1
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♪♪♪

2
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‐ Turn and run, you cowards!

3
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[ explosion ]

4
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♪♪♪

5
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‐ Washington is,
without question,

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the greatest hero and leader
in American history,

7
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but he's a stranger.

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‐ I, George Washington,
do solemnly swear...

9
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‐ People see him more
as a monument than a person.

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But you can't understand him

11
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unless you acknowledge
that he was human.

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‐ That I will faithfully
execute the office

13
00:00:36,870 --> 00:00:39,370
of President
of the United States.

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‐ And when we understand
the man behind the myth,

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it actually becomes empowering
and inspiring for us,

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because he's not as distant.

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‐ Long live George Washington,
President of the United States.

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‐ When I look at Washington,
I see a leader.

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‐ He could have been king,
but that was not him.

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He wasn't interested in power.
He had power.

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‐ The world has never seen
the last stage of perfection

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to which human nature
is capable of attaining.

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‐ Hear, hear!
‐ [ cheering ]

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‐ I see a man who gave himself
to service.

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‐ We must give them something to
fight for, something inspiring.

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‐ Something happened
to Washington

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that made him think...
"I have to do this."

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‐ I see a husband.
‐ It is exquisite.

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‐ And I see a slaveholder.

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‐ American history
is not a fairy tale,

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so I think it's a mistake
to think of him

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as entirely virtuous.

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‐ If we truly want to know
that man,

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then we have to look
at everything, warts and all.

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[ explosions ]

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‐ Washington's not
a frozen image.

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He changes from moment to moment
in his life.

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He evolves.

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♪♪♪

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‐ Despite all his flaws,
Washington was the one man

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that made this country possible.

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♪♪♪

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‐ What makes this a nation?

44
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Two things‐‐the Constitution
and George Washington.

45
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♪♪♪

46
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‐ Washington was not born great.

47
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He took a journey
toward greatness.

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♪♪♪

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[ thunder rumbling ]

50
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♪♪♪

51
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[ birds chirping ]

52
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[ horse whinnies ]

53
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[ indistinct chatter ]

54
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‐ Keep moving.

55
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We march through the night
if necessary.

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♪♪♪

57
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[ horse nickers ]

58
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‐ In 1754, the man who will
one day become

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the father of his country
is an American colonist

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wearing British red.

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He's in command
for the first time

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on a mission to serve his king,
George II.

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‐ Lieutenant Colonel Washington,
sir. Over the ridge,

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the Half King and his men, sir.
‐ Good work. Fall in line.

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♪♪♪

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‐ Washington is the colonel
of Virginia Regiment by age 22.

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He hasn't led men in battle
at all.

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He has no experience.

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♪♪♪

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‐ Washington's here to help
the British Empire

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defend its claim
on a strategic piece

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of the frontier.

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The forks
where three rivers meet

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will one day be called
Pittsburgh,

75
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but now the Ohio country
is land claimed

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by both Britain and France,

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and the native nations
who live there.

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♪♪♪

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‐ There are many different
tribes in this area.

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There's a very complicated
political alignment

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between various tribes
and between the French

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and the‐‐and the British.

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‐ They wanted traders to come in
because traders brought

84
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lots of things that Indian
people wanted and needed.

85
00:04:01,408 --> 00:04:03,448
But what Indian people
in the Ohio country wanted

86
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was to preserve
their own independence,

87
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and they wanted to preserve
their own land.

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[ horse whinnies ]
‐ And to assure

89
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their own control of the region,
it's always better

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to be able to play off
the different European nations

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against each other.

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‐ Washington's goal is to reach
the forks before the French do

93
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and convince them to leave
the Ohio country peacefully.

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But in this land
of shifting alliances,

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his only chance to succeed
is to secure the help

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of the Half King, an ambassador
of the six Iroquois nations,

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who at this point
is a friend to Britain.

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‐ The Half King is
an accomplished warrior,

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and he's now a statesman
and a diplomat.

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This was his world,

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and Washington was coming
into it.

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‐ You English are welcome here.

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‐ We have pushed on
for many miles.

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My men need rest.

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‐ Get them water.

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We have meat.

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‐ Thank you.

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We received word
on our way here‐‐

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the French have beaten us
to the forks.

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They're already underway.

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‐ They are much closer.
‐ Closer?

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‐ A few miles. I will show you.

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‐ How well armed are they?

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Have they made clear
their intentions?

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‐ These French,
they have bad hearts.

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They are here to fight.
‐ What makes you say‐‐

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‐ You wait,
and the French may come first.

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Then...

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my people will not help you.

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‐ We have endured
a grueling march.

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My men need rest.

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If it is as you say, I will
choose a course of action.

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‐ Only a handful
of non‐Indian guys

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knew enough to negotiate
the treacherous waters

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of Indian politics
and international politics

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in the Ohio country,

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and George Washington
was not one of them.

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‐ You will lead us to them.

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‐ We know the place.

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♪♪♪

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‐ Washington is trying to make
a career for himself

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in the military,

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and he feels like if he fails
on this mission

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that his career is over.

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‐ As a young man, 21, 22,
he really wanted

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to earn a name for himself.

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‐ To understand where

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George Washington's
intense ambition comes from,

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it's really helpful to look
at his family history.

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‐ Our Father, which art in
Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

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Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,

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on Earth
as it is in Heaven.

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♪♪♪

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‐ The adversity for him begins
with the death of his father.

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[ muttered prayers ]

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‐ He was 11 years old.

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He's now the head
of his household,

148
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and so George is supposed to be
educated in London

149
00:07:02,714 --> 00:07:04,924
like his two
older half‐brothers.

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That's not happening anymore.

151
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[ thunder rumbles ]

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‐ Washington as a young man
is sort of second‐tier gentry.

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He's not one of the great,
wealthy families of Virginia.

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‐ He was very sensitive
about the fact

155
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that he didn't have
advanced schooling.

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[ thunder rumbles ]

157
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‐ The education
of George Washington

158
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was experience
rather than schooling.

159
00:07:33,370 --> 00:07:35,960
John Adams went to Harvard.

160
00:07:35,955 --> 00:07:37,825
Thomas Jefferson
went to William and Mary.

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00:07:37,832 --> 00:07:39,632
George Washington
went to war.

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♪♪♪

163
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♪♪♪

164
00:08:08,029 --> 00:08:10,989
[ laughter, chatter ]

165
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‐ There must be 20.

166
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‐ 32.

167
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‐ We do outnumber them.

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‐ They do not know we're here.

169
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Surprise is ours.

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‐ My order‐‐
‐ This is no time for waiting.

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You must see it.

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‐ I see the opportunity.

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♪♪♪

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‐ This is
his first major command.

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He doesn't really know
what he's doing,

176
00:08:48,862 --> 00:08:51,872
but he does not want to go
back to Virginia empty‐handed.

177
00:08:51,865 --> 00:08:53,655
‐ No war has yet been declared

178
00:08:53,658 --> 00:08:55,738
between France
and Great Britain,

179
00:08:55,744 --> 00:08:58,464
but all it's going to take
is one spark

180
00:08:58,455 --> 00:09:00,115
to set the tinderbox alight.

181
00:09:00,123 --> 00:09:01,253
‐ I will give the command.

182
00:09:01,249 --> 00:09:09,549
♪♪♪

183
00:09:09,549 --> 00:09:11,049
‐ Fire!

184
00:09:11,051 --> 00:09:12,721
‐ [ shouting ]

185
00:09:12,719 --> 00:09:18,389
‐ [ whooping ]

186
00:09:18,391 --> 00:09:19,391
‐ Charge!

187
00:09:19,392 --> 00:09:22,062
‐ [ men yelling ]

188
00:09:22,062 --> 00:09:32,112
♪♪♪

189
00:09:32,113 --> 00:09:37,583
♪♪♪

190
00:09:37,577 --> 00:09:40,247
‐ Washington almost immediately
loses control.

191
00:09:40,246 --> 00:09:41,366
He's become a spectator.

192
00:09:43,583 --> 00:09:49,303
‐ [ man shouting in French ]

193
00:09:49,297 --> 00:09:50,297
‐ Stop! Do not shoot!

194
00:09:52,550 --> 00:09:54,300
[ thud ]

195
00:09:57,097 --> 00:09:58,847
[ man yelling in distance ]

196
00:10:04,312 --> 00:10:06,022
‐ Aah!

197
00:10:06,022 --> 00:10:09,982
[ screaming ]

198
00:10:09,984 --> 00:10:11,494
‐ [ whoop ]

199
00:10:14,114 --> 00:10:18,834
‐ This is the moment that causes
the French and Indian War.

200
00:10:18,827 --> 00:10:22,457
This is the war that led
to the American Revolution.

201
00:10:22,455 --> 00:10:28,375
♪♪♪

202
00:10:41,641 --> 00:10:44,941
‐ When the Half King
kills Jumonville,

203
00:10:44,936 --> 00:10:48,016
the French commander,
in front of his eyes,

204
00:10:48,022 --> 00:10:49,982
what had looked like a victory

205
00:10:49,983 --> 00:10:53,743
now looks like a tragic fiasco.

206
00:10:53,736 --> 00:10:57,736
‐ Jumonville's mission
was the same as Washington's‐‐

207
00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:01,080
send a message
to the competition

208
00:11:01,077 --> 00:11:04,407
to clear out
of the Ohio country.

209
00:11:04,414 --> 00:11:08,174
‐ The letter that the French
are trying to deliver claimed

210
00:11:08,168 --> 00:11:10,248
that they were actually
a diplomatic party

211
00:11:10,253 --> 00:11:12,343
delivering a message

212
00:11:12,338 --> 00:11:14,668
to the British governor
of Virginia.

213
00:11:14,674 --> 00:11:18,344
So Washington essentially
attacked a diplomatic party.

214
00:11:18,344 --> 00:11:21,854
‐ Take the survivors
as prisoners.

215
00:11:21,848 --> 00:11:24,308
Treat them fairly.

216
00:11:24,309 --> 00:11:28,019
For it's time we departed.

217
00:11:28,021 --> 00:11:31,021
‐ [ whoop ]

218
00:11:31,024 --> 00:11:33,234
‐ This is an era
that's very strict

219
00:11:33,234 --> 00:11:35,824
about following the rules
of warfare.

220
00:11:35,820 --> 00:11:38,990
George Washington's just
breached those rules.

221
00:11:38,990 --> 00:11:42,370
It's one of the most shocking
moments of his life‐‐

222
00:11:42,368 --> 00:11:49,998
a moment where he could get
in very big trouble indeed.

223
00:11:50,001 --> 00:11:51,501
‐ [ whooping ]

224
00:11:56,466 --> 00:12:00,216
[ whooping in distance ]

225
00:12:06,809 --> 00:12:08,559
‐ "Honorable sir.

226
00:12:08,561 --> 00:12:11,651
"I shall begin with assuring you
that nothing was farther

227
00:12:11,648 --> 00:12:13,398
from my intention..."

228
00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:15,189
‐ Washington wastes no time
scrambling

229
00:12:15,193 --> 00:12:17,453
to protect his reputation.

230
00:12:17,445 --> 00:12:18,735
On the day after the battle,

231
00:12:18,738 --> 00:12:22,278
he writes three separate letters
to his superior,

232
00:12:22,283 --> 00:12:26,583
Virginia Lieutenant Governor,
Robert Dinwiddie.

233
00:12:26,579 --> 00:12:29,869
‐ "These officers pretended
they were coming on an embassy,

234
00:12:29,874 --> 00:12:33,044
"but the absurdity
of this pretext is too glaring.

235
00:12:33,044 --> 00:12:35,134
They were sent as spies."

236
00:12:35,129 --> 00:12:39,089
‐ His first instinct
is to justify what he did,

237
00:12:39,092 --> 00:12:43,512
to suggest that it was
the Frenchman's fault

238
00:12:43,513 --> 00:12:46,773
not being clear that he was
on a diplomatic mission.

239
00:12:46,766 --> 00:12:50,016
‐ "The sense of the Half King
is they designed to come to us

240
00:12:50,019 --> 00:12:51,849
in a hostile manner."

241
00:12:51,854 --> 00:12:53,864
‐ "If the French prisoners
tell you any differently,

242
00:12:53,856 --> 00:12:56,436
don't believe them.
We had to do this."

243
00:12:56,442 --> 00:12:58,282
Then he follows up
almost immediately

244
00:12:58,278 --> 00:13:00,238
with another letter
to this effect.

245
00:13:00,238 --> 00:13:02,118
‐ "Since writing
the other letter,

246
00:13:02,115 --> 00:13:03,695
"I have
still stronger presumption,

247
00:13:03,700 --> 00:13:07,620
indeed, almost confirmation,
that they were sent as spies."

248
00:13:07,620 --> 00:13:10,330
♪♪♪

249
00:13:10,331 --> 00:13:11,711
‐ The notion is
this is a man who can't lie‐‐

250
00:13:11,708 --> 00:13:14,338
you know, Washington never lies.
Of course he lies.

251
00:13:14,335 --> 00:13:19,005
He's an ambitious young guy
who overreaches on occasion,

252
00:13:19,007 --> 00:13:21,217
and, um, he's lucky.

253
00:13:21,217 --> 00:13:23,007
Some of these things
could have derailed him.

254
00:13:23,011 --> 00:13:25,641
He's lucky that he didn't
get killed.

255
00:13:25,638 --> 00:13:27,638
‐ When he's young,
he's undisciplined,

256
00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:29,810
and he doesn't quite understand
the ways of the world,

257
00:13:29,809 --> 00:13:31,979
and so he writes letters
to Dinwiddie

258
00:13:31,978 --> 00:13:34,688
that he later
very much regrets.

259
00:13:34,689 --> 00:13:37,779
♪♪♪

260
00:13:37,775 --> 00:13:39,855
‐ Taking care
of your reputation‐‐

261
00:13:39,861 --> 00:13:42,661
for Washington,
that was exceedingly important.

262
00:13:42,655 --> 00:13:46,825
‐ Washington wants to live up
to the values instilled in him

263
00:13:46,826 --> 00:13:51,826
as a young boy growing up
on a Virginia tobacco farm.

264
00:13:51,831 --> 00:13:55,381
‐ George Washington,
like Barack Obama,

265
00:13:55,376 --> 00:13:59,916
like Gerald Ford,
was raised by a single mother,

266
00:13:59,922 --> 00:14:02,682
and that's often overlooked
in how that impacted him.

267
00:14:05,470 --> 00:14:07,180
‐ Come on, George.

268
00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:10,180
‐ Yes, Mother, coming.

269
00:14:10,183 --> 00:14:12,733
♪♪♪

270
00:14:12,727 --> 00:14:15,517
‐ Mary Ball Washington
was a strong woman

271
00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:18,521
who was very focused,
very business‐like.

272
00:14:19,984 --> 00:14:23,204
‐ She was ambitious.
She was savvy.

273
00:14:23,196 --> 00:14:28,326
She managed her estate
very carefully.

274
00:14:28,326 --> 00:14:30,746
‐ Heaven knows how she handled
all of that, but she did.

275
00:14:30,745 --> 00:14:34,495
And she played such
an important role in his life

276
00:14:34,499 --> 00:14:36,459
to give him that structure
of character, of competence,

277
00:14:36,459 --> 00:14:38,799
and believing in yourself.

278
00:14:38,795 --> 00:14:41,415
‐ She passed to Washington

279
00:14:41,422 --> 00:14:44,182
a very kind
of a hard‐headed realism,

280
00:14:44,175 --> 00:14:46,965
teaching him
strict self‐discipline

281
00:14:46,969 --> 00:14:49,219
and being very tough
on himself.

282
00:14:49,222 --> 00:14:52,772
She doesn't give him time
to putter around

283
00:14:52,767 --> 00:14:56,437
and waste the years dreaming.

284
00:14:56,437 --> 00:14:57,767
‐ He learned pretty early

285
00:14:57,772 --> 00:14:59,982
he was gonna have
to depend upon himself.

286
00:14:59,982 --> 00:15:02,822
I think he wanted to separate
himself from his childhood,

287
00:15:02,819 --> 00:15:05,449
and he had the strength
of will to do it,

288
00:15:05,446 --> 00:15:09,616
partly because he saw what
it took his mother to survive.

