes 737 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:03,320 Speaker 1: on to become a very successful governor General of India. 738 00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:07,520 Speaker 1: Recognizes after a couple of days that you know, he 739 00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:11,920 Speaker 1: can't win, so he sends the word that he's prepared 740 00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:16,440 Speaker 1: to surrender to the French, and the French send the 741 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:20,799 Speaker 1: way back now to Washington, and then Cornwella says, I 742 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,880 Speaker 1: am not swinning to Washington. I'm sending a junior officer, 743 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:28,040 Speaker 1: at which point Washington says, fine, I'm sending a junior officer. 744 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,160 Speaker 1: So General Lincoln has I think a brigadier general at 745 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:35,120 Speaker 1: the time, accept the surrender of the British and supposedly 746 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:45,640 Speaker 1: the band plays the world turned up. Said that now 747 00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:48,959 Speaker 1: Washington at that point does the monster like that which 748 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:54,800 Speaker 1: people really undervalue. They go back north because the war's 749 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:58,160 Speaker 1: not over. I mean, the fighting's over now. The diplomats 750 00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:00,000 Speaker 1: are negotiating. You've got to work out all the time, 751 00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:02,600 Speaker 1: so you have to keep an army in being, and 752 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,319 Speaker 1: his officers get really angry because you're not getting paid. 753 00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:08,000 Speaker 1: The Congress in that period was setting a standard to 754 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:12,240 Speaker 1: the current Congress's match. It was often irresponsible, often tailed 755 00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:13,919 Speaker 1: to do what it should do, often had to really 756 00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:17,280 Speaker 1: done policies, and in this period they weren't paying the army. 757 00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:21,040 Speaker 1: So a group of the officers get together and decide 758 00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:24,640 Speaker 1: that Washington should become a dictator. And there was a 759 00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:27,640 Speaker 1: precedent for this because one hundred years earlier, in the 760 00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:31,760 Speaker 1: English Civil War, Cromwell had emerged and established a dictation, 761 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:34,840 Speaker 1: And in fact, a lot of people had worried about 762 00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:37,800 Speaker 1: Washington it need to be too powerful and too popular, 763 00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:41,879 Speaker 1: precisely because he would become Cromwell. There's a great scene 764 00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:45,720 Speaker 1: where the officers have met in the schoolroom, and Washington 765 00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,799 Speaker 1: was in and as he recounted, he took out his 766 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:54,919 Speaker 1: glasses in order to remind him that he'd grown old 767 00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:58,120 Speaker 1: in the service of his country. And he pulls out 768 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:00,719 Speaker 1: this letter, and he fees the letter, the essence of 769 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:04,680 Speaker 1: which is, do you really think that we rebelled against 770 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:09,040 Speaker 1: George the Third to create George the first? This would 771 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:14,279 Speaker 1: destroy everything that we fought for for eight years. The 772 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:18,440 Speaker 1: officers all go, okay, yeah, don't be dictator. I guess 773 00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:22,919 Speaker 1: we'll continue. He then does something that is remarkable, and 774 00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:27,239 Speaker 1: George the third says, if Washington gives up power, it'll 775 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:30,839 Speaker 1: be the greatest man of the century. So Washington on 776 00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:33,719 Speaker 1: the way home, having been I always tell people when 777 00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:35,920 Speaker 1: they get frustrated, they get tired of trying to do something. 