alexander hamilton was given the task to write to general washington. hamilton and washington had a tortured relationship. alexander hamilton arrived in america just before the revolution, timing is everything. went to college, became a lawyer, and then the war broke out. he joined the army, became a captain in the artillery. distinguished himself, very fine soldier. came to the attention of general washington who invited this young man to be his secretary, which he accepted. and he served washington until one day at headquarters washington was going up the stairs, colonel hamilton was coming down the stairs. the commander in chief said to the colonel, colonel, i wish to see you immediately. the colonel responded, i'll be with you in a few minutes, sir. not the right answer to the commander in chief. washington turned on hamilton,

berated him in front of his fellow officers. hamilton then resigned as secretary, returned to the army, and later distinguished himself at the battle of yorktown, which brought him back to some degree in washington's good graces. hamilton had then left the army and was a congressman from new york. so hamilton then is given the assignment of addressing washington. i doubt that anyone really expected that general washington would join in any plot, but at the same time they needed to test him out. how did he feel? hamilton warned washington that the army was on the brink of mutiny. he suggested to washington that the general might wish to control direct deterrent was his expression. he also then went on to say something, write something to washington which the general found incredibly insulting, if

not hurtful. hamilton told washington that there were rumors in congress as well as in the army that his soldiers were disappointed with him. they accused the commander in chief of not doing enough for them in articulating their demands and their grievances. washington found that particularly hurtful. hamilton then suggested that washington talk with general knox. a very, very dangerous game now was under way. both knox and washington had an inkling of what was going on in philadelphia, and now they were being drawn in. it seems to me entirely likely, probable, that general knox and general washington did, in fact,

talk. their headquarters were about 12 miles apart. washington was in newburg, knox was at west point. i'm sure they did. they probably shared letters, the one from knox h the one from morris to knox, the one from hamilton to washington. these two men then replied to the men from philadelphia. knox replied first to morris. he told morris, i consider the reputation of the american army as one of the most immaculate things on earth. we should even suffer wrongs and injuries to the utmost verge of toleration rather than sully it in the least degree. i hope to god that the army will never be directed against the enemies of the liberties of america. a few days later washington

replied to hamilton. the fatal tendency to involve the army in political matters would be productive of civil co-motions and end in blood. i stand as citizen and soldier. citizen and soldier. well, the nationalists clearly had been rebuffed by knox and washington, and so they quite naturally turned to a man with whom they knew they could deal, general gates. general gates at his headquarters at a place called ellison house, very near the encampment, was surrounded there by a young staff of majors and lieutenant colonels. now, here is an interesting side light that i will share with you. in talking about the events here at newburg, it's often been suggested that general gates was unaware of what was going on and

that the machinations that icri purely the work of his junior office officers, that he didn't know. well, i invite you to visit ellison headquarters, headquarters. it's a lovely house but it's small, eight rooms, four up, four down. and in ellisonparticular moment, three of his senior staff, several guards, cooks, et cetera. it was a crowded place, and, by the way, the ellison family wa there, too. they didn't want to leave. it's hard to imagine he wasn't aware. and the study of history when all else fails, when all your analysis and looking at documents fails, i invite you to apply common sense. and when you visit ellison house and look at this place and someone says to you that the general could not have known what was going on is ludicrous. of course he did. what are those people over in the corner doing? what are they talking about? what are they writing? he knew well. he knew well.

and so now at ellison house there begins the plot, the plot. on saturday, march 8th, 1783, there arrives a messenger from philadelphia to general gates. colonel walter by the way, is known as the handsomest man in the american army. colonel stewart held a high rank. he was the inspector general of the northern army. washington was very unhappy with colonel stewart. he had spent so much time in philadelphia he didn't seem to be attracted to newburg, new york. but he finally arrived, and when he he arrived he went first to the commander in chief to pay his respects and then went immediately to general gates. general gates later wrote to a friend that colonel stewart has arrived with information on some of your friends in philadelphia. those friends could only have been, of course, morris and morris, hamilton and madison and some others. perhaps making overtures to general gates.

