1776 Page #6

How's that?

We will more than

compensate with spirit.

I tell you, there is a spirit

out there among the people

that is sadly lacking

in this Congress.

Yes, of course.

Now it's spirit.

Well, why didn't

I think of that?

No army, no navy,

no arms, no ammunition,

no treasury, no friends,

but, bless our soul, spirit.

Mr. Lee, Mr. Hopkins,

Mr. Rodney, Colonel McKean,

Dr. Franklin.

Why have you joined

this incendiary little man,

this Boston radical,

this agitator,

this demagogue,

this madman?

Are you calling me

a madman, you...

You fribble!

You and your

Pennsylvania proprietors,

oh, you cool, considerate men,

you hang to the rear

on every issue,

so that if we should go under,

you'll still remain afloat.

Are you calling me a coward?

Yes. Coward!

Madman!

Landlord!

Lawyer!

Stop it! Stop it!

This is the Congress.

Stop it, I say!

The enemy's out there.

No, Mr. Rodney,

the enemy is here.

No. I say he's out there.

England.

England closing in,

cutting off our air.

There's no time!

No air.

Dr. Hall.

Colonel McKean.

Aye. It's the cancer.

But he should go home.

A man should die in his own bed.

John. John Adams.

I'm here, Caesar.

I leave you

a divided Delaware.

Forgive me.

I'll take you home, Caesar.

I'll be back within the week.

Mr. President, South

Carolina calls the question.

What's that, Mr. Rutledge?

I said, Mr. President,

South Carolina desires

to end the debate

and calls the question

of independence.

Delaware seconds.

Thank you.

Gentlemen, please!

The question has been

called and seconded.

The secretary

will record the vote.

Franklin, do something.

Think.

I'm thinking,

but nothing's coming.

All those in favor of the

resolution on independence

as proposed by the colony of

Virginia, signify by saying...

Mr. Secretary.

Will you please read

the resolution again?

What?

I've forgotten it.

Now, Benjamin...

"Resolved, that these

united colonies are,

"and of a right ought to be,

free and independent..."

Excuse me. Is this

the Continental Congress?

Yes, I can see that it must be.

It's all right.

We found it.

We've been looking for

you everywhere, you see.

Someone told us that you

might be at Carpenters' Hall

and someone else suggested

Library Hall, and...

So, finally,

we asked a constable...

Excuse me, sir,

but, if you don't mind, the

Congress is about to decide

the question of

American independence.

Oh, how splendid. That

means we're not too late.

These gentlemen are

Mr. Francis Hopkinson,

Mr. Richard Stockton, and I'm

the Reverend John Witherspoon.

We're the new delegates

from New Jersey.

New Jersey?

Dr. Franklin,

I regret that I must be the

bearer of unhappy tidings, sir,

but your son, the royal

governor of New Jersey,

has been taken prisoner

and has been moved under guard to the

colony of Connecticut for safekeeping.

Is he unharmed, sir?

When last I heard,

he was. Yes, sir.

Well, then why the long face?

I hear Connecticut

is an excellent location.

Tell me. Why did they

arrest the little bastard?

Our, uh...

New Jersey legislature has recalled

the old delegation to this Congress

and has sent a new one.

Quickly, man, where do you

stand on independence?

Well, haven't I made that clear?

No.

Well, I suppose I haven't.

But that's the reason

for the change.

See, we've been instructed

to vote for independence.

Mr. President!

Massachusetts is now ready

for the vote on independence,

and reminds the chair

of its privilege

to decide all votes

that are deadlocked.

I won't forget, Mr. Adams.

The chair takes this opportunity

to welcome

the New Jersey delegation

and appoints the Reverend

Witherspoon congressional chaplain

if he will accept the post.

With much pleasure, sir.

Very well.

Mr. Thomson,

you may now proceed with

the vote on independence.

All in favor of the

resolution on independence

as proposed by the colony of

Virginia, signify by saying...

Mr. President.

Pennsylvania moves that any

vote in favor of independence

must be unanimous.

What?

I second the motion.

Judge Wilson!

Oh, my God.

Delaware seconds,

Mr. President.

No vote has ever had to be unanimous,

Dickinson, and you know it.

Yes, but this one must be.

On what grounds?

That no colony be torn from its mother

country without its own consent.

Hear! Hear!

But it will never be

unanimous, damn it.

If you say so, Mr. Adams.

It has been moved and seconded

that the vote on independence

must be unanimous

in order to carry.

All those in favor,

signify by saying yea.

Yea!

One, two, three,

four, five, six.

Six colonies say yea.

Against?

Nay!

One, two, three,

four, five, six.

Six colonies say nay.

Mr. Secretary, New York

abstains courteously.

Mr. Morris, why does New

York constantly abstain?

Why doesn't New York

simply stay in New York?

Very well.

The vote is tied.

The principles of independence

have no greater

advocate in Congress

than its president.

That is why I must join those

who vote for unanimity.

Good God, John! What are you doing?

You've sunk us.

Now, hear me out.

Don't you see that any colony

who opposes independence

will be forced to fight

on the side of England?

That we'll be setting

brother against brother,

that our new nation will carry

as its emblem the mark of Cain.

I can see no other way.

Either we all walk together, or

together we must stay where we are.

The man's from Massachusetts.

Very well.

Proceed, Mr. Thomson.

A unanimous vote

being necessary to carry,

if any be opposed to the

resolution on independence

as proposed by the colony

of Virginia, signify by...

Mr. President.

Oh, for heaven's sake,

let me get through it once.

Mr. President.

I move for a postponement.

Postponement?

I wish you the same

luck I had with it.

Mr. Adams is right.

We need a postponement.

On what grounds?

Mr. President, how can this

Congress vote on independence

without a written declaration

of some sort defining it?

What sort of declaration?

Ah, well, you know, listing the

reasons for the separation,

our purposes, goals,

so forth, so on.

Ditto, Ditto.

Ditto, ditto,

et cetera, et cetera.

We know those, don't we?

Oh, yes, good God, we know them,

but what about

the rest of the world?

Certainly we require

the assistance

of a powerful nation

such as France or Spain.

And such a written declaration

would be consistent

with European delicacy.

Come now, Mr. Adams. You'll

have to do better than that.

Answer straight.

What would be its purpose?

Yes. Well...

To place before mankind the

common sense of the subject

in terms so plain and firm

as to command their assent.

Mr. Jefferson,

are you seriously suggesting

that we publish a paper

declaring to all the world

that an illegal rebellion

is, in reality, a legal one?

Mr. Dickinson,

I'm surprised at you.

You should know that rebellion is

always legal in the first person,

such as "our rebellion."

It's only in the third person,

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