289
00:15:09,617 --> 00:15:24,417
♪♪♪

290
00:15:24,423 --> 00:15:26,803
‐ Washington's pinned his hopes
on advancing

291
00:15:26,801 --> 00:15:28,931
up the ranks in the military,

292
00:15:28,928 --> 00:15:32,808
even though colonists can only
serve in the provincial forces

293
00:15:32,807 --> 00:15:35,597
and aren't eligible
for commissions.

294
00:15:35,601 --> 00:15:40,231
He's determined to become
a British officer.

295
00:15:40,231 --> 00:15:43,031
‐ Washington's trying to impress
his higher‐ups

296
00:15:43,025 --> 00:15:44,685
within the British Empire.

297
00:15:44,694 --> 00:15:46,454
He hopes it's gonna go on
up the chain

298
00:15:46,445 --> 00:15:48,775
and will reach powerful people
in London

299
00:15:48,781 --> 00:15:50,581
who will be impressed
with what he's doing.

300
00:15:50,575 --> 00:15:53,575
‐ But George Washington
recognizes

301
00:15:53,578 --> 00:15:56,458
that the showdown with
the French has only just begun.

302
00:15:56,455 --> 00:16:01,125
They're certainly not going
to take this defeat lying down.

303
00:16:01,127 --> 00:16:03,087
Fort Duquesne is not
that far away.

304
00:16:03,087 --> 00:16:07,297
He knows that there are hundreds
more French troops there,

305
00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:08,840
and they're going
to come after him.

306
00:16:08,843 --> 00:16:13,223
‐ As Washington prepares
for the counterattack,

307
00:16:13,222 --> 00:16:17,062
he's reinforced
by 100 British regulars,

308
00:16:17,059 --> 00:16:23,859
giving him a total of 400 men
to face the French revenge.

309
00:16:23,858 --> 00:16:27,278
‐ He builds a fort
that he names Fort Necessity

310
00:16:27,278 --> 00:16:31,568
to suit the desperation,
as he sees it, of the moment.

311
00:16:31,574 --> 00:16:38,504
♪♪♪

312
00:16:38,497 --> 00:16:41,077
‐ It's about 50 feet
in diameter.

313
00:16:41,083 --> 00:16:43,043
I mean, that's like the size
of your lawn.

314
00:16:43,044 --> 00:16:47,974
‐ He's put it
in the worst possible position.

315
00:16:47,965 --> 00:16:50,425
He has not cleared the field
of fire.

316
00:16:50,426 --> 00:16:52,386
♪♪♪

317
00:16:52,386 --> 00:16:55,136
The French
and their Native American allies

318
00:16:55,139 --> 00:17:00,019
will be able to fire down
into the fort with impunity.

319
00:17:00,019 --> 00:17:03,019
♪♪♪

320
00:17:03,022 --> 00:17:05,022
This is not really a fort.

321
00:17:05,024 --> 00:17:07,694
It looks much more like
a death trap.

322
00:17:07,693 --> 00:17:10,113
♪♪♪

323
00:17:10,112 --> 00:17:12,322
But he's still kind of cocky,

324
00:17:12,323 --> 00:17:16,123
despite everything
that he's gone through.

325
00:17:16,118 --> 00:17:19,208
And he's very confident
that he's going to succeed.

326
00:17:19,205 --> 00:17:23,415
‐ "I shall expect every hour
to be attacked

327
00:17:23,417 --> 00:17:27,877
"and by unequal numbers,
which I must withstand.

328
00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,260
Let them come what hour
they will."

329
00:17:30,258 --> 00:17:37,388
♪♪♪

330
00:17:41,894 --> 00:17:43,024
‐ Fire!

331
00:17:44,814 --> 00:17:46,904
And reload!

332
00:17:46,899 --> 00:17:49,689
Keep your positions!

333
00:17:49,694 --> 00:17:52,494
‐ When the ex‐French and
their Native allies strike...

334
00:17:52,488 --> 00:17:53,988
‐ Aah!

335
00:17:53,990 --> 00:17:56,830
‐ ...they hit
with overwhelming firepower.

336
00:17:56,826 --> 00:17:58,406
‐ Hold your line!

337
00:17:58,411 --> 00:17:59,501
‐ Aah!

338
00:17:59,495 --> 00:18:02,245
[ gunshots ]

339
00:18:02,248 --> 00:18:04,498
‐ Washington and his men
are essentially trapped.

340
00:18:04,500 --> 00:18:07,000
‐ Uhh!

341
00:18:07,003 --> 00:18:11,013
‐ The French have total control
over the situation.

342
00:18:11,007 --> 00:18:12,927
‐ And fire!

343
00:18:12,925 --> 00:18:14,465
Reload!

344
00:18:14,468 --> 00:18:16,638
‐ They're determined
to punish Washington...

345
00:18:16,637 --> 00:18:19,307
[ gunfire ]

346
00:18:19,307 --> 00:18:22,097
to embarrass him...

347
00:18:22,101 --> 00:18:23,811
and possibly to kill him.

348
00:18:23,811 --> 00:18:25,901
♪♪♪

349
00:18:28,649 --> 00:18:35,739
♪♪♪

350
00:18:35,740 --> 00:18:37,620
‐ Hold your line!

351
00:18:43,497 --> 00:18:53,007
♪♪♪

352
00:18:53,007 --> 00:18:54,627
‐ Fire!

353
00:18:54,634 --> 00:18:56,184
♪♪♪

354
00:18:56,177 --> 00:18:57,887
And reload!

355
00:18:57,887 --> 00:19:00,927
‐ Hours into an assault
by the French

356
00:19:00,931 --> 00:19:02,851
and their Native American
allies,

357
00:19:02,850 --> 00:19:05,690
22‐year‐old George Washington...

358
00:19:05,686 --> 00:19:07,436
‐ Keep your positions!

359
00:19:07,438 --> 00:19:10,728
‐ ...is confronting the cost
of his inexperience in command.

360
00:19:10,733 --> 00:19:11,903
[ gunshot ]
‐ Aah!

361
00:19:11,901 --> 00:19:15,201
‐ Hold your line!

362
00:19:15,196 --> 00:19:19,196
♪♪♪

363
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,330
Turn back and fight!

364
00:19:23,412 --> 00:19:24,962
‐ The men themselves,

365
00:19:24,955 --> 00:19:27,535
they have
no reputations to defend.

366
00:19:27,541 --> 00:19:30,421
So when it gets to a point
of crisis...

367
00:19:30,419 --> 00:19:32,549
[ gunshot ]

368
00:19:32,546 --> 00:19:33,706
...they're not going to
listen to him.

369
00:19:33,714 --> 00:19:34,594
♪♪♪

370
00:19:34,590 --> 00:19:35,840
‐ Hold your ground.

371
00:19:35,841 --> 00:19:37,341
Keep your position, soldier!

372
00:19:37,343 --> 00:19:39,433
♪♪♪

373
00:19:39,428 --> 00:19:41,098
[ gunshot ]
‐ Uhh!

374
00:19:41,097 --> 00:19:43,017
♪♪♪

375
00:19:43,015 --> 00:19:45,305
‐ The powder is wet.
Their guns are failing.

376
00:19:45,309 --> 00:19:48,519
[ gunfire continues ]
Another few minutes,

377
00:19:48,521 --> 00:19:50,441
and George Washington
would have been dead.

378
00:19:50,439 --> 00:19:53,729
[ gunfire continues ]

379
00:19:53,734 --> 00:19:57,284
And then all of a sudden,
there's an extraordinary

380
00:19:57,279 --> 00:19:59,279
fortuitous opportunity
to end that fight.

381
00:19:59,281 --> 00:20:02,451
[ gunshots ]

382
00:20:02,451 --> 00:20:04,291
‐ Hold your fire!

383
00:20:04,286 --> 00:20:07,746
‐ The chance for a parlay
to end this battle

384
00:20:07,748 --> 00:20:10,748
is a saving grace.

385
00:20:10,751 --> 00:20:20,801
♪♪♪

386
00:20:20,803 --> 00:20:30,233
♪♪♪

387
00:20:30,229 --> 00:20:33,939
‐ Well, the French don't want
the full‐fledged war.

388
00:20:33,941 --> 00:20:37,361
Allowing Washington
and his soldiers

389
00:20:37,361 --> 00:20:39,701
to live and to go back
to Virginia,

390
00:20:39,697 --> 00:20:42,197
having been embarrassed
by defeat,

391
00:20:42,199 --> 00:20:45,489
is the best possible result
of this confrontation.

392
00:20:51,459 --> 00:20:55,249
‐ While Washington
and his men survive,

393
00:20:55,254 --> 00:20:58,264
the price is signing
an official surrender.

394
00:20:58,257 --> 00:21:00,927
♪♪♪

395
00:21:00,926 --> 00:21:03,926
Washington doesn't speak French.

396
00:21:03,929 --> 00:21:06,599
‐ Read it to me.

397
00:21:08,350 --> 00:21:12,610
‐ "As our intention had never
been to trouble, uh...

398
00:21:12,605 --> 00:21:16,105
[ mutters ] "uh, the peace,
uh, between, uh,

399
00:21:16,108 --> 00:21:18,778
the peace and the good harmony
between the two princes..."

400
00:21:18,778 --> 00:21:21,318
‐ His translator is a Dutchman

401
00:21:21,322 --> 00:21:23,662
who speaks some French
and English,

402
00:21:23,657 --> 00:21:26,537
but not enough
to alert his commander

403
00:21:26,535 --> 00:21:28,905
to exactly what he's signing.

404
00:21:28,913 --> 00:21:31,213
‐ "But only to revenge
the killing,

405
00:21:31,207 --> 00:21:33,077
which has been done
on one of our officers."

406
00:21:36,670 --> 00:21:38,960
‐ The documents of surrender
demand

407
00:21:38,964 --> 00:21:41,014
that Washington confess

408
00:21:41,008 --> 00:21:45,348
that he has assassinated
Ensign Jumonville,

409
00:21:45,346 --> 00:21:47,136
to being a war criminal.

410
00:21:47,139 --> 00:21:51,439
‐ "We grant
the English commander to, uh,

411
00:21:51,435 --> 00:21:55,725
return with his garrisons
peaceably into his own country."

412
00:21:55,731 --> 00:21:59,901
♪♪♪

413
00:21:59,902 --> 00:22:01,322
‐ He's in over his head.

414
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,240
He never expected
that he would have to surrender,

415
00:22:05,241 --> 00:22:08,411
and so he's ill‐prepared
for that particular moment.

416
00:22:08,410 --> 00:22:10,410
‐ Take it.

417
00:22:10,412 --> 00:22:16,092
♪♪♪

418
00:22:16,085 --> 00:22:19,205
‐ Washington's name
at this point will be

419
00:22:19,213 --> 00:22:22,383
associated with ignominy
and embarrassment,

420
00:22:22,383 --> 00:22:27,223
not with grit, feats of
military accomplishment.

421
00:22:27,221 --> 00:22:40,691
♪♪♪

422
00:22:40,693 --> 00:22:43,573
‐ It will take months for
Washington to learn the truth

423
00:22:43,571 --> 00:22:46,031
about what he signed.

424
00:22:46,031 --> 00:22:47,991
In the meantime,
he's determined

425
00:22:47,992 --> 00:22:51,292
to make sure this defeat
doesn't threaten his dreams

426
00:22:51,287 --> 00:22:53,867
of becoming a British officer.

427
00:22:53,873 --> 00:22:56,043
♪♪♪

428
00:22:56,041 --> 00:22:57,381
‐ Washington writes an account

429
00:22:57,376 --> 00:23:00,166
that appears
in the colonial newspapers,

430
00:23:00,170 --> 00:23:01,510
and in that whole account,

431
00:23:01,505 --> 00:23:03,465
there's not one word
of surrender.

432
00:23:03,465 --> 00:23:06,635
‐ "The French called to parlay.

433
00:23:06,635 --> 00:23:08,795
"We agreed that each side
should retire,

434
00:23:08,804 --> 00:23:12,894
that we should march away
with all the honors of war."

435
00:23:12,892 --> 00:23:14,772
‐ Of course, it didn't happen
that way at all.

436
00:23:14,768 --> 00:23:17,768
And, yet,
he becomes a folk hero

437
00:23:17,771 --> 00:23:20,571
in the eyes of many Virginians.

438
00:23:20,566 --> 00:23:22,896
‐ He had a sort of cunning

439
00:23:22,902 --> 00:23:25,032
and a kind of understanding
about how things operated,

440
00:23:25,029 --> 00:23:27,739
how society operated,
how the world operated

441
00:23:27,740 --> 00:23:29,740
that I think served him well.

442
00:23:29,742 --> 00:23:34,622
‐ Washington is a tremendously
savvy political figure.

443
00:23:34,622 --> 00:23:36,332
He's great at protecting
his reputation,

444
00:23:36,332 --> 00:23:38,712
and he has friends
who know how to do it.

445
00:23:38,709 --> 00:23:43,629
‐ Governor Dinwiddie and the men
of the House of Burgesses

446
00:23:43,631 --> 00:23:47,471
pass a resolution
thanking Washington

447
00:23:47,468 --> 00:23:49,348
for his good conduct.

448
00:23:49,345 --> 00:23:51,845
They wipe out

449
00:23:51,847 --> 00:23:54,427
much of the embarrassment
and humiliation

450
00:23:54,433 --> 00:23:59,063
that Washington
had gotten himself into.

451
00:23:59,063 --> 00:24:02,483
‐ But the farther you go
from Williamsburg, Virginia,

452
00:24:02,483 --> 00:24:04,533
the less of a hero he is.

453
00:24:04,526 --> 00:24:08,736
‐ Eventually,
the French will publish

454
00:24:08,739 --> 00:24:10,909
these articles of surrender.

455
00:24:10,908 --> 00:24:13,618
They will announce
to the world

456
00:24:13,619 --> 00:24:16,579
this young American officer
has confessed

457
00:24:16,580 --> 00:24:18,960
to assassinating
a French officer.

458
00:24:18,958 --> 00:24:22,288
If you think about it,
"assassin" in English and French

459
00:24:22,294 --> 00:24:25,674
are pretty much the same,
but he was desperate.

460
00:24:25,673 --> 00:24:26,843
I think he was afraid.

461
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,550
‐ And yet Washington denied

462
00:24:29,551 --> 00:24:30,841
that interpretation
of the capitulation

463
00:24:30,844 --> 00:24:32,724
for the rest of his life.

464
00:24:32,721 --> 00:24:36,391
‐ "That we were willfully
or ignorantly deceived

465
00:24:36,392 --> 00:24:39,522
"by our interpreter in regard
to the word 'assassination',

466
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,320
I do aver and will
to my dying moment."

467
00:24:43,315 --> 00:24:46,815
♪♪♪

468
00:24:46,819 --> 00:24:51,319
‐ In London, the Lords in charge
are saying,

469
00:24:51,323 --> 00:24:56,503
"If we let this behavior stand,
we'll lose all North America.

470
00:24:56,495 --> 00:24:57,655
"We need professional
British soldiers.

471
00:24:57,663 --> 00:24:59,963
"We need professional officers.

472
00:24:59,957 --> 00:25:03,877
We can't rely on people
like this guy Washington."

473
00:25:03,877 --> 00:25:07,207
‐ As a result, British command

474
00:25:07,214 --> 00:25:09,884
reorganizes
the Virginia Regiment

475
00:25:09,883 --> 00:25:12,853
and makes its American officers,
regardless of rank,

476
00:25:12,845 --> 00:25:17,265
subordinate to even
the lowest of British officers.

477
00:25:17,266 --> 00:25:19,306
The changes not only dash

478
00:25:19,309 --> 00:25:21,059
Washington's hopes
of advancement,

479
00:25:21,061 --> 00:25:23,061
they effectively demote him

480
00:25:23,063 --> 00:25:27,233
from lieutenant colonel
to captain.

481
00:25:27,234 --> 00:25:30,614
Washington resigns in protest.

482
00:25:30,612 --> 00:25:33,072
‐ Washington resigned,
and he writes this great letter,

483
00:25:33,073 --> 00:25:36,203
in which he says,
"How could a man allow himself

484
00:25:36,201 --> 00:25:39,001
"to be demoted
for no good reason?