778 00:47:36,239 --> 00:47:39,560 Speaker 1: Washington spends eight years in the field. He's in Mount 779 00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:42,640 Speaker 1: Vernon for two weeks in the entire war, and he 780 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:46,279 Speaker 1: loves mont. So now he's on the way home. So 781 00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:49,400 Speaker 1: he goes to Annapolis with the Condinal Congress's meeting, and 782 00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:51,879 Speaker 1: you can actually go to the State House. They still 783 00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:54,160 Speaker 1: have the room and they have it set up with statues. 784 00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:59,800 Speaker 1: The Congress is sitting, Washington is standing in the Congress 785 00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:07,080 Speaker 1: is sitting to show that he is obedient to them, 786 00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:09,880 Speaker 1: but that they are his superior to collective, and he 787 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,719 Speaker 1: gives them his sword. He literally says, I've now done 788 00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:15,359 Speaker 1: my job. I'm returning to you the sword that I 789 00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:19,480 Speaker 1: was given back in Philadelphia. And he then goes home. 790 00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:25,759 Speaker 1: He's at home, he's happy, he's being a farmer. Martha's happy. 791 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:29,000 Speaker 1: And things don't work pretty well. And it turns out 792 00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:33,880 Speaker 1: people forget this. Virtually every state, as they've now become 793 00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:37,920 Speaker 1: ceased to be colomists, has to rewrite his constitution. They 794 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:42,120 Speaker 1: all fail. And so yet people getting pretty good practice 795 00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:47,600 Speaker 1: of writing constitutions, and people got involved in a variety 796 00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:53,400 Speaker 1: of fairly dumb ideas, repudiating the debt, inflating the currency, 797 00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:56,080 Speaker 1: and people begin to write Washington and say, you know, 798 00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:58,200 Speaker 1: we're going to have to do something to fix this, 799 00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:01,840 Speaker 1: and this is not working, and it's creating a vacuum 800 00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:04,160 Speaker 1: where the British and the French and the Spanish can 801 00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:07,920 Speaker 1: come in and exploit it. Washington writes several of his 802 00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:12,479 Speaker 1: friend and says, no, people aren't tired enough yet. They've 803 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:15,360 Speaker 1: got to finish celebrate and we've got to finish getting 804 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:19,200 Speaker 1: over this. And I'm not going to go now because 805 00:49:19,239 --> 00:49:22,160 Speaker 1: if I go now, it'll be too soon. And so 806 00:49:22,200 --> 00:49:25,480 Speaker 1: he's very patient. Now again, everybody in their brother is 807 00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:27,960 Speaker 1: coming to Mount Vernon to spend the night, to have dinner, 808 00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:30,440 Speaker 1: to chat with him. He's receiving letters from all over 809 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:32,920 Speaker 1: the country. Finally a group gets together on Annapolis and 810 00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:35,760 Speaker 1: they get him to come to the meeting. And I say, 811 00:49:36,200 --> 00:49:40,239 Speaker 1: we've got to fix the articles of Confederation because they're 812 00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:42,520 Speaker 1: not working. We need to have a meeting to fix 813 00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:47,560 Speaker 1: the current system. So he's the center of this. If 814 00:49:47,560 --> 00:49:51,040 Speaker 1: he's willing to sign the letter, people will show up. 815 00:49:51,880 --> 00:49:54,360 Speaker 1: If he doesn't sign the letter, it would never happen. 