>> the hard-fought 2016 primary season is over. with historic conventions to follow this summer. >> colorado. florida. >> texas. as the delegates consider nomination of the first woman ever to head a political party that a major clinical party -- a major political party. watch on the c-span hack or get video on -- the c-span app or get a front row seat at www.c-span.org. all beginning on monday, july 18. >> each week, american history america" brings archival films. up next, "independence,"

directed by john houston. the filled it to play in visitor center. 40 years later, the half-hour film is still showed. filmed in a location near independence hall, it features eli wallace as benjamin franklin, and includes the creations of historical events from the constitution to the declaration of independence. >> across seasons and centuries we come to be near. the wind of words that blue here wants still blows, independents. in summer breezes, the same words of aging arguments won and lost. the old cracked bell echoes, liberty. people with ghosts and voices of ghosts. the fathers of our country still

beat. some of the great ones wish to return from beyond the grave. in a wish with 200 years behind it. not the case with benjamin franklin. he snatched lighting from the heavens and the scepter from tyrants. >> i have an odd desire to observe the state of america. i wish to be immersed in a cask of wine until i would be recalled to life by the warmth of my dear country. i must really have those first days, now two centuries past. in 1774.egin how excellent is to be young again.

>> john adams, who was our second president. -- wish to meet my wife and friends ancestors in posterity. i wish to meet alexander hamilton again. adams, who had wished to be with her husband and she could not leave their massachusetts farm. >> too long a journey to join my dear husband. i cannot express to you how ardently i longed for you. protest your spending one hour here.

>> and washington, the father of our country. back,we ask you to come there is no doubt what his reply will be. >> my abilities may not be equal to the task. however, if it is desired, i will enter again on a moment's duty. if that happens, i beg to be remembered by every person in this room that i declare, i have never felt myself equal to the task. >> and thomas jefferson, author of the declaration of independence. >> gen'l washington. >> dr. franklin. spokesman of the the revolution. what say you? on thesun never shines

cause of freedom. is that the concern of a day, a year, or an age. austerity will be affected, even until the end of time. i am your servant, mr. jefferson. >> the generation who begins the revolution can rarely complete it. >> inexperience, ignorance, bigotry hardly qualify us. the earth belongs to the living. >> liberty, liberty. are you substance or merely shadow. >> our liberty is won. the revolution is over. commone is nothing more than to confuse the american revolution with the war for independence. the war for independence is over, but this is far from being

the case for the american revolution. on the contrary, nothing but the first act of the great drama has been played. >> excuse us, we came in late by two centuries. we are eager to understand how this great problem began. >> for this purpose, it must be -- 29th of august, 1974 1774. >> the colonies were in turmoil. they came from the north to protest the king's troops, from the south to protest the kings governor. they also protested the kings taxes. they were also thinking of something more, something they dare not speak about. >> there was a powerful faction of secret tories in the town.

it would be most unwise at this time to mention the word independence. >> continental congress of 1774. >> the streets of boston are filled with military activity. >> the delegates are meeting. they protest. they are petitioning the king for redress of grievances. they demand respectfully their rights as loyal british

subjects, but they are thinking of the word they dare not whisper. sons of hearts, these the old world have become something new. >> i am not a virginian, but an american. ♪ >> i received the petitions of the king and sent it off. >> petition to the king? . dreaded them like death after all, they might have been accepted. satisfaction, the

has had force. >> the mad measure of mixing soldiers with people whose minds may be attended with some sudden mischief or an accidental .uarrel, and imprudent order .uch carnage may ensue >> so be it. april 19, 1775. so it has happened. a dispatch from the committee of safety. to all friends of american liberty, be it known that this day,ng, before break of they fired without provocation and killed six men and wounded

four others. the war wasn't part of the revolution, it was only an effect or consequence. the revolution had been on the minds of the people. government. our own say, itn sense would wasn't the work of a day or a year. now may of 1775 is upon us. the second continental congress is for congress. >> we are surrounded by danger. determined to take a step to get our colleagues to agree with our plan. clerks their ambitious of furnishing a southern general.

>> i suspect mr. hancock once the nomination for himself. >> will colonel washington except? he does not think the post. >> he seems virtuous. >> sober, steady, and call. i taken a man does not arrive at all in assembly and less less he wants that job -- assembly and less he wants that job. >> mr. hancock. gentleman. -- though this is not

the proper time to nominate the general, i have no hesitation to declare that i have but one man in mind, the gentleman from virginia. agree? a modest gentleman from virginia who would not wish to hear himself praised, but whose great talent and character will demand the approval of all america. >> no friendly harbors to be found. >> things have taken a turn. a congress is now in session with no other authority than popular consent.

philosophers have written that all government is based upon the consent of the people, but i think the experiment has never before been so directly made. we will create a government of law and not of men. >> we must get on, dear friend. already, it is 76. high time we declare our independence and be done with it. defined by foreign powers hesitating so long at a word. i will offer you a maximum state. let a king fall and still be a people. if a king what his people slip from him, he is no longer a king. why not proclaim it to the world ? >> i think you shine as a

wordsmith, lady. 30 of get your maxims of state? >> from philosophy and reason. , i wouldw code of laws desire that you remember the ladies. remember all women would be tyrants if they could. if particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws from which we have no voice or representation. we are told our struggles have loosed the bands of government everywhere, that indians slight our authority. but, this is the first intimation that another try more numerous and powerful than all the rest has grown discontented. >> i want to hear that you have declared and independence day.