485
00:25:38,996 --> 00:25:41,746
"It was from the advice
of my friends and my own honor

486
00:25:41,749 --> 00:25:43,459
"that I declined,
not because I didn't wish

487
00:25:43,459 --> 00:25:45,789
to be in the military anymore."

488
00:25:45,794 --> 00:25:48,054
‐ "I shall have the consolation
of knowing

489
00:25:48,047 --> 00:25:50,717
"that I have hitherto stood
the heat and brunt of the day

490
00:25:50,716 --> 00:25:54,716
"and that I have the thanks
of my country

491
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,970
for the services
I have rendered it."

492
00:25:56,972 --> 00:25:58,932
‐ He's got to be wondering
if he has a future.

493
00:25:58,932 --> 00:26:02,062
He's convinced that he's never
going to command troops

494
00:26:02,061 --> 00:26:03,941
in action again.

495
00:26:03,937 --> 00:26:11,567
♪♪♪

496
00:26:12,362 --> 00:26:24,832
♪♪♪

497
00:26:24,833 --> 00:26:28,253
‐ Seven months after quitting
the Virginia Regiment,

498
00:26:28,253 --> 00:26:31,513
George Washington
is back in uniform,

499
00:26:31,507 --> 00:26:35,547
this time as a volunteer.

500
00:26:35,552 --> 00:26:37,722
The American frontier
is engulfed

501
00:26:37,721 --> 00:26:40,221
in a war for control
of the continent,

502
00:26:40,224 --> 00:26:43,444
and the Ohio country
is ground zero.

503
00:26:43,435 --> 00:26:49,935
♪♪♪

504
00:26:49,942 --> 00:26:51,612
[ horse whinnies ]

505
00:26:55,906 --> 00:26:58,076
‐ It means we're not alone.

506
00:26:58,075 --> 00:27:00,485
Be on your guard.

507
00:27:06,041 --> 00:27:08,211
‐ Despite his missteps,

508
00:27:08,210 --> 00:27:10,380
Washington is now
one of Virginia's

509
00:27:10,379 --> 00:27:13,629
most experienced
frontier fighters,

510
00:27:13,632 --> 00:27:16,182
and he's been tapped
to serve as an aide

511
00:27:16,176 --> 00:27:18,296
to British General
Edward Braddock.

512
00:27:18,303 --> 00:27:20,263
‐ Braddock's
a veteran commander,

513
00:27:20,264 --> 00:27:22,984
but a veteran of European wars.

514
00:27:22,975 --> 00:27:25,225
And so he doesn't know
what he's doing

515
00:27:25,227 --> 00:27:26,647
once he gets
into North America,

516
00:27:26,645 --> 00:27:27,805
which is
a different environment.

517
00:27:30,107 --> 00:27:33,317
‐ The British,
they didn't know how to fight

518
00:27:33,318 --> 00:27:35,198
in the forest conditions.

519
00:27:37,698 --> 00:27:40,988
[ horse blusters ]

520
00:27:40,993 --> 00:27:43,333
‐ Washington is willing to go
as an aide‐de‐camp

521
00:27:43,328 --> 00:27:45,788
because it carries some respect,

522
00:27:45,789 --> 00:27:49,379
and Braddock apparently gave him
some indication

523
00:27:49,376 --> 00:27:52,126
that he could expect
a military commission.

524
00:27:52,129 --> 00:27:55,339
‐ Braddock
and 2,400 British regulars

525
00:27:55,340 --> 00:27:58,220
are cutting a road through
more than 100 miles

526
00:27:58,218 --> 00:28:01,348
of dense wilderness
to move scores

527
00:28:01,346 --> 00:28:04,346
of cannon, horses, and men
into place

528
00:28:04,349 --> 00:28:06,519
for an attack on Fort Duquesne,

529
00:28:06,518 --> 00:28:09,978
the stronghold the French
completed at the forks

530
00:28:09,980 --> 00:28:14,190
after Washington's defeat
at Fort Necessity.

531
00:28:14,192 --> 00:28:16,902
‐ The forks of the Ohio

532
00:28:16,904 --> 00:28:19,994
were seen as almost the key
to the continent.

533
00:28:19,990 --> 00:28:22,910
Whichever imperial power
controlled that

534
00:28:22,910 --> 00:28:24,830
controlled access to
the interior of the continent.

535
00:28:29,708 --> 00:28:31,708
‐ I do not have time for this.

536
00:28:31,710 --> 00:28:34,590
Break down another wagon.
‐ Yes, sir.

537
00:28:34,588 --> 00:28:37,508
‐ General Braddock,
another delay?

538
00:28:37,507 --> 00:28:40,177
‐ Cannot be helped.

539
00:28:40,177 --> 00:28:45,427
‐ Perhaps if we did not stop
to level every molehill

540
00:28:45,432 --> 00:28:48,392
or erect a bridge
over every brook.

541
00:28:48,393 --> 00:28:50,353
‐ It is this terrain of yours.
‐ Sir...

542
00:28:50,354 --> 00:28:53,074
‐ But we shall level it out yet.

543
00:28:53,065 --> 00:28:57,065
‐ Sir, with respect,
I have fought the Indians.

544
00:28:57,069 --> 00:28:59,109
Our line is too extended.

545
00:28:59,112 --> 00:29:01,412
They could cut our forces
in two before we could even

546
00:29:01,406 --> 00:29:02,816
martial our defense.

547
00:29:02,824 --> 00:29:06,874
‐ These savages may be
a formidable enemy

548
00:29:06,870 --> 00:29:10,370
for your raw American militia,
but upon the King's regular

549
00:29:10,374 --> 00:29:13,754
and disciplined troops,
it is impossible

550
00:29:13,752 --> 00:29:16,002
that they will make
an impression.

551
00:29:16,004 --> 00:29:19,094
‐ Of course, sir.
‐ We have nothing to fear.

552
00:29:19,091 --> 00:29:20,301
Head out and inspect
the rear guard.

553
00:29:20,300 --> 00:29:22,090
Report back to me
within the hour.

554
00:29:22,094 --> 00:29:23,604
‐ Sir.

555
00:29:23,595 --> 00:29:35,645
♪♪♪

556
00:29:35,649 --> 00:29:39,439
‐ Over the next five weeks,
the army pushes slowly

557
00:29:39,444 --> 00:29:42,784
toward Fort Duquesne,
traveling in a long column

558
00:29:42,781 --> 00:29:45,951
with Washington and Braddock
just a quarter mile

559
00:29:45,951 --> 00:29:48,541
behind the advance guard.

560
00:29:48,537 --> 00:29:50,077
‐ Once they crossed
the Monongahela River,

561
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,460
he thinks,
"Okay, that's job done.

562
00:29:52,457 --> 00:29:54,287
We'll just
sweep the fort apart."

563
00:29:54,292 --> 00:29:57,382
[ footsteps marching ]

564
00:30:09,182 --> 00:30:10,272
[ distant boom ]

565
00:30:10,267 --> 00:30:12,637
[ horse whinnies ]

566
00:30:12,644 --> 00:30:14,814
[ booming continues ]

567
00:30:14,813 --> 00:30:15,943
[ gunshot ]

568
00:30:15,939 --> 00:30:21,399
♪♪♪

569
00:30:21,403 --> 00:30:24,163
‐ Suddenly, chaos erupts.

570
00:30:24,156 --> 00:30:25,986
‐ [ yelling ]

571
00:30:25,991 --> 00:30:29,121
‐ French Canadian troops
have hit the front

572
00:30:29,119 --> 00:30:30,829
of the British column.

573
00:30:30,829 --> 00:30:33,579
‐ The advance guard.
We are under attack.

574
00:30:33,582 --> 00:30:35,582
Forward!
‐ Make ready!

575
00:30:35,584 --> 00:30:39,004
‐ Washington warned the Redcoats
were vulnerable to an ambush.

576
00:30:39,004 --> 00:30:40,844
‐ Forward!

577
00:30:40,839 --> 00:30:43,379
‐ Now he has to face
the hellfire.

578
00:30:49,639 --> 00:30:53,729
[ explosions, gunfire ]

579
00:30:53,727 --> 00:30:55,597
‐ [ yelling ]

580
00:30:55,604 --> 00:30:58,074
‐ 23‐year‐old George Washington

581
00:30:58,065 --> 00:30:59,105
and the British force
he's advising

582
00:30:59,107 --> 00:31:02,277
are caught in an ambush.

583
00:31:02,277 --> 00:31:04,607
‐ Stay in line!

584
00:31:04,613 --> 00:31:07,073
‐ [ whoop ]

585
00:31:07,074 --> 00:31:10,164
♪♪♪

586
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:15,500
‐ The British are trapped,
surrounded by enemy fire‐‐

587
00:31:15,499 --> 00:31:19,209
the French from the front
and their Native American allies

588
00:31:19,211 --> 00:31:22,261
from the tree line
on both flanks.

589
00:31:22,255 --> 00:31:23,585
‐ [ whooping ]

590
00:31:23,590 --> 00:31:28,470
♪♪♪

591
00:31:28,470 --> 00:31:30,100
‐ Hold fire!

592
00:31:30,097 --> 00:31:31,057
‐ [ whooping continues ]

593
00:31:31,056 --> 00:31:34,976
♪♪♪

594
00:31:34,976 --> 00:31:35,766
‐ Aah!
‐ Uhh!

595
00:31:35,769 --> 00:31:39,479
♪♪♪

596
00:31:39,481 --> 00:31:40,651
‐ [ yelling ]

597
00:31:40,649 --> 00:31:42,689
‐ Get back in line!

598
00:31:42,692 --> 00:31:45,112
‐ As an aide‐de‐camp,
he's not in charge of anything.

599
00:31:45,112 --> 00:31:47,452
‐ Look to your officers!

600
00:31:47,447 --> 00:31:49,367
‐ He can deliver messages.
He is responding

601
00:31:49,366 --> 00:31:51,946
to the orders
of General Braddock.

602
00:31:51,952 --> 00:31:53,702
But he doesn't have any troops
under his command.

603
00:31:53,703 --> 00:31:54,833
‐ Hold the line!

604
00:31:54,830 --> 00:31:59,250
[ gunfire, men yelling ]

605
00:31:59,251 --> 00:32:01,671
‐ Uhh!

606
00:32:01,670 --> 00:32:04,590
‐ Washington has two horses
shot out from under him,

607
00:32:04,589 --> 00:32:06,009
three bullet holes
through his coat,

608
00:32:06,007 --> 00:32:07,177
but he's not scratched.

609
00:32:07,175 --> 00:32:10,465
‐ [ panting ]

610
00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:15,600
‐ Where's General Braddock?
Where is General Braddock?!

611
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:17,270
General Braddock?

612
00:32:17,269 --> 00:32:19,769
‐ Within a very short period
of time

613
00:32:19,771 --> 00:32:21,441
every single British officer

614
00:32:21,439 --> 00:32:23,479
has been either killed
or wounded.

615
00:32:23,483 --> 00:32:25,283
[ gunshots ]

616
00:32:25,277 --> 00:32:27,277
‐ General Braddock, sir.

617
00:32:29,030 --> 00:32:30,450
We need to get you to safety.

618
00:32:30,448 --> 00:32:32,948
‐ Leave me.
‐ But, sir...

619
00:32:32,951 --> 00:32:37,501
‐ Save those men that can
be saved. Order a withdrawal.

620
00:32:37,497 --> 00:32:42,457
‐ We can get you clear.
‐ Order a withdrawal.

621
00:32:42,460 --> 00:32:46,170
‐ But to whom am I to relay
the command, sir?

622
00:32:46,173 --> 00:32:49,133
‐ The command...is yours.

623
00:32:49,134 --> 00:32:57,684
♪♪♪

624
00:32:57,684 --> 00:32:59,814
‐ This is the opportunity

625
00:32:59,811 --> 00:33:03,821
that Washington's
been waiting for‐‐

626
00:33:03,815 --> 00:33:07,145
to prove himself
in command.

627
00:33:08,862 --> 00:33:12,912
‐ In this moment
of almost complete breakdown,

628
00:33:12,908 --> 00:33:17,948
he is able to compose himself
and to give the orders

629
00:33:17,954 --> 00:33:21,794
that would enable this army
to start its retreat.

630
00:33:21,791 --> 00:33:25,381
‐ Fall back! Fall back!

631
00:33:25,378 --> 00:33:27,208
Fall back! Fall back!

632
00:33:27,214 --> 00:33:35,814
♪♪♪

633
00:33:35,805 --> 00:33:38,555
‐ Washington organizes
a rear guard

634
00:33:38,558 --> 00:33:42,268
to provide cover while he mounts
a general retreat,

635
00:33:42,270 --> 00:33:47,360
narrowly saving Braddock's
force from annihilation.

636
00:33:47,359 --> 00:33:50,489
But the British battle losses
are severe.

637
00:33:50,487 --> 00:33:53,027
In just three hours
of fighting,

638
00:33:53,031 --> 00:33:56,031
nearly 1,000
of some 1,500 troops

639
00:33:56,034 --> 00:34:01,124
are killed or wounded,
including 63 officers.

640
00:34:04,459 --> 00:34:06,129
‐ "The dead, the dying,

641
00:34:06,127 --> 00:34:09,047
"the groans, lamentations,
and cries along the road

642
00:34:09,047 --> 00:34:10,467
of the wounded for help..."

643
00:34:10,465 --> 00:34:12,965
‐ [ groaning ]

644
00:34:12,968 --> 00:34:15,968
‐ "...were enough to pierce
a heart of adamant."

645
00:34:15,971 --> 00:34:20,731
‐ [ distant yelling ]

646
00:34:20,725 --> 00:34:23,225
‐ Washington's never seen
anything like this.

647
00:34:23,228 --> 00:34:25,768
I mean, this is destruction
of human life

648
00:34:25,772 --> 00:34:27,322
on a colossal scale.

649
00:34:27,315 --> 00:34:29,895
‐ Nobody who is ever going
into battle

650
00:34:29,901 --> 00:34:31,701
comes out of the battle
the same way.

651
00:34:31,695 --> 00:34:33,485
When you see blood
in front of you,

652
00:34:33,488 --> 00:34:36,448
when you see body parts
laying all over,

653
00:34:36,449 --> 00:34:39,909
you realize this is no longer
a game. This is the worst.

654
00:34:39,911 --> 00:34:41,251
This is the worst.

655
00:34:41,246 --> 00:34:44,996
♪♪♪

656
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,670
‐ When he's young,
he wants to be in battle.

657
00:34:47,669 --> 00:34:49,749
It's romantic. It's where
he can prove his valor.

658
00:34:49,754 --> 00:34:52,094
And those things
sort of fall away

659
00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:53,590
after the Battle
of Monongahela.

660
00:34:53,591 --> 00:34:57,471
‐ He will never be again
that naive young man

661
00:34:57,470 --> 00:34:59,720
who sees war as an adventure.

662
00:35:01,308 --> 00:35:04,768
♪♪♪

663
00:35:04,769 --> 00:35:08,399
‐ In the aftermath
of the battle,

664
00:35:08,398 --> 00:35:11,438
Washington's family receives
a report of his death.

665
00:35:13,236 --> 00:35:18,986
Days later,
he writes his brother.

666
00:35:18,992 --> 00:35:21,702
‐ "As I have heard
a circumstantial account

667
00:35:21,703 --> 00:35:23,913
"of my death and dying speech.

668
00:35:23,913 --> 00:35:28,043
"But by the all‐powerful
dispensations of providence,

669
00:35:28,043 --> 00:35:30,343
"I have been protected beyond

670
00:35:30,337 --> 00:35:34,377
all human probability
and expectation."

671
00:35:34,382 --> 00:35:36,302
‐ Washington developed
the notion

672
00:35:36,301 --> 00:35:39,181
that somebody was looking
over him,

673
00:35:39,179 --> 00:35:41,009
that he should have died,
and he attributes this

674
00:35:41,014 --> 00:35:43,564
not to God but to providence.

675
00:35:43,558 --> 00:35:47,018
He believes that because
those forces have saved him,

676
00:35:47,020 --> 00:35:50,190
that history's on his side.

677
00:35:50,190 --> 00:35:51,860
‐ We should all be grateful

678
00:35:51,858 --> 00:35:54,318
that he was the one
who had the luck.

679
00:35:54,319 --> 00:35:56,319
What would have happened to us
if he had been killed

680
00:35:56,321 --> 00:35:58,491
by one of those bullets?