816 00:49:54,680 --> 00:49:58,800 Speaker 1: So he agrees he's the lead signer. It basically says, 817 00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:00,680 Speaker 1: I'm going to go to Philadelphi and try to fix this. 818 00:50:00,760 --> 00:50:03,880 Speaker 1: Why don't you come run? So every state sends a 819 00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:10,399 Speaker 1: delegation to Philadelphia in seventeen eighty seven, and again it's 820 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:14,520 Speaker 1: very different than people think. First of all, when they 821 00:50:14,520 --> 00:50:18,799 Speaker 1: meet for fifty five days, it's in secret. There's no 822 00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:25,040 Speaker 1: press corps, there's no press secretary, don't tell anybody anything. Second, 823 00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:28,479 Speaker 1: at several points it almost breaks down. At one point, 824 00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:33,080 Speaker 1: the oldest man there, Benjamin Franklin, says we need to stop, 825 00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:35,799 Speaker 1: have a day of fast and prayer and get our 826 00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:38,279 Speaker 1: head on straight, because right now we're just strown up. 827 00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:42,600 Speaker 1: They do that, They get a sermon, they pray, they fast. 828 00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:46,440 Speaker 1: There together, they talk, and people who study carefully make 829 00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:50,760 Speaker 1: the point that I think is often very misunderstood about Washington. 830 00:50:52,080 --> 00:50:58,040 Speaker 1: Washington is presiding inevitably, and so he's sitting up here 831 00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:00,440 Speaker 1: and you actually go and look at the room, and 832 00:51:00,440 --> 00:51:06,800 Speaker 1: occurs in in Philadelphia. But at lunch, at breakfast, at dinner, 833 00:51:08,080 --> 00:51:13,640 Speaker 1: he's constantly political. What if we did this, what if 834 00:51:13,680 --> 00:51:16,680 Speaker 1: we fixed that, what if we pulled this together. Maybe 835 00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:18,319 Speaker 1: if you work with so and so, you can work 836 00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:23,839 Speaker 1: something out. So his underlying influence is enormous, but it's 837 00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:28,160 Speaker 1: all private. It's not public speeches, it's not you know, 838 00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:34,160 Speaker 1: speaking from the chair. He represents the whole convention, and 839 00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:37,479 Speaker 1: they do something which is really quite remarkable. They're sent 840 00:51:37,560 --> 00:51:41,360 Speaker 1: there to fix the articles of Confederation, and by the 841 00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:43,120 Speaker 1: time they all get there, they go, this is stupid. 842 00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:45,800 Speaker 1: They are not going to work. Let's just write a constitution. 843 00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:48,680 Speaker 1: So what you technically have a coup datam I mean 844 00:51:49,080 --> 00:51:51,440 Speaker 1: you a group of people who decide they're going to 845 00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:55,239 Speaker 1: fix the whole thing. They have no authority to do it. 846 00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:59,080 Speaker 1: They just assert it. They then publish it. And again 847 00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:03,840 Speaker 1: Washington when this thing started, and Madison in particular, was 848 00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:05,759 Speaker 1: all over Washington, You've got to go do this, you 849 00:52:05,840 --> 00:52:08,120 Speaker 1: got to go do this. The reason Madison ends up 850 00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:10,719 Speaker 1: living in Mount Vernon for while was Washington, fine, you 851 00:52:10,760 --> 00:52:13,400 Speaker 1: come here, you do the reading, you put the other writing, 852 00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:15,719 Speaker 1: you do all the work, and when you get that done, 853 00:52:15,719 --> 00:52:19,000 Speaker 1: I'll think, good going. But I'm not gonna do all 854 00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:21,839 Speaker 1: that junk. You're the intellectual. I'm not going to run 855 00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:25,799 Speaker 1: my farm. So Washington's happily entertaining at night and walk 856 00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:29,520 Speaker 1: going around running his farm. Poor Madison's trapped, who loves it, 857 00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:32,120 Speaker 1: is trapped in a room with Mount Vernon thinking through 858 00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:36,120 Speaker 1: the whole thing. They then do something that's quite remarkable. 859 00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:39,560 Speaker 1: They go to the thirteen states and they say, basically, 860 00:52:40,239 --> 00:52:43,760 Speaker 1: you have to vote. We will not be legitimate unless 861 00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:49,080 Speaker 1: you vote. And the greatest political brochure in history is 862 00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:52,120 Speaker 1: the Federalist Papers, because that's what it is. It's a campaign. 