that was saturday. the next day, sunday, was a very busy time at ellison house because the staff was busy writing, in particular colonel john armstrong. armstrong was writing andress to the army at newburg. we know armstrong was writing it because the original is in armstrong's handwriting. the original document. the document was copied that night, and on monday morning it was taken to the temple of virtue where every morning the adjutants from arrived to get their daily orders and on this morning was this address. it began, it is anonymous, did he not sign it, the address began, gentlemen, a fellow soldier whose interests and affections bind him strongly to you, whose past sufferings have been as great and whose future fortunes may be as desperate as

yours would beg leave to address you. will congress address our wrongs or will they trample on our rights? if peace comes and we put down our swords, what then? the address went on to rally the officers and then declared at the end, we will meet tomorrow, tuesday, the 11th, at the temple of virtue. as soon as this address arrived at washington's headquarters, he immediately sm lly issued a gen order canceling the meeting, but washington knew that by simply canceling the meeting he was running a grave risk. so he canceled the meeting called for in this anonymous address but then called his own meeting. there would be a meeting, but he would be in control. there would be a meeting on saturday at noon, the 15th of march, at the temple of virtue, and in this general order summoning this meeting, he

indicated that i, commander in chief, will not attend. the matter is not of sufficient importance. washington had never in the whole course of the war ever addressed his officers as a group, never. he had met with his staff certainly, but he had never called his officers. it would be, again, not proto l protocol, inappropriate for the commander in chief to behave like that. so washington says i leave it to the senior officer in command to preside. the senior officer in command, of course, was general gates. and then they swung into work having issued this now on monday, they know washington and his staff, that they had best prepare for this meeting on saturday. as soon as washington's general order comes out, another anonymous address comes saying, look, the general is with us. he, too, has called a meeting. wrong to be sure, but trying to

draw washington in now. washington was cautious. the fact of the matter is at this particular moment he could not trust his army. could not trust his army. but there was one thing that washington did know, that generals may plan, but it is the line officers, the lieutenants, the captains, the majors, the men in actual command, two control the troops. he in conjunction with his staff, colonel brooks, who later becomes governor of our commonwealth, so he colonel brooks, his secretary jonathan tremble begin to lay out a plan. and the plan is they will all call of these officers together, that is the lieutenants and captains and the majors, and speak to them directly. they must also prepare an address, a speech. several days now spent in writing what is probably the

most important speech ever given in american history. all in secret because, of course, washington has already announced that he's not coming to the meeting. noon saturday, the 15th of march, about 30 officers crowd into the temple of virtue. the building by the way, the reconstruction of the building is there today on that historic site. general gates entered the room, everyone snapped to attention. he convenes the meeting, the officers take their sets, and then from outside comes the noise of thundering hoofs, the rattle of sabers. it is general washington's bodyguard, and in a moment there standing, literally standing in the doorway, 6'2", beautifully attired is general washington to the utter shock of everyone. washington entered the room.

the officers, of course, stood again. went to the front of the room and general gates stepped aside. washington then reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheaf of papers. here i must explain to you why this sheaf of papers was so important. as bob mentioned, for some time i was the director of the massachusetts historical society. and on occasion i would wander through the shelves and the stacks. i had the keys to everything. and just browse in this incredible archive. and in that incredible archive carefully preserved in a very lovely red leather binder is the speech that washington took from his pocket on the 15th of march, 1783, in his own hand, in his

own hand. that, of course, was the event that prompted me to want to write about this event. and so washington lays out his papers now and says to the officers, gentlemen, you must excuse me, this meeting is so important that i have committed my thoughts to paper. he then began to address them. it was a short speech, not more than eight to ten minutes. gentlemen, by an anonymous summons an attempt has been made to convene you together. how inconsistent with the rules of propriety, how unmilitary and how subversive of all order and discipline. let the good sense of the army decide, and then a few more remarks. thus much, gentlemen, i have thought it incumbent on me to

observe to you, to show you upon what principles i oppose the irregular and hasty meeting which was proposed to have been held on tuesday last. and not because i wanted a disposition to give you every opportunity consistent with your own honor and the dignity of the army to make known your grievances. if my conduct heretoforehas n ht evinced to you i have been a faithful friend of the army, my declaration will be equally unavailing and improper. as i was the first to embark on the cause of our common country, as i have never left your side one moment but when called from you on public duty, as i have been the constant companion and witness of your distresses and not among the last to feel and acknowledge your merits, i have ever considered it my own