681
00:35:58,490 --> 00:36:03,200
‐ With Braddock's death,
Washington's most promising path

682
00:36:03,203 --> 00:36:05,963
to a British officer's
commission is thwarted.

683
00:36:05,955 --> 00:36:10,125
But he emerges from the battle
a war hero.

684
00:36:10,126 --> 00:36:14,506
‐ Newspapers and broadsides
and tavern talk

685
00:36:14,506 --> 00:36:18,176
throughout America become filled
with discussions of Washington.

686
00:36:18,176 --> 00:36:20,006
"Do you know that it was
an American

687
00:36:20,011 --> 00:36:23,391
who led those troops
off the field?"

688
00:36:23,390 --> 00:36:26,810
‐ Washington had joined
the Braddock campaign

689
00:36:26,810 --> 00:36:30,270
with a view to reclaiming,
rebuilding his reputation.

690
00:36:30,271 --> 00:36:32,821
Ironically, that happens.

691
00:36:32,816 --> 00:36:35,276
Because one of the things
the colonists can take from this

692
00:36:35,276 --> 00:36:38,606
is the unmistakable courage
of George Washington.

693
00:36:38,613 --> 00:36:43,453
‐ At that stage,
the Virginians need a hero,

694
00:36:43,451 --> 00:36:45,751
and he's
the available candidate.

695
00:36:45,745 --> 00:36:49,325
♪♪♪

696
00:36:49,332 --> 00:36:54,552
[ playing up‐tempo waltz ]

697
00:36:54,546 --> 00:37:04,596
♪♪♪

698
00:37:04,597 --> 00:37:10,597
♪♪♪

699
00:37:10,603 --> 00:37:12,523
‐ Would you humble me
with a dance?

700
00:37:12,522 --> 00:37:14,322
‐ It would be my pleasure.

701
00:37:14,315 --> 00:37:17,735
♪♪♪

702
00:37:17,736 --> 00:37:20,356
‐ Watching Washington
in public settings,

703
00:37:20,363 --> 00:37:24,743
everybody is rapt because
they have not seen anybody

704
00:37:24,743 --> 00:37:27,793
with his size, his strength.

705
00:37:27,787 --> 00:37:32,827
♪♪♪

706
00:37:32,834 --> 00:37:35,754
‐ Washington is tall
for his time. He's around 6'2",

707
00:37:35,754 --> 00:37:37,924
the look of an natural athlete,
someone you would see

708
00:37:37,922 --> 00:37:40,512
on the basketball court today
or the football field.

709
00:37:40,508 --> 00:37:42,968
♪♪♪

710
00:37:42,969 --> 00:37:45,309
‐ First impression is,
"Oh, my God.

711
00:37:45,305 --> 00:37:47,215
This guy is impressive."

712
00:37:47,223 --> 00:37:50,063
‐ Historians are always talking
about how great he was

713
00:37:50,059 --> 00:37:52,439
on the dance floor,
in the ballroom,

714
00:37:52,437 --> 00:37:53,807
and all the women
write about it all the time.

715
00:37:53,813 --> 00:37:59,243
♪♪♪

716
00:37:59,235 --> 00:38:02,405
‐ Later on, Abigail Adams,
when she writes

717
00:38:02,405 --> 00:38:04,275
about seeing George Washington
for the first time,

718
00:38:04,282 --> 00:38:06,282
I mean, it could be
in a romance novel.

719
00:38:06,284 --> 00:38:10,164
‐ "The gentleman and soldier
look agreeably blended in him.

720
00:38:10,163 --> 00:38:12,463
"He's a temple, sacred by birth

721
00:38:12,457 --> 00:38:15,127
and built by hands divine."

722
00:38:15,126 --> 00:38:19,456
♪♪♪

723
00:38:19,464 --> 00:38:21,384
‐ The thing about
George Washington

724
00:38:21,382 --> 00:38:22,802
was his self‐control.

725
00:38:22,801 --> 00:38:24,641
It wasn't as if
he didn't have emotion.

726
00:38:24,636 --> 00:38:27,846
Underneath him were seething
real passions that gave

727
00:38:27,847 --> 00:38:30,927
a crackle, an intensity
to his physical presence.

728
00:38:30,934 --> 00:38:32,854
It added to his charisma.

729
00:38:32,852 --> 00:38:33,812
‐ Thank you.

730
00:38:35,855 --> 00:38:40,105
‐ It doesn't take a lot to see
that this is a human being

731
00:38:40,109 --> 00:38:43,239
who is a compressed spring
that's about ready

732
00:38:43,238 --> 00:38:46,028
to release itself
onto the American scene.

733
00:38:46,032 --> 00:38:49,332
♪♪♪

734
00:38:49,327 --> 00:38:53,747
‐ As the French and Indian War
intensifies on the frontier...

735
00:38:53,748 --> 00:38:55,168
‐ [ yells ]
‐ ...he'll get his chance.

736
00:38:55,166 --> 00:38:57,036
♪♪♪

737
00:38:57,043 --> 00:39:00,213
The Colonies need a leader
to stem the carnage.

738
00:39:00,213 --> 00:39:01,803
♪♪♪

739
00:39:01,798 --> 00:39:03,468
And the name
on everyone's lips...

740
00:39:03,466 --> 00:39:05,176
[ knives slicing ]

741
00:39:05,176 --> 00:39:08,176
‐ ...is George Washington.

742
00:39:32,036 --> 00:39:33,576
[ gunshot ]

743
00:39:33,580 --> 00:39:35,750
‐ [ whooping ]
‐ [ screams ]

744
00:39:35,748 --> 00:39:39,418
‐ By the spring of 1756,

745
00:39:39,419 --> 00:39:42,459
the American frontier
is a war zone,

746
00:39:42,463 --> 00:39:45,763
as the French deploy
their Native American allies

747
00:39:45,758 --> 00:39:49,138
to ramp up attacks
on British settlers.

748
00:39:49,137 --> 00:39:51,307
♪♪♪

749
00:39:51,306 --> 00:39:53,466
‐ The destruction
of Braddock's army is

750
00:39:53,474 --> 00:39:56,484
such a powerful blow that
there's a real skittishness

751
00:39:56,477 --> 00:39:58,347
amongst the British.

752
00:39:58,354 --> 00:40:01,774
‐ So what's happening
is that the British frontier

753
00:40:01,774 --> 00:40:04,404
is being rolled back.

754
00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:08,112
‐ There's a huge highway
into the heart of settlement.

755
00:40:08,114 --> 00:40:10,784
That road that's built
to attack Fort Duquesne

756
00:40:10,783 --> 00:40:12,243
now is unprotected.

757
00:40:12,243 --> 00:40:16,123
There's no troops there,
and so they're unable,

758
00:40:16,122 --> 00:40:18,502
really, to stop
Native American incursions.

759
00:40:18,499 --> 00:40:20,169
♪♪♪

760
00:40:20,168 --> 00:40:21,958
‐ Hundreds of people are dying.

761
00:40:21,961 --> 00:40:23,961
Hundreds of people
are being taken captive.

762
00:40:23,963 --> 00:40:26,053
‐ [ whooping ]

763
00:40:26,049 --> 00:40:29,259
This is just sheer terror.

764
00:40:31,930 --> 00:40:35,100
And that's what Washington
has to deal with.

765
00:40:37,185 --> 00:40:39,805
‐ There is no order,

766
00:40:39,812 --> 00:40:43,782
no way to predict
where they will strike next.

767
00:40:43,775 --> 00:40:45,025
I could have
a thousand more men,

768
00:40:45,026 --> 00:40:46,606
and it would make no difference.

769
00:40:48,446 --> 00:40:51,276
‐ Washington's been lured
back to the frontier

770
00:40:51,282 --> 00:40:53,452
by Governor Dinwiddie

771
00:40:53,451 --> 00:40:56,541
and is now a colonel
in the Virginia Regiment.

772
00:40:56,537 --> 00:40:59,827
He's tasked with protecting
more than 300 miles

773
00:40:59,832 --> 00:41:02,132
of rugged terrain,

774
00:41:02,126 --> 00:41:06,966
and he has fewer than 1,200
untrained and ill‐equipped men

775
00:41:06,965 --> 00:41:09,795
that he now has to make
into soldiers.

776
00:41:09,801 --> 00:41:11,721
‐ Look at them.

777
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,309
No discipline at all.

778
00:41:14,305 --> 00:41:16,595
And we've had
two more desertions last week.

779
00:41:19,936 --> 00:41:23,976
This must change.

780
00:41:23,982 --> 00:41:27,362
‐ After
the Battle of the Monongahela,

781
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,990
Washington begins to think
about the fundamentals

782
00:41:30,989 --> 00:41:33,119
of running a military force.

783
00:41:33,116 --> 00:41:37,156
And the lesson
that we as Americans

784
00:41:37,161 --> 00:41:41,211
need to learn is that we need
to be more professional.

785
00:41:41,207 --> 00:41:42,707
‐ And so he knew what it was
to have discipline

786
00:41:42,709 --> 00:41:44,669
in an organization,

787
00:41:44,669 --> 00:41:47,259
and he was not a softie.
He was a disciplinarian.

788
00:41:47,255 --> 00:41:49,165
He would have people punished.

789
00:41:49,173 --> 00:41:51,883
‐ He's always watching to see
whether you're on time

790
00:41:51,884 --> 00:41:54,514
and whether you're working hard.

791
00:41:54,512 --> 00:41:57,182
If you're in the military unit
and you're a deserter,

792
00:41:57,181 --> 00:41:58,561
even if he knows you
and likes you,

793
00:41:58,558 --> 00:42:00,848
he has no compunction
about stringing you up,

794
00:42:00,852 --> 00:42:01,892
no second thoughts.

795
00:42:01,894 --> 00:42:03,694
♪♪♪

796
00:42:03,688 --> 00:42:06,398
[ drum beating ]

797
00:42:06,399 --> 00:42:09,359
[ beating continues ]

798
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:13,490
‐ "I luckily caught
two deserters.

799
00:42:13,489 --> 00:42:16,279
"James Thomas, one of them,
always behaved himself

800
00:42:16,284 --> 00:42:19,704
"with great sobriety,
honesty, and diligence.

801
00:42:19,704 --> 00:42:23,544
"The other criminal,
Henry Campbell,

802
00:42:23,541 --> 00:42:27,211
"is a most atrocious villain
and richly merits

803
00:42:27,211 --> 00:42:28,761
an ignominious death."

804
00:42:28,755 --> 00:42:31,045
♪♪♪

805
00:42:31,049 --> 00:42:32,929
‐ He can't tolerate desertion.

806
00:42:32,925 --> 00:42:35,005
For the rest of the soldiers
in the unit,

807
00:42:35,011 --> 00:42:35,851
it's a betrayal
of your colleagues

808
00:42:35,845 --> 00:42:37,095
on your left and your right,

809
00:42:37,096 --> 00:42:38,596
'cause then they can't
count on you.

810
00:42:38,598 --> 00:42:41,558
[ drum beating ]

811
00:42:41,559 --> 00:42:43,599
‐ Halt.

812
00:42:43,603 --> 00:42:44,313
[ drum stops beating ]

813
00:42:46,230 --> 00:42:47,980
Thomas.

814
00:42:47,982 --> 00:42:50,862
There will be no more offenses.

815
00:43:04,248 --> 00:43:09,628
‐ Washington tempered those
severe punishments with mercy.

816
00:43:09,629 --> 00:43:11,299
He would often do it
at the last minute

817
00:43:11,297 --> 00:43:12,667
when all the soldiers
of that unit

818
00:43:12,673 --> 00:43:14,133
would be there to witness
the punishment.

819
00:43:14,133 --> 00:43:17,933
‐ Proceed.

820
00:43:17,929 --> 00:43:19,599
‐ You're sending the signal
to the soldiers

821
00:43:19,597 --> 00:43:22,347
who didn't desert
that our commander

822
00:43:22,350 --> 00:43:23,600
is a merciful commander.

823
00:43:23,601 --> 00:43:26,311
Just don't do
this sort of thing.

824
00:43:26,312 --> 00:43:40,872
♪♪♪

825
00:43:40,868 --> 00:43:42,998
‐ [ grunts ]

826
00:43:42,995 --> 00:43:53,005
♪♪♪

827
00:43:53,005 --> 00:44:04,595
♪♪♪

828
00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:06,690
‐ He's a tough taskmaster,

829
00:44:06,686 --> 00:44:08,056
and he tells you
what he wants you to do,

830
00:44:08,062 --> 00:44:09,612
and if you don't do it

831
00:44:09,605 --> 00:44:11,225
just the way
he wants you to do it,

832
00:44:11,232 --> 00:44:12,862
he's not happy.

833
00:44:12,859 --> 00:44:16,199
He's not, um,
hail‐fellow well‐met.

834
00:44:16,195 --> 00:44:18,155
He is a man of high standards

835
00:44:18,156 --> 00:44:19,816
and expects you to meet
those standards,

836
00:44:19,824 --> 00:44:22,664
and if you don't,
it will reflect on him.

837
00:44:22,660 --> 00:44:24,330
♪♪♪

838
00:44:24,328 --> 00:44:25,498
‐ Aim.

839
00:44:25,496 --> 00:44:27,746
♪♪♪

840
00:44:27,748 --> 00:44:29,208
Fire!
[ gunshots ]

841
00:44:29,208 --> 00:44:31,418
Second row, aim!

842
00:44:31,419 --> 00:44:34,009
♪♪♪

843
00:44:34,005 --> 00:44:36,545
Now fire!
[ gunshots ]

844
00:44:36,549 --> 00:44:38,799
‐ Washington is learning
how to lead,

845
00:44:38,801 --> 00:44:41,011
and he's learned
on the battlefield,

846
00:44:41,012 --> 00:44:44,062
and he's applying those lessons
now with the Virginia Regiment.

847
00:44:44,056 --> 00:44:45,516
♪♪♪

848
00:44:45,516 --> 00:44:47,846
‐ This musket is everything
to you.

849
00:44:47,852 --> 00:44:52,402
Lift up, pull back,
and you are ready.

850
00:44:52,398 --> 00:44:53,768
♪♪♪

851
00:44:53,774 --> 00:44:57,034
Now let's see you again.

852
00:44:57,028 --> 00:44:59,158
Faster!

853
00:44:59,155 --> 00:45:02,025
Come on, you rabble, faster!

854
00:45:02,033 --> 00:45:04,163
Aim.

855
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:06,250
And fire!
[ gunshots ]

856
00:45:06,245 --> 00:45:07,955
Better, but we need
to be quicker!

857
00:45:07,955 --> 00:45:09,245
This is life and death!

858
00:45:09,248 --> 00:45:12,208
♪♪♪

859
00:45:12,210 --> 00:45:13,960
The bayonet.

860
00:45:13,961 --> 00:45:17,921
Detach and fix.

861
00:45:17,924 --> 00:45:25,774
♪♪♪

862
00:45:25,765 --> 00:45:28,055
Right. Let's see it.

863
00:45:29,936 --> 00:45:33,056
‐ His command
of the Virginia Regiment

864
00:45:33,064 --> 00:45:36,484
is the shaping experience
for his role

865
00:45:36,484 --> 00:45:37,994
as a military commander.

866
00:45:37,985 --> 00:45:40,565
It becomes an elite unit

867
00:45:40,571 --> 00:45:44,331
that is like the Rangers
or the Special Forces.

868
00:45:44,325 --> 00:45:53,955
♪♪♪

869
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:56,170
‐ The British
have to acknowledge‐‐

870
00:45:56,170 --> 00:45:57,630
and they do, openly‐‐

871
00:45:57,630 --> 00:46:01,260
that Washington has created
for the first time

872
00:46:01,259 --> 00:46:03,799
in the history of America

873
00:46:03,803 --> 00:46:07,643
a provincial force
that is worthy of respect,

874
00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:09,020
that's every bit as good

875
00:46:09,016 --> 00:46:12,306
as what the British
put into the field.

876
00:46:12,311 --> 00:46:19,651
♪♪♪

877
00:46:19,652 --> 00:46:21,032
‐ And yet he can't seem
to get them recognized

878
00:46:21,028 --> 00:46:22,988
as a proper regiment.

