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:It is May 8, 1776. In Philadelphia, the
weather is swelteringly hot and humid and as the Second continental
Congress proceeds through its business, John Adams, the representative
from Massachusetts, is vigorously complaining about congressional
inaction on his proposals for Independence. He lists various grievances
against King George III and urges a yes" vote on Independence. The other
delegates, irritated by his constant arguments, yell at him to sit down
("For God's Sake, John, Sit Down"). Adams complains that Congress has
accomplished nothing even though the delegates have been meeting for
over a year ("Piddle, Twiddle"). (During his song, two delegates prove
his point by arguing the merits of a petition for compensation for a
dead mule.) Frustrated by the seemingly insurmountable Congressional
lassitude, Adams flees the chamber and as he stands outside the hall, he
reads a letter from his wife, Abigail. She asks him to finish his
business in Philadelphia and return home to her and their sick children.
As if his imagination has brought her before him, John asks Abagail if
she has organized the women of Boston to make saltpeter (a substance
needed for making gunpowder). She tells him, first of all, he hasn't
told her how to make saltpeter and, second, the women won't make it
until he procures dressmaker's pins for them. They end their
conversation by pledging themselves to each other ("Till Then") as
Abigail disappears. The delegates again tell Adams to sit down and be
quiet. He goes off to find Benjamin Franklin.
Adams finds Franklin having his portrait
painted. After Adams complains that his arguments for Independence have
not prevailed, Franklin reminds him no colony has ever broken away from
its parent country before. He also reminds Adams that he is obnoxious
and disliked by the Congress and perhaps Independence might be accepted
if someone else proposes it - someone neither obnoxious nor disliked.
Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, enters. Franklin, who had
sent for Lee, again suggests someone other than Adams should propose
Independence. Lee offers to get a proposal from the Virginia legislature
himself. When Adams questions Lee's ability to accomplish this, Lee
explains that his family history makes him the perfect person for the
job ("The Lees of Old Virginia").
On June 7, 1776, Dr. Lyman Hall, a new delegate
from Georgia, arrives in the Congressional Chamber and is greeted by
McNair, the Congressional custodian. McNair introduces him to the
entering delegates, each of whom asks about Georgia's stand on
Independence. He informs them he believes himself free to keep his
personal convictions - personal. Franklin, who suffers from gout, enters
limping and is soon followed by Adams. Adams, who has been silent in
Congress while waiting for Lee to return with the resolution from the
Virginia legislature, is teased by the other delegates as John Hancock,
the President of the Congress, and Charles Thomson, the Secretary to the
Congress, take their places. Hancock gavels the 380th meeting of the
Congress to order. His first order of business closes off the stores of
rum to Stephen Hopkins, delegate from Rhode Island, and introduces Hall
to the other delegates. When Thomson notes all members are present
except for the New Jersey delegation, Hancock asks Franklin if he knows
the reason for their absence. Franklin, whose son William is the royal
governor of New Jersey, informs the Congress he and his son have stopped
communicating due to their differences over Independence. Hancock next
asks Thomas Jefferson for the weather report. After reporting the
temperature is 87 very humid degrees, he announces he is leaving that
night for home.
A courier enters and gives Thomson a communiqué
from George Washington, the commander of the Army of the United
Colonies. Washington's letter speaks of his fear that his exhausted and
under-equipped troops will be unable to stop a large force of British
soldiers from attacking New York. If the attack is successful and if New
York is captured, New England will be separated from the other colonies.
Colonel Thomas McKean, a delegate from Delaware, complains that
Washington's letters are always gloomy and depressing. Hancock asks for
new resolutions and as Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire reads a
resolution discouraging extravagance, Richard Henry Lee strides into the
chamber. Lee reads the resolution for Independence and it is seconded by
Adams. As Hancock calls for debate on the resolution, John Dickinson of
Pennsylvania makes a motion to indefinitely postpone the question of
Independence. The motion is seconded by George Read of Delaware and the
entire Congress votes on Dickinson's motion. New York abstains; New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware and Virginia vote to
begin debate, while Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Maryland and Georgia vote to postpone debate, leaving the deciding vote
to Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, who is out of the hall. He returns
in time to vote for debating the question of Independence. The debate
opens and the most vocal delegates state their positions: Dickinson is
in favor of petitioning King George III on the colonists' grievances and
he is against cutting ties to England through revolt and revolution.