863 00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:58,960 Speaker 1: Doctor and Jay and Hamilton and Madison write it. And 864 00:52:59,040 --> 00:53:02,680 Speaker 1: you get Washington sending a letter out to the whole 865 00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:06,040 Speaker 1: country saying basically, this is what we've done. We need 866 00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:09,920 Speaker 1: you to vote yes, this is important. Not an overwhelming margin. 867 00:53:10,200 --> 00:53:13,200 Speaker 1: The country says yes, and they adopt a constitution, on 868 00:53:13,239 --> 00:53:15,520 Speaker 1: which point, of course, they turn a meeting and go, gosh, 869 00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:19,319 Speaker 1: we're going to need a first president now, Washington saying, 870 00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:22,839 Speaker 1: wait a second, I'm a noun vernon. I've done you know, 871 00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:25,279 Speaker 1: I've done my share. No, no, no, no, you got 872 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:28,440 Speaker 1: to come up. So he agrees. He and Martha go 873 00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:31,480 Speaker 1: to New York by the end of the first term, 874 00:53:31,560 --> 00:53:34,839 Speaker 1: and he's very conscious he is setting the precedents which 875 00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:37,440 Speaker 1: we still live by, and he knows that and he 876 00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:41,200 Speaker 1: operates that way. He convinces Jefferson and Hamilton to serve 877 00:53:41,239 --> 00:53:44,759 Speaker 1: in the cabinet. They hate each other. They each subsidize 878 00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:47,520 Speaker 1: the newspaper to attack the other. And he doesn't care. 879 00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:50,320 Speaker 1: He says, you guys are invaluable. You got to stay here, 880 00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:52,320 Speaker 1: and if I got to be here, you got to 881 00:53:52,360 --> 00:54:10,400 Speaker 1: be here. Late in the first term, New York newspapers 882 00:54:10,400 --> 00:54:14,680 Speaker 1: are attacking Martha for holding high tea, which they regard 883 00:54:14,719 --> 00:54:18,279 Speaker 1: as the first step towards a monarchy. Washington is so 884 00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:23,200 Speaker 1: angry that he says, I'm going home. I've served a term. 885 00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:26,280 Speaker 1: It's over. I am not going to subject my wife 886 00:54:26,320 --> 00:54:29,840 Speaker 1: Martha to this kind of vicious behavior. The threat of 887 00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:34,440 Speaker 1: Washington leaving is so central to the survival of the 888 00:54:34,520 --> 00:54:38,160 Speaker 1: United States as a concept that Jefferson and Hamilton, who 889 00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:42,880 Speaker 1: have become bitter opponents, put aside their hostility, get together 890 00:54:43,360 --> 00:54:47,200 Speaker 1: jointly go to see him, and they say, you can't 891 00:54:47,239 --> 00:54:51,560 Speaker 1: go home. The country's not stable enough without your leadership, 892 00:54:51,640 --> 00:54:56,200 Speaker 1: without your prestige, the country won't last. You have to 893 00:54:56,239 --> 00:55:00,920 Speaker 1: stay for one more term. He very grudgingly agrees. He 894 00:55:01,040 --> 00:55:03,960 Speaker 1: really is so angry about the news media treatment of 895 00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:08,920 Speaker 1: his wife, but they convince him that for the country 896 00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:12,160 Speaker 1: he has to stay, and as a patriot in the end, 897 00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:14,960 Speaker 1: he's going to do what the country needs. And it's 898 00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:19,319 Speaker 1: a very important, very difficult period Britain and France are 899 00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:22,760 Speaker 1: engaged in a deep war which will last until eighteen fifteen. 900 00:55:23,120 --> 00:55:25,560 Speaker 1: He's trying to make sure the United States doesn't get 901 00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:28,879 Speaker 1: drawn in on either side, because he understands they will 902 00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:32,200 Speaker 1: just tear the country apart. So he's being very careful 903 00:55:32,719 --> 00:55:37,120 Speaker 1: about not getting into European politics and not getting into conflict. 