military reputation as inseparably connected with that of the army. as my heart has ever expanded with joy when i have heard its praises and my indignation was arisen when the mouth of detraction has been opened against it, it can scarcely be supposed at this late stage of the war that i am indifferent to its interests. he then concluded, and let me conjure you in the name of our common country as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect the rights of humanity, as you regard the military and national character of america to he can press your utmost horror and detestation of the man who wishes under any specious pretenses to overturn the liberties of our country and who wickedly attempts to open the

flood gates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood. by thus determining and thus acting, you will pursue the plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes. you will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies who are compelled to reason from open force to secret artifice. you will give me one more distinguished proof of patriotism and patient virtue rising sue pep sue peeror to thn speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind, had this day been wanting, the world has never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of

attaining. shakespeare, henry v. washington finished his speech. there was silence, silence, dead silence. he thought that he had lost them. he thought that he had lost t m them. for that one terrible moment, he stood there not with his army, but in opposition to it. fearing this, he reached into his pocket once more and took out a letter. it was a letter from joseph jones, congressman from virginia, and here the document becomes all important. i mentioned that the document at the massachusetts historical society is written in

washington's own hand. large letters. the official copy of this speech, the one written by his secretaries in the papers of washington in the lay braer ibr congress, is written in the hand of his secretary, jonathan tremble. it's a fine hand but it's a normal-sized hand. friday night i think washington did an all-nighter. after the speech had been written by him and by his secretaries, i'm sure there was collaboration, he sat down and recopied that speech in large letters in his own hand so he could read it. kind of an early version of a teleprompter. but now as he read joseph jones' letter, he began to stumble over the words. he reached into his pocket and brought out his glasses. the officers were stunned.

they had never seen the commander in chief with glasses. two weeks before, two weeks before washington had received these glasses from david ritenhouse in philadelphia. and as soon as he received the glasses, he had written back to ritenhouse something that may be familiar to some of you. he wrote back to ritenhouse to thank him for the glasses and to tell him that he was having a little trouble adjusting to them. wasn't quite comfortable with them. but now for the first time in public in order to read jones' letter he took his glasses out. and as he did, he looked out at the officers and he said to them, gentlemen, you must forgive me. my eyes have grown dim and my hair has grown gray in the service of my country. not a dry eye in the house.

not a dry eye in the house. he then went on to read mr. jones' letter which was really rather perfunctory, finished the letter, put everything back in, including his glasses, and walked out. as soon as he reached the door, general knox leaped from his chair and offered resolutions in support of the commander in chief and the congress, spontaneous, of course. it had all been so carefully planned. the resolutions were offered and voted on unanimously. oh, i do wonder what must have been going through colonel armstrong's head, general gates' head as they had to vote for these resolutions, but they did not not vote for the resolutions. the resolutions were carried to congress to assure the body that the army, while distressed, was loyal. at almost the same moment that the resolutions arrived from

newburg, news arrived from paris. peace, peace. not the final treaty, that will take a little bit longer, but that stubborn king, george iii, had finally acceded to the independence of the colonies of the states. the war was essentially over. news was sent back to newburg to general washington, and general washington issued an announcement of a cessation of hostilities. not the end of the war, cessation of hostilities. that broadside, that announcement was made at the temple of virtue on april the 19th, 1783. eight years to the day of lexington and concord. as soon as the army heard the news, the cry was universal.