879
00:46:22,989 --> 00:46:25,119
He can't get them
officers' commissions

880
00:46:25,116 --> 00:46:29,326
in the British established
regiments in North America.

881
00:46:29,328 --> 00:46:30,868
He thinks they've earned this.

882
00:46:30,871 --> 00:46:34,711
That Americans should be treated
as second class subjects

883
00:46:34,709 --> 00:46:37,129
is anathema to him.

884
00:46:37,128 --> 00:46:40,168
‐ Washington wants to prove
to the British

885
00:46:40,172 --> 00:46:43,722
that his regiment is ready
for a bigger mission,

886
00:46:43,718 --> 00:46:48,308
what he sees as the only way
to get control of the frontier‐‐

887
00:46:48,306 --> 00:46:50,596
an attack
on the French stronghold,

888
00:46:50,599 --> 00:46:53,639
Fort Duquesne.

889
00:46:53,644 --> 00:46:56,314
But when his commander
Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie

890
00:46:56,314 --> 00:46:58,904
refuses to give him
the go‐ahead,

891
00:46:58,899 --> 00:47:01,739
Washington's willing
to risk anything,

892
00:47:01,736 --> 00:47:05,026
even insubordination.

893
00:47:05,031 --> 00:47:09,661
♪♪♪

894
00:47:09,660 --> 00:47:12,830
‐ In his early 20s
as a young officer,

895
00:47:12,830 --> 00:47:14,290
he was not at all

896
00:47:14,290 --> 00:47:16,750
the George Washington
we think of.

897
00:47:16,751 --> 00:47:20,921
♪♪♪

898
00:47:20,921 --> 00:47:24,091
He was stubborn.

899
00:47:24,091 --> 00:47:26,511
He was hasty.

900
00:47:26,510 --> 00:47:27,800
‐ He's the kind of guy

901
00:47:27,803 --> 00:47:30,353
you wouldn't want
to go up against

902
00:47:30,348 --> 00:47:32,098
in terms of willpower.

903
00:47:33,726 --> 00:47:36,056
Once he sets his mind
to something,

904
00:47:36,062 --> 00:47:37,562
it's going to happen.

905
00:47:37,563 --> 00:47:55,873
♪♪♪

906
00:47:55,873 --> 00:48:08,763
♪♪♪

907
00:48:08,761 --> 00:48:12,391
‐ Pardon me. Can you tell me
where I might find Lord Loudoun?

908
00:48:12,390 --> 00:48:15,350
♪♪♪

909
00:48:15,351 --> 00:48:20,231
‐ Colonel George Washington's
come to Philadelphia uninvited

910
00:48:20,231 --> 00:48:24,071
to meet the most powerful
military man on the continent.

911
00:48:24,068 --> 00:48:27,858
‐ John Campbell, Lord Loudoun,
the Scotsman‐‐

912
00:48:27,863 --> 00:48:29,873
he has been appointed
commander‐in‐chief

913
00:48:29,865 --> 00:48:31,985
of British forces
in North America,

914
00:48:31,992 --> 00:48:34,912
and he comes to Philadelphia,
and George Washington thinks,

915
00:48:34,912 --> 00:48:36,462
"Aha! This is my moment.

916
00:48:36,455 --> 00:48:37,825
"I'm the colonel
of the Virginia Regiment.

917
00:48:37,832 --> 00:48:39,882
"I need to convince him

918
00:48:39,875 --> 00:48:41,785
"of all the extraordinary work
we've done

919
00:48:41,794 --> 00:48:44,264
and convince him that we need
to go on the offensive."

920
00:48:44,255 --> 00:48:48,295
‐ Washington is looking
for an acknowledgment

921
00:48:48,300 --> 00:48:49,760
from the British

922
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:53,680
that Americans are equal members
of the empire,

923
00:48:53,681 --> 00:48:57,271
equally worthy of respect.

924
00:48:57,268 --> 00:49:00,268
‐ It's incredibly audacious
for Washington,

925
00:49:00,271 --> 00:49:02,821
this junior officer,
to come in there

926
00:49:02,815 --> 00:49:04,525
and try to speak
to the commander‐in‐chief

927
00:49:04,525 --> 00:49:06,485
about what their strategy
should be.

928
00:49:06,485 --> 00:49:08,775
It would be like
a junior officer

929
00:49:08,779 --> 00:49:10,989
going to speak to the head
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

930
00:49:10,990 --> 00:49:14,290
♪♪♪

931
00:49:14,285 --> 00:49:15,655
‐ My Lord.

932
00:49:20,249 --> 00:49:23,249
‐ Your persistence,
Colonel Washington,

933
00:49:23,252 --> 00:49:24,962
affords you a few moments.

934
00:49:24,962 --> 00:49:26,962
Be brief.

935
00:49:26,964 --> 00:49:30,804
‐ I have come to discuss affairs
in the Ohio country.

936
00:49:30,801 --> 00:49:33,801
‐ With which
I am well acquainted.

937
00:49:33,804 --> 00:49:35,474
‐ Of course, my Lord,

938
00:49:35,473 --> 00:49:37,433
but I do feel we are missing
an opportunity.

939
00:49:37,433 --> 00:49:41,813
‐ And I fear confusion.
From the surface,

940
00:49:41,812 --> 00:49:43,022
it would seem you're about
to question

941
00:49:43,022 --> 00:49:44,822
my military strategy.

942
00:49:44,815 --> 00:49:48,855
‐ I would never dare question
your abilities, my Lord.

943
00:49:48,861 --> 00:49:50,991
But I know these lands.

944
00:49:50,988 --> 00:49:53,158
I have traveled them,
fought upon them.

945
00:49:53,157 --> 00:49:54,527
If we were to launch
a direct attack‐‐

946
00:49:54,533 --> 00:49:56,793
‐ Is it a provincial trait
to say

947
00:49:56,785 --> 00:49:58,785
that you do not question
something

948
00:49:58,787 --> 00:50:01,867
and then proceed
to question it?

949
00:50:01,874 --> 00:50:03,384
‐ No, my Lord.

950
00:50:03,375 --> 00:50:06,495
‐ Then let me ask you.

951
00:50:06,504 --> 00:50:10,014
As a self‐proclaimed expert
on this land,

952
00:50:10,007 --> 00:50:13,177
what is your opinion
of our present strategy‐‐

953
00:50:13,177 --> 00:50:14,757
my strategy?

954
00:50:14,762 --> 00:50:19,062
‐ Sound, my Lord.

955
00:50:19,058 --> 00:50:21,688
‐ Then you would do well
to mind your orders.

956
00:50:21,685 --> 00:50:23,055
Dismissed.

957
00:50:23,062 --> 00:50:24,402
‐ Yes, sir.

958
00:50:24,396 --> 00:50:27,526
♪♪♪

959
00:50:27,525 --> 00:50:30,065
Thank you, my Lord.

960
00:50:30,069 --> 00:50:34,029
♪♪♪

961
00:50:34,031 --> 00:50:37,541
‐ Washington is
an idealistic young man.

962
00:50:37,535 --> 00:50:41,405
He sees things as they
should be.

963
00:50:41,413 --> 00:50:43,543
And he doesn't understand
why other people

964
00:50:43,541 --> 00:50:45,041
don't see things the same way.

965
00:50:45,042 --> 00:50:48,552
♪♪♪

966
00:50:48,546 --> 00:50:50,706
‐ "To Lieutenant Governor
Dinwiddie,

967
00:50:50,714 --> 00:50:54,894
"Honorable sir, we can't
conceive that being American

968
00:50:54,885 --> 00:50:56,135
"should deprive us

969
00:50:56,136 --> 00:50:58,886
"of the benefits
of British subjects.

970
00:50:58,889 --> 00:51:01,429
"We are defending
the King's dominion,

971
00:51:01,433 --> 00:51:02,943
"and there can be
no sufficient reason given

972
00:51:02,935 --> 00:51:05,895
"why we, who spend our blood
and treasure

973
00:51:05,896 --> 00:51:07,056
"in defense of the country,

974
00:51:07,064 --> 00:51:10,284
are not entitled
to equal preferment."

975
00:51:10,276 --> 00:51:15,236
‐ And this isn't the
overambitious George Washington.

976
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:17,739
This is a long frustration
that had been developing

977
00:51:17,741 --> 00:51:20,951
over a long period of time.

978
00:51:20,953 --> 00:51:22,793
‐ He tries to work his way

979
00:51:22,788 --> 00:51:25,958
through the British political
and military bureaucracy

980
00:51:25,958 --> 00:51:28,288
in order to get
what he believes is right,

981
00:51:28,294 --> 00:51:32,884
and instead, he finds himself
falling into a quicksand pit

982
00:51:32,881 --> 00:51:36,261
as the British stop him
from accomplishing

983
00:51:36,260 --> 00:51:37,930
what he wants to accomplish.

984
00:51:37,928 --> 00:51:40,258
♪♪♪

985
00:51:40,264 --> 00:51:43,314
‐ More than a year later,
the British plot an attack

986
00:51:43,309 --> 00:51:46,439
on Fort Duquesne,
using the exact strategy

987
00:51:46,437 --> 00:51:50,187
Washington suggested to Loudoun.

988
00:51:50,190 --> 00:51:53,320
The campaign pushes France
to finally abandon its claim

989
00:51:53,319 --> 00:51:56,239
to the Ohio country,
ending the fighting

990
00:51:56,238 --> 00:51:59,778
between France and Britain
in the region.

991
00:51:59,783 --> 00:52:02,793
But Washington gets neither
the credit

992
00:52:02,786 --> 00:52:06,496
nor the officer's commission
he was seeking.

993
00:52:06,498 --> 00:52:08,328
‐ His response to that
was not to feel

994
00:52:08,334 --> 00:52:11,884
that he had been rejected,
but that they were stupid.

995
00:52:11,879 --> 00:52:14,629
They were allegedly
his superiors.

996
00:52:14,632 --> 00:52:17,132
He felt superior to them.

997
00:52:17,134 --> 00:52:24,564
♪♪♪

998
00:52:31,148 --> 00:52:33,648
‐ Washington resigns.

999
00:52:33,651 --> 00:52:34,991
♪♪♪

1000
00:52:34,985 --> 00:52:39,485
Never again
to wear British colors.

1001
00:52:39,490 --> 00:52:43,160
Never to become
a British officer.

1002
00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:47,000
♪♪♪

1003
00:52:46,997 --> 00:52:50,377
That dream is dead.

1004
00:52:50,376 --> 00:52:53,586
♪♪♪

1005
00:52:53,587 --> 00:52:55,667
‐ If the British government

1006
00:52:55,673 --> 00:52:57,933
had simply said
to George Washington,

1007
00:52:57,925 --> 00:52:59,675
"You want a commission
in the British Army?

1008
00:52:59,677 --> 00:53:01,047
"We'll give you a commission

1009
00:53:01,053 --> 00:53:02,513
in the British Army."

1010
00:53:02,513 --> 00:53:05,353
That might very well
have done it,

1011
00:53:05,349 --> 00:53:09,059
because then
his professional loyalties

1012
00:53:09,061 --> 00:53:12,691
would have been with this
institution of British Arms.

1013
00:53:12,690 --> 00:53:16,030
♪♪♪

1014
00:53:16,026 --> 00:53:18,276
‐ For him,
it was a matter of honor.

1015
00:53:18,278 --> 00:53:23,028
And we can date
from that moment, I think,

1016
00:53:23,033 --> 00:53:25,043
the birth of the rebel
George Washington.

1017
00:53:25,035 --> 00:53:29,535
‐ His military ambitions
behind him,

1018
00:53:29,540 --> 00:53:32,290
Washington forges
a new path forward.

1019
00:53:32,292 --> 00:53:35,672
It begins
with a political win‐‐

1020
00:53:35,671 --> 00:53:38,131
a seat in the Virginia
House of Burgesses.

1021
00:53:38,132 --> 00:53:39,222
[ gavel bangs ]

1022
00:53:39,216 --> 00:53:41,886
And it continues at the altar.

1023
00:53:41,885 --> 00:53:45,055
‐ I will.

1024
00:53:45,055 --> 00:53:49,345
‐ And you, Martha,
wilt thou obey him?

1025
00:53:49,351 --> 00:53:53,561
‐ The marriage to Martha is
the single most important event

1026
00:53:53,564 --> 00:53:57,904
in his early life, and it makes
everything else possible.

1027
00:53:57,901 --> 00:54:00,401
‐ ...love, honor, and keep him
in sickness and in health.

1028
00:54:00,404 --> 00:54:02,574
‐ I will.

1029
00:54:02,573 --> 00:54:05,163
‐ Now I pronounce you
husband and wife.

1030
00:54:05,159 --> 00:54:07,119
You may kiss the bride.

1031
00:54:07,119 --> 00:54:15,289
[ cheers and applause ]

1032
00:54:15,294 --> 00:54:17,504
‐ So not many love stories
start with dysentery,

1033
00:54:17,504 --> 00:54:18,844
but this one does.

1034
00:54:18,839 --> 00:54:22,589
[ strings playing waltz ]

1035
00:54:22,593 --> 00:54:25,553
He needed to go to the capital
to see a doctor

1036
00:54:25,554 --> 00:54:27,894
to get certain medicines,
and through that,

1037
00:54:27,890 --> 00:54:30,180
he was somehow connected
with Martha Custis.

1038
00:54:30,184 --> 00:54:32,104
They met a few times.
It was a few weeks,

1039
00:54:32,102 --> 00:54:33,652
a few months,
and then all of a sudden,

1040
00:54:33,645 --> 00:54:35,605
she's ordering a dress.

1041
00:54:35,606 --> 00:54:37,186
♪♪♪

1042
00:54:37,191 --> 00:54:39,491
At 27 years old,

1043
00:54:39,485 --> 00:54:43,315
Martha was in a unique position
in early America.

1044
00:54:43,322 --> 00:54:47,782
Her first husband had died,
and his male relations had died.

1045
00:54:47,784 --> 00:54:50,664
So she had control
of a huge estate,

1046
00:54:50,662 --> 00:54:52,462
and she didn't have
to report to anyone.

1047
00:54:52,456 --> 00:54:56,206
♪♪♪

1048
00:54:56,210 --> 00:55:00,300
‐ She was a catch because
of the fortune she brought.

1049
00:55:00,297 --> 00:55:03,627
He was a catch
because he was a stud.

1050
00:55:03,634 --> 00:55:07,144
[ song ends,
cheers and applause ]

1051
00:55:07,137 --> 00:55:10,137
‐ The union
of George the folk hero

1052
00:55:10,140 --> 00:55:12,140
and Martha, the wealthy widow,

1053
00:55:12,142 --> 00:55:16,312
transforms Washington's fortunes
overnight.

1054
00:55:16,313 --> 00:55:20,193
He becomes a loving stepfather
to Martha's two children‐‐

1055
00:55:20,192 --> 00:55:24,492
4‐year‐old Jackie
and 2‐year‐old Patsy.

1056
00:55:24,488 --> 00:55:28,658
And he expands the estate
he inherited from his family‐‐

1057
00:55:28,659 --> 00:55:32,159
a place called Mount Vernon.

1058
00:55:32,162 --> 00:55:34,922
‐ When he first acquires
Mount Vernon,

1059
00:55:34,915 --> 00:55:36,705
it's about 2,000 acres.

1060
00:55:36,708 --> 00:55:39,038
When he dies,
it's 8,000 acres, contiguous

1061
00:55:39,044 --> 00:55:40,964
along the Potomac River.

1062
00:55:40,963 --> 00:55:44,933
‐ Martha brings to the marriage
several thousand acres of land

1063
00:55:44,925 --> 00:55:50,555
along with 84 enslaved people
who make it all run.

1064
00:55:50,556 --> 00:55:53,516
‐ In Virginia,
the key was to get land,

1065
00:55:53,517 --> 00:55:55,477
but land is worthless
without labor,

1066
00:55:55,477 --> 00:56:00,357
and slavery was
the dominant form of labor

1067
00:56:00,357 --> 00:56:01,777
in the Atlantic world
at that time.

1068
00:56:01,775 --> 00:56:07,195
‐ Washington inherited
his first slaves as a child.

1069
00:56:07,197 --> 00:56:09,867
And over the course
of his lifetime,

1070
00:56:09,866 --> 00:56:14,446
he's buying and selling
enslaved people.