904 00:55:37,600 --> 00:55:41,640 Speaker 1: At the same time, on our western frontier, particularly in Pennsylvania, 905 00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:46,680 Speaker 1: farmers have gotten really angry about a tax break which 906 00:55:46,800 --> 00:55:49,759 Speaker 1: was designed to help big distillers in the East and 907 00:55:49,880 --> 00:55:52,560 Speaker 1: actually hurts the small farmers in the West who are 908 00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:56,240 Speaker 1: producing corn whiskey in small batches, and so they're refusing 909 00:55:56,239 --> 00:55:59,359 Speaker 1: to pay their taxes, and there's what became known as 910 00:55:59,360 --> 00:56:03,360 Speaker 1: the Whiskey Rebellion. And it takes the prestige of Washington 911 00:56:04,200 --> 00:56:07,320 Speaker 1: to insist that the law be enforced, and he literally 912 00:56:07,440 --> 00:56:10,800 Speaker 1: organizes an army which they're about to send into western 913 00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:15,160 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania in order to force people to pay their taxes. 914 00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:20,359 Speaker 1: Confronted by Washington's prestige and by Washington's seriousness and by 915 00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:23,760 Speaker 1: the size of the army he's raising, the farmers ultimately caved. 916 00:56:24,160 --> 00:56:26,200 Speaker 1: The laws are changed a little bit so that they 917 00:56:26,239 --> 00:56:29,839 Speaker 1: have a face saving way out. The Whiskey rebellion disappears. 918 00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:33,279 Speaker 1: But that's the kind of thing going on that indicates 919 00:56:33,640 --> 00:56:37,480 Speaker 1: how shaky this new country is, and how little people 920 00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:41,080 Speaker 1: understand the concept of a central government and that it 921 00:56:41,120 --> 00:56:43,560 Speaker 1: has power which can reach all the way to the 922 00:56:43,600 --> 00:56:48,000 Speaker 1: boundaries of the country. Without Washington's prestige, that might not 923 00:56:48,120 --> 00:56:51,640 Speaker 1: have been survivable. He does stay, and then he really 924 00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:53,640 Speaker 1: has done. And one of the greatest things he does 925 00:56:54,080 --> 00:56:59,040 Speaker 1: is he goes home. And that's really important because it 926 00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:02,920 Speaker 1: sends a signal that power is loan to you, you 927 00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:06,040 Speaker 1: don't own it, and that you have a duty to 928 00:57:06,160 --> 00:57:09,480 Speaker 1: limit yourself, to be disciplined. And with the exception of 929 00:57:09,520 --> 00:57:13,160 Speaker 1: President Franklin D. Roosevelt in World War Two, no president 930 00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:17,040 Speaker 1: has violated the Washington principle of a maximum of two terms. 931 00:57:17,040 --> 00:57:20,480 Speaker 1: And in fact, after Roosevelt, we passed a constitutional amendment 932 00:57:20,920 --> 00:57:24,120 Speaker 1: to block anybody from serving more than two terms. So 933 00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:28,520 Speaker 1: Washington set the principle that he served the people, they 934 00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:33,960 Speaker 1: didn't serve him, that power was deliberately limited. He goes home, finally, 935 00:57:34,120 --> 00:57:37,760 Speaker 1: to Mount Vernon, a place he loves. He relaxes, He 936 00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:41,240 Speaker 1: goes back to being a gentleman, farmer. He's just drowning 937 00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:44,479 Speaker 1: in visitors because everybody wants to drop by and see 938 00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:48,560 Speaker 1: the great man. He's out riding on a wet, cold, 939 00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:53,920 Speaker 1: rainy day. He comes down with a fever. In that generation, 940 00:57:54,120 --> 00:57:56,240 Speaker 1: the doctors thought they would help you by bleeding you. 941 00:57:56,320 --> 00:58:00,440 Speaker 1: They put leeches on him, probably hurting him by some 942 00:58:00,520 --> 00:58:03,760 Speaker 1: of his blood, although there are some modern studies that 943 00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:07,280 Speaker 1: indicate the leitch has actually had for some kind of diseases. 944 00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:10,520 Speaker 1: They were actually very helpful because they had certain things 945 00:58:10,520 --> 00:58:12,840 Speaker 1: that they actually put in your body. But in the 946 00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:16,240 Speaker 1: case of Washington, they probably further weakened him. His throat 947 00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:38,880 Speaker 1: seized up, and he finally died. Marca was left alone. 948 00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:42,560 Speaker 1: She promptly did something which every historian ever since has regretted. 