Adams and Franklin argue that England has not granted the colonists the
full rights of Englishmen and it is too late to reconcile with England;
it is a full year since the battles of Lexington and Concord. The
delegates from North and South Carolina worry about the power of the
individual colonies in any new federation.
As the argument between Dickinson and Adams
grows more heated, Caesar Rodney of Delaware, who suffers from cancer,
collapses. Col. McKean offers to take him back home. Seeing that the
voting majority will go his way, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina moves
to vote on Independence. To stall the motion, Franklin asks that the
resolution be read aloud again. As Thomson is reading it, the New Jersey
delegation, led by Rev. John Witherspoon, arrives. Witherspoon informs
Congress the new New Jersey delegation has been authorized to vote for
Independence. Now it looks like the vote will be six for Independence,
six against (with New York abstaining, as usual) and Adams reminds
Hancock that the President of the Congress has the deciding vote in all
ties. Dickinson, worried the resolution might pass, moves that any vote
for Independence must be passed unanimously. His motion is seconded; the
vote produces a tie, which Hancock breaks by voting for a unanimous
decision. The vote for Independence is called again. Adams now calls for
a postponement for time to write a declaration defining the reasons for
Independence. This motion is seconded; the vote produces another tie,
which Hancock breaks by voting for the postponement. He chooses Adams,
Franklin, Lee, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Robert Livingston of New
York to write the declaration, announcing it must be written, debated
and passed by the beginning of July - three weeks away. Lee declines and
Hancock appoints Jefferson in his place. Hancock adjourns the session as
Jefferson complains he must go home to visit his wife.
The Declaration Committee argues about who
should write it ("But, Mr. Adams"). Franklin suggests Adams should do
it. Adams declines, saying he is too disliked by the other delegates.
Adams suggests Franklin write it. Franklin declines, saying he is more
skilled writing lighter material. Adams turns next to Sherman, who
declines by saying he is not a writer at all. Livingston declines,
saying he must return to New York to visit his wife and newborn son.
Adams turns finally to Jefferson, who tries to decline by saying that he
intends to visit his wife in Virginia. Adams praises Jefferson's writing
and quotes his earlier essay, "The Necessity for Taking Up Arms." When
Jefferson still tries to decline, Adams threatens to use physical force
on him, and he thrusts a quill pen in Jefferson's hand. Adams and the
others leave as Jefferson walks back to his quarters with the pen
When Adams and Franklin visit Jefferson a week
later to check on his progress, they find him depressed and surrounded
by crumpled pieces of paper - lonely, depressed and uninspired, he has
made no progress. Jefferson's wife, Martha, has been sent for by Adams
and she now enters. Adams and Franklin leave the room as Jefferson and
Martha embrace.
The Jeffersons stay locked in the room all day
and into the night. Adams exchanges letters with his wife, Abigail. She
asks why he hasn't sent for her. When he asks her to come to
Philadelphia, she tells him she can't, their children have the measles.
They speak of their love and promise to see each other soon ("Yours,
Yours, Yours").
When Martha
finally opens the shutters, Adams and Franklin ask her how a man as
quiet as Jefferson won her love. She tells them she loves his violin
playing ("He Plays the Violin"). Jefferson enters as Martha, Adams and
Franklin are dancing. Jefferson takes Martha back to his room as
Franklin and Adams salute the greatness of the fiddler.
It is now
June 22nd and the Congress is back in session. Delegates read, talk, eat
and sleep in the chamber as various committees are formed to deal with
Congressional correspondence, counterfeit money, military defeat in
Canada and secrets. Adams argues with Chase as the courier enters with a
message from General Washington. He reports on the poor state of his
troops and asks the Congress to send a War Committee to New Jersey to
boost morale. As the War Committee (Adams, Franklin and Chase) leave for
New Jersey, the other delegates in favor of Independence also leave.
Dickinson and the Conservatives dance a minuet and sing of their caution
and desire to hold onto their wealth ("Cool, Cool Considerate Men") as
the courier delivers another message from Washington: the British have
taken control of New York Harbor and he fears they may next move on to
Philadelphia.
The delegates
all depart, leaving McNair, the Courier and a workman in the chamber.
When the workman asks the Courier, who is from Massachusetts, if he's
seen any fighting, the Courier tells them about his two best friends who
were killed on the same day ("Momma, Look Sharp").