it is the seventh of june already. will no one offer a resolution for our independence? >> the chair recognizes mr. richard henry lead, the delegate from virginia. revolution,wing , resolvedindependence that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are of salt from -- they are absolved from all allegiance to the british crown, and that all political connections between them and the state of great britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. >> the committee of the whole has a question in order to allow

consultation, that consideration of this resolution be postponed until july 1. and, in the meanwhile, should the congress agree that a declaration be prepared to the effects of the resolution. >> we hold these truths to be , that all undeniable men are created equal and independent. we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation, they derive rights inherent and in alienable.

the preservation of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. governments are is to among men, derived with their just powers from the consent of the governed. and, for the support of this declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. >> the resolution respecting the independence. it was agreed to without dissent by the delegates of the colonies as -- colonies. now, states.

agreed to, without dissent, by the delegates in congress -- delegates of states in congress assembled on july 2. [applause] >> gentlemen, please. we continue to have these displays of emotion, i will not get through this. on july 3, the declaration having been read, debated and amended. on this day, july 4, it is now therefore ordered the declaration be authenticated and printed. the copies of the declaration be sent to the several assemblies and committees, councils of safety, and the several commanding officers of the continental troops, and immediately thereafter, proclaim

, in each of the united states -- [applause] >> in due time. expect, the declaration shall be engrossed it shall be and then duly signed by the members. >> it was indeed in august of 7076 when we signed the declaration. the pensive and awful silence when we recalled to subscribe what was believed by many of the time to be our own death warrant. >> for the size and weight of my body, i shall be dead in a few minutes. you will dance in the air for an hour or two until you are dead.

>> somewhere, -- the prospect we have before us. these are the times that try men's souls. the soldier, the sunshine

will shrink. see that standard now deserves woman.of man and war,x years of endless sickness, death, terror and despair. has ended. war >> and what have we won? the articles of confederation barely hold us together. >> a national union must be formed, although it is not popular to say so.

1787, i have just returned from france. 1787, that was the year in which the national government based on the popular well was founded. object. >> i say the confederation does not have the power to discuss a proposal. the proposal to discuss a national government. >> the small states say that their liberties will be in danger. the large states say their money will be in danger. when a broad table is to be made , allhe edges do not fit

sides must part with some of their demands. >> we the people of the united states, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice , insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and sure general welfare, do ordain and establish this constitution for the united states of america. >> no point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued. no man should be above justice. should he be above it who can commit the most injustice? i have also heard in the course of the session, look at the sun carved on the president's chair.

now, i have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun. our new constitution is now established and promises permanency. in this world, nothing can be said to be certain. constitution's permanency is now in the hands of posterity. you have a republic if you can keep it. death became a certainty for me in 1790. it was a good century, all in all. i saw most of it.

the first five years of the last 10. that 10 years, i wish i could have seen. in former times, power was handed from one head of state to another only based on heredity. imprisonment,ery, i hired assassins. by popular election. i think there is no precedent for that. if that should happen, as it will in 1797, that would be most remarkable. i was quite dead by then. watch theged to ceremonies from across the door, with a toga. >> have a seat somewhere.

good afternoon. i would like to welcome you all to congress hall. you are now seated in the building that was used by the congress of the united states between 1790 and 1800s. for those 10 years, philadelphia was the capital of our country. mind, because tradition of the united states was ratified in 1789. congress moved in less than a year after that happened. they were organizing our country using the brand-new framework of government. they added three new states to the union, vermont, kentucky, and tennessee. he also had problems. for example, one afternoon, a representative named mr. griswold accused another representative by the name of mr. lyons, of being a coward. poker fromook the the fireplace and mr. griswold

took an imitation wood and sword and they battled it out here on the floor. of all the events, probably the most important was the inauguration of john adams, our second president. the constitution says that every four years we must elect a new president, but this was the first time we had tried to pass power from the hands of one man into another. some people felt that george washington might not willingly give up his power. however, the inauguration took place without any difficulties whatsoever. >> mr. adams is about to realize his dream. let the ceremonies begin. >> a government in which authority is exercised by citizens, selected at regular their neighbors to

make and execute laws for the general good. >> can authority be more respectable when it stems from accidents or antiquity? thewhen it stems from hearts and judgments of an enlightened people. >> continually blessing upon this nation and its government, and give it all possible success and duration. ♪

>> i am a private citizen once again. >> a gathering of haunted houses , where the declaration and constitution are always being written. people with ghosts and voices of ghosts. the old cracked bell echoes, liberty. tom paine said, "we have the power to begin the world a new. you have a republic, if you can keep it." [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] ♪

>> american history tv, fergus bordewich talks about his book, the first congress: how james madison, george washington, and a group of extraordinary men invented the government. he reads passages from his book and looks at the leading men who developed the u.s. congress and the presidency in