949 00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:47,160 Speaker 1: She burned all of their personal letters because she felt 950 00:58:47,160 --> 00:58:49,640 Speaker 1: it was private. She didn't want people to see what 951 00:58:49,880 --> 00:58:52,240 Speaker 1: Washington had written to her, or she'd written to Washington, 952 00:58:52,800 --> 00:58:58,000 Speaker 1: and so she literally shortly after his death, eliminates all 953 00:58:58,040 --> 00:59:00,560 Speaker 1: of the personal records, which had grown up over a 954 00:59:00,560 --> 00:59:05,720 Speaker 1: long lifetime and would have been fascinating. The country warns him, 955 00:59:06,120 --> 00:59:09,200 Speaker 1: the country realizes that he heally had been the father 956 00:59:09,280 --> 00:59:12,800 Speaker 1: of the country, that he really was first in their hearts, 957 00:59:13,640 --> 00:59:17,640 Speaker 1: and that he was the symbol of what a free 958 00:59:17,680 --> 00:59:20,000 Speaker 1: society was supposed to be, which is why our national 959 00:59:20,040 --> 00:59:22,760 Speaker 1: capital is named for him, and why the Washington Monument 960 00:59:22,880 --> 00:59:27,120 Speaker 1: stands there as a memorial to a man who had 961 00:59:27,160 --> 00:59:31,680 Speaker 1: literally created the modern system of freedom under the rule 962 00:59:31,680 --> 00:59:34,880 Speaker 1: of law that we've come to take for granted. So 963 00:59:35,520 --> 00:59:38,240 Speaker 1: when you look around the world and you see countries failing, 964 00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:41,840 Speaker 1: you see people who are in desperate trouble, you see 965 00:59:42,120 --> 00:59:45,320 Speaker 1: places where the rule of law doesn't exist, you look 966 00:59:45,360 --> 00:59:50,919 Speaker 1: at kleptocracy, corruption, dictatorship, it's really important to remember that 967 00:59:50,960 --> 00:59:54,040 Speaker 1: the United States could have been that kind of country. 968 00:59:54,720 --> 00:59:57,240 Speaker 1: It still cos them to be that kind of country, 969 00:59:57,400 --> 01:00:02,000 Speaker 1: but that people can make an enormal difference. The founding 970 01:00:02,040 --> 01:00:05,439 Speaker 1: fathers collectively and by their commitment to the rule of law, 971 01:00:05,480 --> 01:00:09,600 Speaker 1: to the Constitution, made that difference. And the person who 972 01:00:09,680 --> 01:00:14,080 Speaker 1: was indispensable, who really surmounted all of the others, they 973 01:00:14,120 --> 01:00:17,120 Speaker 1: all looked up to him, they all followed his judgment. 974 01:00:17,640 --> 01:00:21,640 Speaker 1: Who was President Washington, first as a general, then as president, 975 01:00:22,240 --> 01:00:26,560 Speaker 1: but above all as a human being. Washington personified the 976 01:00:26,680 --> 01:00:30,840 Speaker 1: kind of dignified patriotism that was at the heart of 977 01:00:30,840 --> 01:00:35,480 Speaker 1: the rule of law. Each of us can learn from Washington. 978 01:00:35,840 --> 01:00:40,600 Speaker 1: Each of us can learn about freedom, about discipline, about persistence. 979 01:00:41,320 --> 01:00:45,240 Speaker 1: Each of us can come to understand why he loved 980 01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:47,720 Speaker 1: America so much and why he loved freedom so much. 981 01:00:48,360 --> 01:00:52,000 Speaker 1: And then we can teach others that anybody anywhere on 982 01:00:52,000 --> 01:00:55,280 Speaker 1: the planet can learn to be free, can learn to 983 01:00:55,320 --> 01:00:58,160 Speaker 1: live under the rule of law, can learn to pursue happiness. 984 01:00:58,720 --> 01:01:02,360 Speaker 1: And Washington, in that sense, is a person for all 985 01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:06,040 Speaker 1: of humanity, not just America, and a person for all time, 986 01:01:06,560 --> 01:01:15,680 Speaker 1: not just the eighteenth century. I want to thank my 987 01:01:15,800 --> 01:01:19,880 Speaker 1: longtime writing partner and fellow George Washington historian Bill Fortune. 988 01:01:20,040 --> 01:01:22,760 Speaker 1: I also want to thank the Fred W. Smith National 989 01:01:22,840 --> 01:01:25,920 Speaker 1: Library for the study of George Washington at Mount Vernon, 990 01:01:26,160 --> 01:01:28,320 Speaker 1: and frankly, the person who did more than anybody else 991 01:01:28,360 --> 01:01:32,600 Speaker 1: to create that library, Gay Gaines. Thank you for listening 992 01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:36,560 Speaker 1: to founding Father's Week on Newtsworld. You can learn more 993 01:01:36,560 --> 01:01:41,000 Speaker 1: about George Washington on our show page at newtsworld dot com. 994 01:01:41,360 --> 01:01:45,280 Speaker 1: Newtsworld is produced by Gingwish three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our 995 01:01:45,320 --> 01:01:50,360 Speaker 1: executive producer is Guernsey Sloan and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 996 01:01:50,920 --> 01:01:54,040 Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. 997 01:01:54,960 --> 01:01:58,680 Speaker 1: Special thanks the team at Gingwish three sixty. If you've 998 01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:01,560 Speaker 1: been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast 999 01:02:01,960 --> 01:02:04,720 Speaker 1: and both rate us with five stars and give us 1000 01:02:04,760 --> 01:02:07,400 Speaker 1: a review so others come learn what it's all about. 1001 01:02:08,120 --> 01:02:11,240 Speaker 1: Right now, listeners, A New World consigner for my three 1002 01:02:11,480 --> 01:02:16,200 Speaker 1: free weekly columns at Ginrish three sixty dot com slash newsletter. 1003 01:02:16,720 --> 01:02:19,040 Speaker 1: I'm new Gingrich. This is news World.