Jefferson is
waiting outside the chamber as Hancock orders Thomson to read the
declaration. Adams and Franklin approach Jefferson and congratulate him
on the excellence of the document. Franklin compares the creation of the
new country to an egg, which leads the trio to discuss which bird should
be the symbol for America ("The Egg"). After considering the dove
(Jefferson's choice) and the turkey (Franklin's choice), they settle on
the eagle (Adams's choice).
Thomas
Jefferson completes his reading of the Declaration of Independence as
the Congress is in session on June 28th; Hancock asks if any delegates
want to offer amendments, deletions or alterations to it. McKean
suggests the removal of the word "Scottish" from a sentence referring to
the foreign mercenaries used by the British. Reverend Witherspoon
suggests the addition of a reference to "Divine Providence." The debate
over the changes gets more heated as the days pass: Bartlett wants to
confine the complaints against the British to disagreements with King
George III, while Sherman wants to remove all mention of Parliament.
Jefferson agrees to all these changes, but when Dickinson wants him to
remove a reference to King George III as a tyrant, Jefferson refuses. As
Hancock is about to call for a vote on the Declaration, Rutledge objects
to Jefferson's denunciation of slavery and the slave trade in his list
of complaints against King George III. Rutledge defends slavery as a way
of life in South Carolina and affirms his belief that slaves are
property and not people. He also pointedly mentions that Jefferson
himself is a slave-holder. Jefferson announces he has decided to free
his slaves, as Hopkins also denounces the slave trade. Rutledge accuses
the northern colonies of hypocrisy and describes how northern shippers
and merchants get rich on the slave trade ("Molasses to Rum"). Rutledge,
Hewes of North Carolina and Hall of Georgia angrily leave the chamber.
Without the south, the Declaration cannot be adopted.
Chase enters
the congressional chamber and happily reports that the Maryland Assembly
has approved the Virginia resolution as Dickinson and four other
delegates leave the chamber. Faced with almost certain defeat, Adams
desperately tries to rally his forces. He sends McKean to Delaware to
bring back the ailing Rodney. Franklin then insists that Adams agree to
the removal of the slavery clause in order to get the votes of the
Carolinas and Georgia. Adams calls to his wife for help and advice. As
they speak, McNair delivers two kegs of saltpeter made by Abigail and
the women of Boston ("Compliments"). Adams, his faith in the cause
renewed, tells Jefferson and Franklin to talk to all the wavering
delegates - they must get every vote. Thomson reads a message from a
discouraged Washington asking for a reply to his last 15 messages. He
and Hancock leave Adams alone in the chamber. Adams looks at the
dispatch from Washington which warns of impending doom and disaster.
Deterred but determined Adams gives voice to his vision of the new
country ("Is Anybody There?").
Hall
re-enters the chamber and tells Adams he has decided to vote for
Independence. The other delegates, including Caesar Rodney, return and
Hancock calls for the vote on the Virginia resolution. The delegates are
silent as Thomson calls on each for his vote. New York abstains and
Pennsylvania passes on the first call, but all the other northern and
middle colonies vote "Yea." When South Carolina is called, Rutledge
demands the removal of the slavery clause as the condition for the votes
of South and North Carolina. Franklin again implores Adams to agree to
the removal. Adams asks for Jefferson's opinion and Jefferson removes
the clause, scratching it out himself. South Carolina, North Carolina
and Georgia vote "Yea." When Pennsylvania's vote is called again, the
three delegates are unable to agree, so Franklin asks Hancock to poll
each of them. Franklin votes "Yea" and Dickinson votes "Nay," leaving
the deciding vote to Wilson, who usually votes whichever way Dickinson
does. This time, however, worried his name will go down in history as
the man who prevented American Independence, he votes "Yea." Hancock
asks that only those who sign their names to the Declaration of
Independence be allowed to sit in the Congress. Dickinson, still hoping
for a reconciliation with England, announces he cannot in good
conscience sign the Declaration, but tells the Congress he will join the
Army and fight to protect the new country. Adams leads the Congress in a
salute to Dickinson as he leaves the chamber.
As Hancock
leads the delegates in signing the Declaration, the Courier enters with
another dispatch from Washington. It reports that preparations are
almost complete for the battle of New York, simultaneously expressing
worry about America's badly outnumbered and under trained troops.
On the
evening of July 4, 1776, the Liberty Bell rings in the background as
Thomson calls each of the delegates to sign their names to the
Declaration of Independence. |