discharge, discharge. they hadn't been paid and they won't be paid for while a while, but they want to go home. the army peacefully and carefully dismantled and returned to their homes. washington had one more mission, one more errand to do. on december the 23rd, 1783, he journeyed to annapolis, maryland. the continental congress was meeting at the state house of maryland in annapolis. he entered the chamber to return to the congress what they had given him in june of 1775. in june of literally given him his co commission as commander in chief of the army. on december 23rd, 1783, general washington returned and in a very solemn but brief ceremony, i lhe literally returned to the

congress his commission and then left the chamber no longer general or commander in chief but simply as mister, and to finish this hollywood set, he then road home to mt. vernon and arrives home at mt. vernon christmas eve 1783. a few days later from mt. vernon he writes to a friend how good it is, how good it is to be in retirement and to be a private citizen and to never again have to be called to public duty. on that he was wrong. suggestinh of 1783 there would be a grand coup. coup is a strike at government. there wasn't much government to strike at in march of 1783, but imagine for a moment if the army had, indeed, taken up arms or

marched or issued some kind of strong protest. that bright line that stands in our republic between civilian and military would have been crossed and it could never have been redrawn again. revolutions are not uncommon, but the ones that succeed are very uncommon. and i can't explain why some revolutions work and others don't, but i know why ours did. ours worked because we had george washington. thank you all. [ applause ] should i take easy questions? okay. yes, please. >> okay. i'm a little confused. because i always thought that our revolution was against the

british. >> uh-huh. >> you just indicated it was against the french. >> no, no. no. the french were our allies. >> paris. >> the peace negotiations were going on. the place for peace negotiations, british, french, and americans and spanish, too, were involved, took place in paris. >> oh, okay. >> yeah. peace negotiations took place in paris. where else? well, thank you all very much. you've been very kind. thank you. [ applause ] join american history tv on monday for 24 hours of america's first ladies, including an interview with eleanor roosevelt at 4:45 p.m. eastern. >> i think like everything else that we started out expecting that the united nations would solve every difficulty just by being the united nations.

>> tour the white house private quarters with laura bush at 5:00, ladybird johnson at 8:00. nancy reagan reminisces about her husband at 8:30. at 11:30, the only first lady to run for president, now secretary of state hillary clinton, at her final campaign rally in 2008. history history tv monday, president's day, on c-span 3. each year "time" magazine selects a person who had the most influence on events during the previous 12 months. if the same question were posed in 1862, who would "time" select as the person of the year? american history tv will be live next saturday from richmond, virginia, as historians including james macpherson and david blight ponder that question and present their candidates for person of the year, 1862. the museum of the confederacy and the library of virginia host the all-day forum. during the day we'll open our phone lines and take your tweets so you can question the historians about their nominations and propose your own

candidates. live coverage begins at 9:30 a.m. eastern to 4:30 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. in july 1959, then vice president richard nixon and soviet premier nick kita khrushv engaged in a debate. over the next hour and a half, timothy naftali talks with eyewitnesses to the debate in a conversation held at the national archives. >> pleasure to welcome you to the william g. mcgowan theater and the national archives. tonight we have a discussion of one of the most famous events of the cold war. it was on june 24th, 1959, that an impromptu debate took place between then vice president richard nixon and then soviet premier nikita khrushchev in moscow. it has become known as the kitchen debate.

the two leaders were debating merits of communism versus capitalism as they toured the u.s. exhibition in moscow. they stopped in front of a model kitchen that exhibitors claimed all americans could afford. while there, nixon and khrushchev continued their discussion through interpreters with cameras rolling. we'll hear more about what they had to say to each other and the overall significance of the exchange in a few minutes. tonight's program is being held in conjunction with our new exhibit in the lawrence f. o'brien gallery upstairs, "what's cooking, uncle sam: the government's effect on the american diet." it's showing until next january. i urge you to come back to the archives sometime, many times, and enjoy it. before i turn the program over to our moderator, tim naftali, i'd like to tell you about two upcoming programs. tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. here in the mcgowen theater we'll screen six gold medal winners of the 2011 student academy awards in the categories of alternative

animation, documentary, narrative, and foreign. the national archives and the foundation of the national archives is hosting the screening in partnership with the academy of motion picture arts and sciences. and invite you to join us for our annual july fourth celebration on the constitution avenue steps. the program features a keynote address by royce c. lambert, chief justice u.s. district court for the district of columbia and our annual dramatic reading of the declaration of independence. veteran news broadcaster john palmer will be the emcee. it starts at 10:00 a.m. look for the national archives float in the national independence day parade which will start at 11:45. to learn more about these and our programs, consult our monthly calendar of events. copies are available in the lobby and there is a signup sheet where you can receive it by regular mail or e-mail. another way to get more involved