1071
00:56:14,454 --> 00:56:15,874
He's growing his wealth‐‐

1072
00:56:15,872 --> 00:56:19,922
growing as a farmer,
growing as a slaveholder.

1073
00:56:19,918 --> 00:56:24,878
George Washington in the 1760s
was not necessarily thinking

1074
00:56:24,881 --> 00:56:28,221
about posterity
or about the future.

1075
00:56:28,218 --> 00:56:30,678
That would happen
much later in his life.

1076
00:56:30,679 --> 00:56:34,219
I believe that he,
along with many others,

1077
00:56:34,224 --> 00:56:36,564
knew that slavery was wrong.

1078
00:56:36,560 --> 00:56:40,560
Yet it was also crucial
to financial success.

1079
00:56:40,564 --> 00:56:45,614
♪♪♪

1080
00:56:45,611 --> 00:56:49,241
‐ The Washingtons are now
among the Virginia elite.

1081
00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:53,909
It's an exclusive club,
and they're expected to keep up.

1082
00:56:53,910 --> 00:56:56,910
‐ Washington and Martha
dress very well.

1083
00:56:56,913 --> 00:56:58,833
They dress their servants
very well.

1084
00:56:58,832 --> 00:57:02,752
They are doing their very best
to appear to belong

1085
00:57:02,753 --> 00:57:05,803
to Virginia's governing elite,
their top 1%.

1086
00:57:16,391 --> 00:57:19,191
‐ Hello, dearest.
‐ Hello, husband.

1087
00:57:19,186 --> 00:57:21,606
‐ I have something for you.

1088
00:57:21,605 --> 00:57:24,775
‐ Oh, George.

1089
00:57:24,775 --> 00:57:28,815
♪♪♪

1090
00:57:28,820 --> 00:57:30,450
[ chuckles ]

1091
00:57:32,115 --> 00:57:35,285
♪♪♪

1092
00:57:35,285 --> 00:57:37,405
[ exhales deeply ]

1093
00:57:37,412 --> 00:57:41,042
It is exquisite.

1094
00:57:41,041 --> 00:57:47,461
‐ Not as lovely as the woman
who will wear it.

1095
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:52,470
‐ Thank you.

1096
00:57:52,469 --> 00:57:59,309
♪♪♪

1097
00:57:59,309 --> 00:58:01,979
Now...there are letters
on your desk.

1098
00:58:01,978 --> 00:58:04,148
‐ Always.
‐ Hmm.

1099
00:58:04,147 --> 00:58:06,147
‐ [ chuckles ]

1100
00:58:06,149 --> 00:58:19,659
♪♪♪

1101
00:58:19,663 --> 00:58:24,503
‐ With a new family,
a growing estate,

1102
00:58:24,501 --> 00:58:27,881
and a position
of high social standing,

1103
00:58:27,879 --> 00:58:31,259
Washington's dreams are
beginning to be realized.

1104
00:58:31,258 --> 00:58:32,878
‐ What is it?

1105
00:58:34,886 --> 00:58:37,846
‐ But the life he's building...

1106
00:58:37,848 --> 00:58:42,348
is in jeopardy.

1107
00:58:43,186 --> 00:58:45,186
[ crow cawing ]

1108
00:58:45,188 --> 00:58:57,198
♪♪♪

1109
00:58:57,200 --> 00:59:00,500
‐ "It might possibly answer
very little purpose

1110
00:59:00,495 --> 00:59:03,205
"were I to enter
into a minute detail

1111
00:59:03,206 --> 00:59:06,036
"of the reason that have
caused me to fall so much

1112
00:59:06,042 --> 00:59:07,712
"in arrears to you.

1113
00:59:07,711 --> 00:59:11,381
"Missed chances
rather than misconduct

1114
00:59:11,381 --> 00:59:13,221
have been the causes of it."

1115
00:59:13,216 --> 00:59:16,336
‐ After five years of marriage,

1116
00:59:16,344 --> 00:59:20,354
the Washingtons are deeply
in debt.

1117
00:59:20,348 --> 00:59:22,558
They owe upwards
of a quarter million

1118
00:59:22,559 --> 00:59:24,729
in today's dollars.

1119
00:59:24,728 --> 00:59:26,768
‐ "I shall now beg leave
to inform you

1120
00:59:26,772 --> 00:59:30,902
"in terms equally sincere
and direct

1121
00:59:30,901 --> 00:59:35,411
"that it is not in my power
to make remittances

1122
00:59:35,405 --> 00:59:39,075
"faster than my crops will
furnish me with the means.

1123
00:59:39,075 --> 00:59:43,995
"It is but an irksome thing
to a free mind

1124
00:59:43,997 --> 00:59:48,337
to be any ways hampered
in debt."

1125
00:59:48,335 --> 00:59:52,955
‐ In Virginia society,
the vast majority of planters

1126
00:59:52,964 --> 00:59:54,884
were relatively cash poor.

1127
00:59:54,883 --> 00:59:56,553
They owned their wealth in land.

1128
00:59:56,551 --> 00:59:58,721
They owned their wealth
in enslaved people,

1129
00:59:58,720 --> 01:00:02,430
and then Washington gets paid
basically maybe once a year,

1130
01:00:02,432 --> 01:00:05,102
as an agriculturalist,
maybe twice a year.

1131
01:00:05,101 --> 01:00:07,561
‐ The worst fear he has
is ruining Martha

1132
01:00:07,562 --> 01:00:09,482
and the hopes
of Martha's children.

1133
01:00:09,481 --> 01:00:12,071
‐ That is good, George.

1134
01:00:12,067 --> 01:00:15,607
Calm, measured.

1135
01:00:15,612 --> 01:00:17,112
‐ Thank you.

1136
01:00:17,113 --> 01:00:19,283
‐ Perhaps next year's crop
will fare better.

1137
01:00:19,282 --> 01:00:23,502
‐ I cannot continue
to balance our fortunes

1138
01:00:23,495 --> 01:00:27,745
on a thing as fickle
as tobacco.

1139
01:00:27,749 --> 01:00:30,919
‐ He grows tobacco
and sends tobacco

1140
01:00:30,919 --> 01:00:33,959
to his consignor in London,

1141
01:00:33,964 --> 01:00:35,724
then that person uses
that money

1142
01:00:35,715 --> 01:00:38,635
to purchase the items
that Washington has requested.

1143
01:00:38,635 --> 01:00:40,925
‐ And they charge whatever
they want for it,

1144
01:00:40,929 --> 01:00:42,009
the same way that they pay you

1145
01:00:42,013 --> 01:00:44,103
whatever they want
for the tobacco,

1146
01:00:44,099 --> 01:00:48,139
and so he's stuck in this...
vicious cycle.

1147
01:00:48,144 --> 01:00:49,314
‐ No matter how hard he works,

1148
01:00:49,312 --> 01:00:51,152
no matter how much tobacco
he grows,

1149
01:00:51,147 --> 01:00:54,937
it always turns out
that he's further in debt.

1150
01:00:54,943 --> 01:00:56,993
‐ Even very wealthy planters
like Washington

1151
01:00:56,987 --> 01:00:59,317
chronically were in debt,
and this is critical.

1152
01:00:59,322 --> 01:01:00,822
They weren't in debt

1153
01:01:00,824 --> 01:01:02,664
to Pennsylvania merchants
or New York merchants.

1154
01:01:02,659 --> 01:01:04,329
They were in debt
to English merchants.

1155
01:01:04,327 --> 01:01:06,497
‐ Washington's view is that

1156
01:01:06,496 --> 01:01:09,326
the entire planter class
of Virginia, him included,

1157
01:01:09,332 --> 01:01:12,092
has been caught
in this economic trap

1158
01:01:12,085 --> 01:01:14,455
that these capitalists
over there

1159
01:01:14,462 --> 01:01:16,212
are sucking the blood
of all of us.

1160
01:01:16,214 --> 01:01:18,634
[ fire crackling ]

1161
01:01:22,012 --> 01:01:24,852
♪♪♪

1162
01:01:24,848 --> 01:01:27,518
‐ We rotate in a 7‐year cycle.

1163
01:01:27,517 --> 01:01:30,807
Number one and two will move
from tobacco to wheat.

1164
01:01:30,812 --> 01:01:33,022
‐ Under pressure
from British creditors,

1165
01:01:33,023 --> 01:01:35,693
Washington responds
by revolutionizing

1166
01:01:35,692 --> 01:01:38,322
how Mount Vernon does business.

1167
01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:40,700
‐ He's a man of his era.
He's an Enlightenment figure.

1168
01:01:40,697 --> 01:01:42,987
He thinks that human beings
could make the world

1169
01:01:42,991 --> 01:01:44,371
a better place
than they've inherited,

1170
01:01:44,367 --> 01:01:45,697
that we don't have to do things

1171
01:01:45,702 --> 01:01:47,372
the same way
they've always been done.

1172
01:01:47,370 --> 01:01:49,370
‐ Green manures in number 3.

1173
01:01:49,372 --> 01:01:55,052
Number 4 and 5
will be gourd seed and corn.

1174
01:01:55,045 --> 01:01:57,875
That should produce
two or three ears per stalk.

1175
01:01:57,881 --> 01:02:01,681
‐ We tend to always think
about George Washington

1176
01:02:01,676 --> 01:02:04,506
as a president, as a general,
but I think that if you

1177
01:02:04,512 --> 01:02:07,972
asked him who he was,
especially prior to all of that,

1178
01:02:07,974 --> 01:02:09,394
he would tell us

1179
01:02:09,392 --> 01:02:11,562
he was a Virginian,
and he was a farmer.

1180
01:02:11,561 --> 01:02:13,691
‐ He becomes a great innovator
in agriculture.

1181
01:02:13,688 --> 01:02:15,568
He develops
the rotation of crops.

1182
01:02:15,565 --> 01:02:17,185
He's drawing on a lot
of English methods

1183
01:02:17,192 --> 01:02:19,822
that are cutting edge
at the time,

1184
01:02:19,819 --> 01:02:22,199
and he tries to incorporate
this into Mount Vernon.

1185
01:02:22,197 --> 01:02:25,407
‐ I want all this implemented
by the end of the season.

1186
01:02:25,408 --> 01:02:27,038
Good.

1187
01:02:27,035 --> 01:02:29,535
Now let us check on the progress
of the treading barn.

1188
01:02:29,537 --> 01:02:34,247
‐ Washington also sells grain
and milled flour locally,

1189
01:02:34,250 --> 01:02:38,880
pioneering one of America's
first homegrown industries.

1190
01:02:38,880 --> 01:02:42,380
By the 1770s,
his G. Washington brand

1191
01:02:42,384 --> 01:02:46,054
is considered one
of the finest in the Colonies.

1192
01:02:46,054 --> 01:02:48,474
‐ He's transitioning
to wheat farming

1193
01:02:48,473 --> 01:02:51,273
and ultimately flour production
as a way to get out

1194
01:02:51,267 --> 01:02:53,557
of the British system,
which essentially is stealing

1195
01:02:53,561 --> 01:02:55,311
his profits
from his point of view.

1196
01:02:55,313 --> 01:02:57,273
You know, he imagines
a different future,

1197
01:02:57,273 --> 01:02:59,613
and that's really
the whole experiment

1198
01:02:59,609 --> 01:03:02,779
that we end up being a part of
in the whole Revolutionary era.

1199
01:03:02,779 --> 01:03:07,779
‐ But by far, Washington's
greatest opportunity

1200
01:03:07,784 --> 01:03:11,204
to build wealth is to redouble
his lifelong pursuit

1201
01:03:11,204 --> 01:03:16,844
of America's
most valuable resource‐‐land.

1202
01:03:16,835 --> 01:03:19,585
‐ His ambitions were not
particularly political

1203
01:03:19,587 --> 01:03:21,967
for a very long time
in his life.

1204
01:03:21,965 --> 01:03:24,085
But he always had
a strong sense of himself.

1205
01:03:24,092 --> 01:03:25,342
He wanted to become
a land owner.

1206
01:03:25,343 --> 01:03:27,303
He didn't want to be poor.

1207
01:03:27,303 --> 01:03:29,473
Owning land‐‐
and if you were Southerner,

1208
01:03:29,472 --> 01:03:32,482
sadly, owning people‐‐

1209
01:03:32,475 --> 01:03:34,975
were basically
the indicators of success.

1210
01:03:34,978 --> 01:03:36,978
‐ In Great Britain,
the Washingtons

1211
01:03:36,980 --> 01:03:39,610
could not have owned property.
It went to noblemen.

1212
01:03:39,607 --> 01:03:42,487
And when they came over
in the 1600s,

1213
01:03:42,485 --> 01:03:45,525
they came for land.
They didn't mess around.

1214
01:03:45,530 --> 01:03:49,280
And this is in his blood.
The Washingtons are land‐hungry.

1215
01:03:49,284 --> 01:03:51,294
♪♪♪

1216
01:03:51,286 --> 01:03:52,826
‐ Further back.

1217
01:03:52,829 --> 01:03:55,039
A little more.

1218
01:03:55,040 --> 01:03:57,330
‐ George Washington,
at age 14,

1219
01:03:57,333 --> 01:03:58,503
picks up surveying instruments

1220
01:03:58,501 --> 01:04:01,131
and teaches himself to survey.

1221
01:04:01,129 --> 01:04:05,179
And surveying was
a hugely important job

1222
01:04:05,175 --> 01:04:07,585
in early America.

1223
01:04:07,594 --> 01:04:10,014
George Washington is earning
his own money

1224
01:04:10,013 --> 01:04:13,433
and purchasing his own land
by age 17.

1225
01:04:13,433 --> 01:04:15,523
‐ The whole point
of the West was

1226
01:04:15,518 --> 01:04:17,808
to acquire title to land

1227
01:04:17,812 --> 01:04:20,612
but hold onto it,
and in 10 or 20 years,

1228
01:04:20,607 --> 01:04:22,527
as the American population
grew,

1229
01:04:22,525 --> 01:04:24,185
that land would become
more valuable.

1230
01:04:24,194 --> 01:04:26,654
‐ To your right!
Come on, guys!

1231
01:04:26,654 --> 01:04:28,034
‐ And this was the basis

1232
01:04:28,031 --> 01:04:31,201
for more fortunes
in American history

1233
01:04:31,201 --> 01:04:34,001
than any way of making money.

1234
01:04:33,995 --> 01:04:37,825
‐ If you had land, even if you
are an ordinary person,

1235
01:04:37,832 --> 01:04:40,882
if you have plots of land,
you can grow your own food.

1236
01:04:40,877 --> 01:04:42,747
You had what would be called
independence.

1237
01:04:42,754 --> 01:04:46,934
So for Washington, having
lots of land was important.

1238
01:04:53,139 --> 01:04:57,059
‐ But his goals are
about to be derailed.

1239
01:04:57,060 --> 01:05:00,770
In 1763,
a new royal proclamation

1240
01:05:00,772 --> 01:05:04,572
poses a direct threat
to Washtington's investments.

1241
01:05:04,567 --> 01:05:07,567
To avoid another expensive war
on the frontier,

1242
01:05:07,570 --> 01:05:12,410
King George III bans colonists
from buying or settling land

1243
01:05:12,408 --> 01:05:13,988
in the West.

1244
01:05:13,993 --> 01:05:16,583
[ pages rustle ]

1245
01:05:16,579 --> 01:05:20,329
‐ What it does, essentially,
is to run a boundary

1246
01:05:20,333 --> 01:05:22,753
down the crest of
the Appalachian Mountains.

1247
01:05:22,752 --> 01:05:25,052
Everything west
of the Appalachians

1248
01:05:25,046 --> 01:05:28,086
is Indian country, and that land

1249
01:05:28,091 --> 01:05:31,091
is off‐limits
to British subjects.

1250
01:05:31,094 --> 01:05:33,934
‐ This just upset the plans
of Washington

1251
01:05:33,930 --> 01:05:36,770
and every other American
who was thinking of the West

1252
01:05:36,766 --> 01:05:41,306
as, by this time,
almost an American entitlement.

1253
01:05:41,312 --> 01:05:44,402
‐ He owns about 60,000 acres
of land that he's acquired

1254
01:05:44,399 --> 01:05:47,649
through a service
for the British

1255
01:05:47,652 --> 01:05:50,782
in the French and Indian War,
but in principle, it's saying,

1256
01:05:50,780 --> 01:05:53,740
that all the land you have
out there is worthless.

1257
01:05:53,741 --> 01:05:56,241
‐ So having had his ambition

1258
01:05:56,244 --> 01:05:59,874
to be a great military man
frustrated

1259
01:05:59,873 --> 01:06:02,633
by British prejudice
against the provincials,

1260
01:06:02,625 --> 01:06:05,835
the rules seemed to indicate
that the British

1261
01:06:05,837 --> 01:06:09,967
looked on Americans
as second‐class subjects.

1262
01:06:09,966 --> 01:06:12,426
‐ So if the British Empire
isn't good for you militarily,

1263
01:06:12,427 --> 01:06:13,967
and it's not good
for you economically,

1264
01:06:13,970 --> 01:06:15,510
what else is there?

1265
01:06:15,513 --> 01:06:19,143
‐ This proclamation kicks off
a decade of crackdowns

1266
01:06:19,142 --> 01:06:20,982
on colonists' ambitions.

1267
01:06:20,977 --> 01:06:23,647
It's followed by a slew
of new taxes‐‐

1268
01:06:23,646 --> 01:06:27,316
taxes that will help Britain
pay off its debt

1269
01:06:27,317 --> 01:06:29,937
from the French and Indian War.

1270
01:06:29,944 --> 01:06:32,284
[ drums beating ]

1271
01:06:32,280 --> 01:06:36,160
‐ Boston was at the cutting edge
of opposition

1272
01:06:36,159 --> 01:06:39,869
to British law,
starting with the Stamp Act.

1273
01:06:39,871 --> 01:06:42,751
‐ Everything that's paper‐‐
currency, newspapers,

1274
01:06:42,749 --> 01:06:44,669
all being taxed.

1275
01:06:44,667 --> 01:06:48,627
‐ This was a new kind of tax on
goods that were in the Colonies

1276
01:06:48,630 --> 01:06:51,340
as opposed to things
that were being imported.

1277
01:06:51,341 --> 01:06:53,971
That shift,
it alarmed Americans.

1278
01:06:53,968 --> 01:06:56,218
‐ [ chanting ]
No more taxes! No more taxes!

1279
01:06:56,221 --> 01:06:58,011
‐ The colonists adopted
boycotts

1280
01:06:58,014 --> 01:06:59,524
in which they would not
consume British goods.

1281
01:06:59,515 --> 01:07:01,015
♪♪♪

1282
01:07:01,017 --> 01:07:04,017
‐ The colonists
are sending petitions.

1283
01:07:04,020 --> 01:07:05,690
♪♪♪

1284
01:07:05,688 --> 01:07:08,018
There's troops sent up
to Boston.

1285
01:07:08,024 --> 01:07:11,534
♪♪♪

1286
01:07:11,527 --> 01:07:12,897
‐ [ yelling ]

1287
01:07:12,904 --> 01:07:15,324
‐ Will the Americans come
to blows over this?

1288
01:07:15,323 --> 01:07:18,033
‐ [ shouting indistinctly ]

1289
01:07:18,034 --> 01:07:19,374
[ gunfire ]

1290
01:07:19,369 --> 01:07:21,409
‐ The Boston Massacre.
‐ [ yelling ]

1291
01:07:21,412 --> 01:07:25,672
[ gunfire, knives stabbing ]

1292
01:07:25,667 --> 01:07:29,377
‐ American colonists killed
by British fire.

1293
01:07:29,379 --> 01:07:31,549
‐ We then have events
like the Boston Tea Party,

1294
01:07:31,547 --> 01:07:33,217
which is a protest
against a tax on tea.

1295
01:07:33,216 --> 01:07:37,756
♪♪♪

1296
01:07:37,762 --> 01:07:39,062
‐ And then
the Intolerable Acts...

1297
01:07:39,055 --> 01:07:40,715
‐ Punishment
for the Boston Tea Party...

1298
01:07:40,723 --> 01:07:43,893
‐ ...strike America like
the blow of a hammer.

1299
01:07:43,893 --> 01:07:48,483
♪♪♪

1300
01:07:48,481 --> 01:07:50,071
‐ [ crowd shouting
indistinctly ]

1301
01:07:50,066 --> 01:07:52,896
‐ The British have revoked
the charter of Massachusetts.

1302
01:07:52,902 --> 01:07:56,242
They've closed
the Port of Boston.

1303
01:07:56,239 --> 01:07:58,909
‐ People in other colonies
are very much watching

1304
01:07:58,908 --> 01:08:00,118
what's going on there,
and they're thinking,

1305
01:08:00,118 --> 01:08:01,578
"That could happen here."

1306
01:08:03,454 --> 01:08:04,874
‐ The cause of Boston now

1307
01:08:04,872 --> 01:08:06,752
becomes the cause
of all America.

1308
01:08:09,252 --> 01:08:11,002
‐ And that's when we see
George Washington

1309
01:08:11,004 --> 01:08:13,264
become
a reluctant revolutionary.

1310
01:08:13,256 --> 01:08:15,926
‐ Washington considered himself
to be British.

1311
01:08:15,925 --> 01:08:19,045
He wanted to be a part
of that Imperial world.

1312
01:08:19,053 --> 01:08:21,723
But when that fell apart,
it's the kind of thing

1313
01:08:21,723 --> 01:08:23,183
where you could only
hate something

1314
01:08:23,182 --> 01:08:25,522
that you had loved a lot.

1315
01:08:25,518 --> 01:08:27,848
‐ You could argue
that the British Empire

1316
01:08:27,854 --> 01:08:32,574
slowly built the man
who would destroy them

1317
01:08:32,567 --> 01:08:36,817
from the inside out.

1318
01:08:37,530 --> 01:08:51,250
♪♪♪

1319
01:08:51,252 --> 01:08:52,672
‐ Thank you for coming.

1320
01:08:52,670 --> 01:08:54,710
It is so great
everybody's here.

1321
01:08:54,714 --> 01:08:58,384
Thank you. We need all
the support we can get.

1322
01:08:58,384 --> 01:09:02,394
‐ More than 50 delegates
from 12 of the 13 colonies

1323
01:09:02,388 --> 01:09:04,468
are gathering
for the first time

1324
01:09:04,474 --> 01:09:06,894
to plan resistance
to the British crackdown

1325
01:09:06,893 --> 01:09:08,563
on their rights.

1326
01:09:11,356 --> 01:09:14,476
‐ The Colonies had never been,
before this period,

1327
01:09:14,484 --> 01:09:16,154
very good at doing things
together.

1328
01:09:16,152 --> 01:09:17,992
I mean, they really are
independent units.

1329
01:09:17,987 --> 01:09:19,987
They only manage to act
in concert

1330
01:09:19,989 --> 01:09:21,409
when they're threatened.

1331
01:09:21,407 --> 01:09:23,487
‐ And the idea is if we
coordinate our response,

1332
01:09:23,493 --> 01:09:25,043
it will be more effective.

1333
01:09:25,036 --> 01:09:27,326
The British won't be able
to pick us off one by one.

1334
01:09:27,330 --> 01:09:30,960
‐ Billed as
the First Continental Congress,

1335
01:09:30,958 --> 01:09:34,088
it's a who's who of
future revolutionaries,

1336
01:09:34,087 --> 01:09:39,337
including Sam Adams,
John Jay, Patrick Henry,

1337
01:09:39,342 --> 01:09:42,182
and Massachusetts' own
John Adams.

1338
01:09:44,347 --> 01:09:47,977
[ indistinct chatter ]

1339
01:09:47,975 --> 01:09:50,345
‐ Mr. Washington.

1340
01:09:50,353 --> 01:09:52,693
We're all glad
you made the journey.

1341
01:09:52,688 --> 01:09:54,398
John Adams.

1342
01:09:54,399 --> 01:09:57,899
‐ Mr. Adams, your fine work
and reputation precede you.

1343
01:09:57,902 --> 01:09:59,572
It is a pleasure to make
your acquaintance.

1344
01:09:59,570 --> 01:10:02,280
‐ I'm sure you're well aware,

1345
01:10:02,281 --> 01:10:05,701
but your presence here
does carry a great weight.

1346
01:10:05,702 --> 01:10:07,872
‐ I'm honored
to represent Virginia.

1347
01:10:07,870 --> 01:10:10,040
‐ We in Massachusetts
are gratified

1348
01:10:10,039 --> 01:10:12,879
to have the Colonies
assembled for our cause.

1349
01:10:12,875 --> 01:10:16,085
‐ Now we shall see if all are
ready to speak with one voice.

1350
01:10:16,087 --> 01:10:18,087
‐ I'm well acquainted
with the British disregard

1351
01:10:18,089 --> 01:10:19,419
for their own laws.

1352
01:10:19,424 --> 01:10:22,554
These unjust policies
cannot stand.

1353
01:10:22,552 --> 01:10:25,972
‐ We are agreed upon that,
Mr. Washington.

1354
01:10:25,972 --> 01:10:28,472
I look forward to discussing
these matters.

1355
01:10:28,474 --> 01:10:31,234
‐ And I look forward
to taking action.

1356
01:10:31,227 --> 01:10:33,227
‐ Order.

1357
01:10:35,940 --> 01:10:40,450
‐ Washington is a believer
that the British Empire

1358
01:10:40,445 --> 01:10:44,525
intends to enslave
the American population.

1359
01:10:44,532 --> 01:10:47,452
He sees an orchestrated plot
in the sense that

1360
01:10:47,452 --> 01:10:52,292
we no longer have control
over our own domestic policy.

1361
01:10:52,290 --> 01:10:56,840
‐ The delegates are divided
on how to proceed.

1362
01:10:56,836 --> 01:10:59,456
While some want to keep
petitioning Parliament,

1363
01:10:59,464 --> 01:11:04,224
others are pushing
for more radical action.

1364
01:11:04,218 --> 01:11:06,598
‐ The colonists are demanding
their rights,

1365
01:11:06,596 --> 01:11:10,096
and actually initially,
trying to use the system

1366
01:11:10,099 --> 01:11:12,309
that's in place
to get their rights...

1367
01:11:12,310 --> 01:11:16,440
sending petitions,
traditional protests,

1368
01:11:16,439 --> 01:11:18,779
doing the things
you do as a colonist

1369
01:11:18,775 --> 01:11:22,195
to express your needs
and your demands.

1370
01:11:22,195 --> 01:11:27,195
‐ Finally, the Congress agrees
to an all‐colony boycott

1371
01:11:27,200 --> 01:11:31,200
of British goods‐‐a move
designed to pressure Britain

1372
01:11:31,204 --> 01:11:35,044
to repeal their taxes
and remove troops from Boston.

1373
01:11:35,041 --> 01:11:39,171
Though "revolution" is still
not a word uttered publicly,

1374
01:11:39,170 --> 01:11:44,470
Washington is not convinced
it can be avoided.

1375
01:11:44,467 --> 01:11:46,717
‐ "More blood will be spilt
on this occasion

1376
01:11:46,719 --> 01:11:50,639
"if the Ministry are determined
to push matters to extremity.

1377
01:11:50,640 --> 01:11:53,560
"No such thing is desired
by any thinking man

1378
01:11:53,559 --> 01:11:57,059
in all North America."

1379
01:11:57,063 --> 01:12:01,193
‐ It became pretty clear
early on

1380
01:12:01,192 --> 01:12:02,572
that Great Britain was not
going to back down,

1381
01:12:02,568 --> 01:12:05,908
and that they were not
going to meet the demands

1382
01:12:05,905 --> 01:12:09,115
that the colonists put forth,
and although that was

1383
01:12:09,116 --> 01:12:13,116
always a frightful prospect,
to go to war,

1384
01:12:13,120 --> 01:12:15,540
it's pretty clear that that was
likely to be the answer.

1385
01:12:15,540 --> 01:12:19,250
♪♪♪

1386
01:12:19,252 --> 01:12:25,682
[ gunfire ]

1387
01:12:25,675 --> 01:12:29,295
‐ The following spring,
Washington's fears are realized

1388
01:12:29,303 --> 01:12:32,143
at Lexington and Concord.

1389
01:12:32,139 --> 01:12:35,179
‐ Lexington and Concord
shocked Americans.

1390
01:12:35,184 --> 01:12:38,734
That really stunned them.
What does that mean

1391
01:12:38,729 --> 01:12:42,899
if your own government
now is firing upon you?

1392
01:12:42,900 --> 01:12:46,990
‐ Until this point,
most colonists

1393
01:12:46,988 --> 01:12:50,028
were willing to say, "If you
could just wind back the clock,

1394
01:12:50,032 --> 01:12:53,162
then all will be well."

1395
01:12:53,160 --> 01:12:55,910
‐ All these people,
including Washington,

1396
01:12:55,913 --> 01:12:58,883
reached some point
when they thought,

1397
01:12:58,875 --> 01:13:02,835
"You know,
we just cannot remain part

1398
01:13:02,837 --> 01:13:04,337
"of the British Empire.

1399
01:13:04,338 --> 01:13:06,588
We can't do it."

1400
01:13:06,591 --> 01:13:09,681
‐ By the time
the Second Continental Congress

1401
01:13:09,677 --> 01:13:12,427
convenes three weeks later,

1402
01:13:12,430 --> 01:13:15,220
the time has come
to put down the quill

1403
01:13:15,224 --> 01:13:17,564
and pick up the sword.

1404
01:13:17,560 --> 01:13:21,690
The question is,
who will lead the charge?

1405
01:13:21,689 --> 01:13:25,859
‐ We need a military figure
to go up to corral events

1406
01:13:25,860 --> 01:13:27,990
and really become a commander
of some kind of an army,

1407
01:13:27,987 --> 01:13:30,157
whatever that army is gonna be.

1408
01:13:30,156 --> 01:13:31,816
‐ And they need somebody

1409
01:13:31,824 --> 01:13:34,084
who will both be reliable
politically,

1410
01:13:34,076 --> 01:13:37,076
somebody who won't be at risk
of trying to make himself

1411
01:13:37,079 --> 01:13:39,209
a military dictator,

1412
01:13:39,206 --> 01:13:41,996
but somebody who has
the basic skills and knowledge

1413
01:13:42,001 --> 01:13:43,591
to lead an army.

1414
01:13:43,586 --> 01:13:46,626
It's a pretty short list
of men in North America

1415
01:13:46,631 --> 01:13:49,261
who meet both
of those requirements.

1416
01:13:49,258 --> 01:13:51,798
‐ The most eager
of the candidates

1417
01:13:51,802 --> 01:13:53,852
is John Hancock,

1418
01:13:53,846 --> 01:13:57,426
a prominent Boston businessman
turned politician.

1419
01:13:57,433 --> 01:14:00,273
‐ In many ways,
he's the anti‐Washington.

1420
01:14:00,269 --> 01:14:03,109
John Hancock
is a very vain man.

1421
01:14:03,105 --> 01:14:06,225
He's somebody
who is pretty shallow,

1422
01:14:06,233 --> 01:14:09,573
somebody who is a showboat,

1423
01:14:09,570 --> 01:14:13,120
somebody who does not
understand his limitations.

1424
01:14:13,115 --> 01:14:17,745
‐ One of the most experienced
is Horatio Gates,

1425
01:14:17,745 --> 01:14:21,205
a British‐born veteran
who'd served on the frontier,

1426
01:14:21,207 --> 01:14:25,287
married an American
and decided to stay.

1427
01:14:25,294 --> 01:14:28,344
‐ He has held
the king's commission.

1428
01:14:28,339 --> 01:14:30,719
He has been
a commissioned officer.

1429
01:14:30,716 --> 01:14:32,386
He's seen fighting,

1430
01:14:32,385 --> 01:14:34,385
perhaps even more
than Washington has.

1431
01:14:34,387 --> 01:14:37,807
‐ But Gates was not a Virginian,

1432
01:14:37,807 --> 01:14:40,767
and a lot of people,
including John Adams,

1433
01:14:40,768 --> 01:14:42,898
understood that Virginia,
which was the largest colony

1434
01:14:42,895 --> 01:14:47,815
at the time, needed to be
invested in the war cause,

1435
01:14:47,817 --> 01:14:49,897
and the best way to get
Virginia invested

1436
01:14:49,902 --> 01:14:51,362
was to put a Virginian
at the very top.

1437
01:14:51,362 --> 01:14:53,822
♪♪♪

1438
01:14:53,823 --> 01:14:57,703
‐ It's important to Washington
to be able to tell himself

1439
01:14:57,702 --> 01:14:59,702
that he's not ambitious.

1440
01:14:59,704 --> 01:15:04,134
It's important for him
to be able to say,

1441
01:15:04,125 --> 01:15:07,915
"I'm not campaigning
for this job."

1442
01:15:07,920 --> 01:15:12,340
‐ That complicated cocktail
of public projection,

1443
01:15:12,341 --> 01:15:16,431
of balancing private ambition
with the greater good,

1444
01:15:16,429 --> 01:15:18,179
was something that Washington
did as brilliantly

1445
01:15:18,180 --> 01:15:21,060
as any American ever did.

1446
01:15:21,058 --> 01:15:24,018
‐ I mean, there wasn't
a large number of folks

1447
01:15:24,020 --> 01:15:26,150
with the kind of stature
that he had.

1448
01:15:26,147 --> 01:15:27,897
If not him, who?

1449
01:15:27,898 --> 01:15:35,818
♪♪♪

1450
01:15:35,823 --> 01:15:37,703
‐ Washington,
one of Virginia's delegates

1451
01:15:37,700 --> 01:15:39,540
to the Second
Continental Congress,

1452
01:15:39,535 --> 01:15:41,495
shows up wearing
a military uniform.

1453
01:15:41,495 --> 01:15:45,705
It reminds people
he has military experience.

1454
01:15:45,708 --> 01:15:48,418
If you need a commander,
look no farther.

1455
01:15:48,419 --> 01:15:51,379
He is going to have to
build this army

1456
01:15:51,380 --> 01:15:54,930
in effect from himself down

1457
01:15:54,925 --> 01:15:59,095
by appearing to be
a man of confidence

1458
01:15:59,096 --> 01:16:02,976
even when almost nobody else
has confidence in the cause.

1459
01:16:02,975 --> 01:16:05,265
♪♪♪

1460
01:16:05,269 --> 01:16:07,809
‐ Washington fell in love
with the country

1461
01:16:07,813 --> 01:16:09,693
that was being created,

1462
01:16:09,690 --> 01:16:13,280
and he was prepared
to fight for it and die for it.

1463
01:16:13,277 --> 01:16:25,957
♪♪♪

1464
01:16:25,956 --> 01:16:30,126
♪♪♪

1465
01:16:30,127 --> 01:16:31,837
That is all for now.

1466
01:16:31,837 --> 01:16:38,137
♪♪♪

1467
01:16:38,135 --> 01:16:42,345
‐ "My dearest, I am now sat down
to write you on a subject

1468
01:16:42,348 --> 01:16:47,098
"which fills me
with inexpressible concern

1469
01:16:47,103 --> 01:16:49,523
"when I reflect upon
the uneasiness

1470
01:16:49,522 --> 01:16:50,942
I know it will give you."

1471
01:16:53,818 --> 01:16:56,568
"It has been determined
in Congress

1472
01:16:56,570 --> 01:16:58,530
"that the whole army raised
for the defense

1473
01:16:58,531 --> 01:17:03,241
"of the American cause
shall be put under my care

1474
01:17:03,244 --> 01:17:05,964
"and that is necessary for me
to proceed immediately

1475
01:17:05,955 --> 01:17:09,495
to Boston
to take command of it."

1476
01:17:09,500 --> 01:17:11,670
‐ Some two decades
after he was denied

1477
01:17:11,669 --> 01:17:14,299
a British officer's rank,

1478
01:17:14,296 --> 01:17:17,626
George Washington
becomes commander‐in‐chief

1479
01:17:17,633 --> 01:17:22,223
of an army in revolt against
the empire he once served.

1480
01:17:22,221 --> 01:17:26,641
‐ He passionately believes
in the cause.

1481
01:17:26,642 --> 01:17:28,892
He believes
that as a virtuous man,

1482
01:17:28,894 --> 01:17:32,194
he must set all of his skills,
all of his abilities,

1483
01:17:32,189 --> 01:17:33,649
all of his resources

1484
01:17:33,649 --> 01:17:36,529
at the service
of his countrymen,

1485
01:17:36,527 --> 01:17:39,857
but he recognizes
whoever leads this army

1486
01:17:39,864 --> 01:17:43,414
is more likely than not
to lose his life,

1487
01:17:43,409 --> 01:17:46,999
to lose his fortune,
and to lose his reputation.

1488
01:17:46,996 --> 01:17:50,206
This is not a position of glory.

1489
01:17:50,207 --> 01:17:51,997
‐ Washington always
defined greatness

1490
01:17:52,001 --> 01:17:54,711
as a willingness to do things
not for yourself

1491
01:17:54,712 --> 01:17:57,422
but for others, and so every
fiber of his being

1492
01:17:57,423 --> 01:18:00,053
said he must do this.

1493
01:18:00,050 --> 01:18:03,890
‐ "I shall rely confidently
on that providence

1494
01:18:03,888 --> 01:18:08,178
"which has heretofore preserved
and been bountiful to me,

1495
01:18:08,184 --> 01:18:13,064
"not doubting but that I shall
return safe to you in the fall.

1496
01:18:13,063 --> 01:18:14,613
"I shall feel no pain
from the toil

1497
01:18:14,607 --> 01:18:17,397
or the danger of the campaign."

1498
01:18:17,401 --> 01:18:19,861
‐ He knows his whole life
is gonna change,

1499
01:18:19,862 --> 01:18:23,122
and the letters he writes home
shows his own emotion.

1500
01:18:23,115 --> 01:18:27,115
This is a moment
when the normal screen

1501
01:18:27,119 --> 01:18:29,869
or the curtain
around Washington opens

1502
01:18:29,872 --> 01:18:31,712
and you get to see
who he really is.

1503
01:18:31,707 --> 01:18:36,247
‐ "My unhappiness will flow
from the uneasiness I know

1504
01:18:36,253 --> 01:18:39,383
"you will feel at being
left alone.

1505
01:18:39,381 --> 01:18:42,181
"I beg of you to summon
your whole fortitude

1506
01:18:42,176 --> 01:18:45,216
"and resolution
and pass your time

1507
01:18:45,221 --> 01:18:47,971
"as agreeably as possible.

1508
01:18:47,973 --> 01:18:51,143
"I shall add nothing more
at the present

1509
01:18:51,143 --> 01:18:56,023
"but to assure you that I am
with the most unfeigned regard,

1510
01:18:56,023 --> 01:18:58,733
your affectionate George."

1511
01:18:58,734 --> 01:19:08,794
♪♪♪

1512
01:19:08,786 --> 01:19:14,286
♪♪♪

1513
01:19:14,291 --> 01:19:16,961
[ wheels rattling ]

1514
01:19:16,961 --> 01:19:22,171
‐ When Washington arrives
in Boston in July 1775,

1515
01:19:22,174 --> 01:19:24,474
there's little fanfare.

1516
01:19:24,468 --> 01:19:27,258
With him is the man who will
serve alongside him

1517
01:19:27,263 --> 01:19:28,853
for the duration of the war.

1518
01:19:28,847 --> 01:19:31,977
His name is William Lee,

1519
01:19:31,976 --> 01:19:34,646
though Washington
calls him Billy.

1520
01:19:34,645 --> 01:19:37,055
Lee doesn't have
an official military rank.

1521
01:19:37,064 --> 01:19:40,944
He's Washington's
enslaved valet.

1522
01:19:40,943 --> 01:19:45,073
‐ Washington purchased
William Lee in 1768.

1523
01:19:45,072 --> 01:19:47,452
He's probably someone
that knew Washington

1524
01:19:47,449 --> 01:19:49,489
better than almost anybody.

1525
01:19:49,493 --> 01:19:52,623
‐ Billy and Washington
had an intimate relationship

1526
01:19:52,621 --> 01:19:54,871
in that Billy would comb
his hair in the morning

1527
01:19:54,873 --> 01:19:56,463
and put out his clothes
and all this other stuff.

1528
01:19:56,458 --> 01:19:57,838
‐ He's known for organizing

1529
01:19:57,835 --> 01:20:01,455
George Washington's life,
his papers.

1530
01:20:01,463 --> 01:20:04,343
William Lee,
unlike the majority

1531
01:20:04,341 --> 01:20:06,801
of other 18th century
enslaved people,

1532
01:20:06,802 --> 01:20:10,142
has been in some ways given

1533
01:20:10,139 --> 01:20:13,179
a little more than a footnote
in history.

1534
01:20:13,183 --> 01:20:15,893
‐ Billy Lee, as we've come
to think about him,

1535
01:20:15,894 --> 01:20:17,484
is one of the heroes
of the American Revolution.

1536
01:20:19,857 --> 01:20:22,357
‐ My belongings arrive
from Mount Vernon, Billy?

1537
01:20:22,359 --> 01:20:24,279
‐ Yes, sir.

1538
01:20:30,326 --> 01:20:40,786
♪♪♪

1539
01:20:40,794 --> 01:20:43,554
‐ They promised me an army.

1540
01:20:43,547 --> 01:20:45,547
Does this look like an army
to you?

1541
01:20:45,549 --> 01:20:46,839
‐ No, sir.

1542
01:20:46,842 --> 01:20:48,222
It does not.

1543
01:20:48,218 --> 01:20:51,968
[ laughter ]

1544
01:20:51,972 --> 01:20:55,892
It's been a long journey, sir.
Perhaps you should rest.

1545
01:20:55,893 --> 01:20:58,603
‐ No, Billy, this is no time
for a rest.

1546
01:20:58,604 --> 01:21:01,024
See to the horse.
‐ Yes, sir.

1547
01:21:03,025 --> 01:21:06,235
‐ Washington's orders
from the Continental Congress

1548
01:21:06,236 --> 01:21:09,946
are to force the occupying
British troops out of Boston.

1549
01:21:09,948 --> 01:21:11,948
‐ When he gets up
to Massachusetts, it confirms

1550
01:21:11,950 --> 01:21:15,950
it confirms all of his most
desperate thoughts

1551
01:21:15,954 --> 01:21:18,214
about the militias‐‐
they come and go as they please,

1552
01:21:18,207 --> 01:21:19,167
they don't want to be
under the discipline

1553
01:21:19,166 --> 01:21:20,876
of a regular army.

1554
01:21:20,876 --> 01:21:23,456
‐ I mean,
they're guys with guns.

1555
01:21:23,462 --> 01:21:25,802
It was not a trained army.
It was a militia.

1556
01:21:25,798 --> 01:21:28,758
‐ We have this vision
of the American Revolution

1557
01:21:28,759 --> 01:21:30,389
as we had an army
and they had an army.

1558
01:21:30,386 --> 01:21:32,716
We didn't have an army.
We had a lot of state militias.

1559
01:21:32,721 --> 01:21:34,811
‐ Washington's major problem
is to recognize

1560
01:21:34,807 --> 01:21:38,097
that he's inherited a mob,

1561
01:21:38,102 --> 01:21:41,312
and that he wants to do for it
what he had done for the‐‐

1562
01:21:41,313 --> 01:21:44,023
the Virginia Regiment during
the French and Indian War‐‐

1563
01:21:44,024 --> 01:21:46,744
make them into a real corps
of professional soldiers.

1564
01:21:46,735 --> 01:21:49,775
‐ He has to figure out how
to join these people together

1565
01:21:49,780 --> 01:21:52,370
in some kind of a way
in which they can fight

1566
01:21:52,366 --> 01:21:54,236
this great empire.

1567
01:21:54,243 --> 01:21:57,833
‐ Washington was expecting
20,000 men

1568
01:21:57,830 --> 01:22:01,080
and 10 tons of gunpowder.

1569
01:22:01,083 --> 01:22:03,343
There is a fraction of both.

1570
01:22:03,335 --> 01:22:06,255
‐ Trying to put together an army
overnight is impossible.

1571
01:22:06,255 --> 01:22:08,415
It took the British Army
a century.

1572
01:22:08,424 --> 01:22:10,384
I mean, like, where do you dig
the latrines?

1573
01:22:10,384 --> 01:22:12,344
Where do the hospitals go?

1574
01:22:12,344 --> 01:22:14,144
These are all, like, things
that are routinized

1575
01:22:14,138 --> 01:22:17,268
inside a British manual.
We have none of that.

1576
01:22:17,266 --> 01:22:20,186
And we just got a bunch of guys
who basically showed up to fight

1577
01:22:20,185 --> 01:22:22,935
for a few days and figure
they're gonna go home.

1578
01:22:22,938 --> 01:22:24,938
‐ Where is
your commanding officer?

1579
01:22:27,067 --> 01:22:29,357
Get me
your commanding officer now!

1580
01:22:29,361 --> 01:22:33,031
‐ Once a headstrong
and untested young soldier,

1581
01:22:33,031 --> 01:22:36,161
Washington now takes command
of his army

1582
01:22:36,160 --> 01:22:40,250
21 years to the day
after his crushing defeat

1583
01:22:40,247 --> 01:22:41,417
at Fort Necessity.

1584
01:22:41,415 --> 01:22:43,035
‐ Hold your lines!

1585
01:22:43,041 --> 01:22:45,341
[ gunfire ]

1586
01:22:45,335 --> 01:22:49,125
‐ He's taken on a task
that he knows is going to be

1587
01:22:49,131 --> 01:22:51,721
perhaps impossible to defeat
the British Army and Navy,

1588
01:22:51,717 --> 01:22:55,137
and he's there to do it,
and he's committed.

1589
01:22:58,098 --> 01:23:00,888
‐ And if you command the army
that declares war on the Empire,

1590
01:23:00,893 --> 01:23:02,693
you better win.

1591
01:23:02,686 --> 01:23:04,856
Because if you don't,

1592
01:23:04,855 --> 01:23:06,225
there's no telling
what's gonna become of you.

1593
01:23:06,231 --> 01:23:11,821
♪♪♪

1594
01:23:11,820 --> 01:23:15,780
‐ Next time on "Washington"...

1595
01:23:15,782 --> 01:23:17,912
‐ If they captured him
in New York,

1596
01:23:17,910 --> 01:23:19,660
they would have put his head
on a spit,

1597
01:23:19,661 --> 01:23:21,501
and that's all
you would remember

1598
01:23:21,497 --> 01:23:23,077
about George Washington.

1599
01:23:23,081 --> 01:23:26,791
‐ We have therefore to resolve
to conquer or die.

1600
01:23:26,793 --> 01:23:28,673
‐ Are these the men with whom
I'm to defend America?

1601
01:23:30,714 --> 01:23:33,684
‐ "We hold these truths
to be self‐evident."

1602
01:23:33,675 --> 01:23:36,215
‐ The Declaration
is a rallying cry,

1603
01:23:36,220 --> 01:23:38,010
but it was an act of treason.

1604
01:23:38,013 --> 01:23:41,773
‐ Life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.

1605
01:23:41,767 --> 01:23:42,937
‐ Bloody fools.

1606
01:23:42,935 --> 01:23:46,435
♪♪♪

1607
01:23:46,438 --> 01:23:49,068
‐ Washington really needed to
convince the American people

1608
01:23:49,066 --> 01:23:51,186
that they could fight
the British.

1609
01:23:51,193 --> 01:23:52,363
‐ We must go on the offense.

1610
01:23:52,361 --> 01:23:55,361
There are a great many risks.

1611
01:23:55,364 --> 01:23:59,914
‐ This night will become one
of our great national myths.

1612
01:23:59,910 --> 01:24:01,040
♪♪♪

1613
01:24:01,036 --> 01:24:03,366
‐ Charge!

1614
01:24:03,372 --> 01:24:05,832
‐ This is our land,
and we will defend it.

1615
01:24:05,832 --> 01:24:07,082
‐ [ sword slices ]

1616
01:24:07,084 --> 01:24:09,004
‐ This was found hidden
in his boot.

1617
01:24:09,002 --> 01:24:12,592
‐ Arnold has betrayed
not only Washington

1618
01:24:12,589 --> 01:24:13,379
but his country.

1619
01:24:13,382 --> 01:24:15,552
‐ Go.

1620
01:24:15,551 --> 01:24:18,101
Get him.

1621
01:24:18,095 --> 01:24:19,135
Now.