news is the first draft of history. it is immediate and takes place in real time. lend legends take longer to develop and are sometimes based on myth. this fox news series looks at the truth behind the legend. previously on "legends & lies," the patriots. >> there is no more justice left in britain than there is in hell. >> under our plan, we remain part of england. >> one part of the empire makes slaves of the other.

>> cruelly massacred. >> all found not guilty. >> they aim to have a war, let it begin here. ♪ >> i doubt these old legs will carry me all the way home. thank you, my good boy. >> hey, it's franklin. he's back. >> dr. franklin --

>> go back to england, you traitor. traitor. >> get out of my way. >> traitor. >> after ten years in london, this is how i'm received? >> i apologize for reception, dr. franklin. ever since lexington and concord, all of america has been on edge. >> lexington and concord. >> of course, you're been at sea. america is at war, dr. franklin. welcome home.

♪ ♪ sweat la ♪ sweet land of liberty ♪ >> pushed to their limits by an oppressive empire, a determined group of rebels unite. under the cause of liberty. their quest for freedom will

unify a people, ignite a revolution and forge a new system of government. in time, these brave men and women will come to be known, the american patriots. ♪ benjamin franklin, brilliant renaissance man, world renowned genius, an enduring symbol of america's potential for greatness. but behind every genius stands a man. and behind every legend lies the truth. >> this the pennsylvania delegation?

>> maryland, sir. >> close enough. >> benjamin franklin is an entrepreneur, scientist and politician, but he's also a devout british loyalist. his success invents the american dream but for franklin, it's not enough. his obsession of entry into british high society takes him on a ten-year mission to london where he's forced to embrace his american identity. now he must convince the most ardent patriots that he, too, is willing to fight for liberty. >> dr. franklin, how good of you to tear yourself away from the bosom of britannia to join our quaint provincial congress? >> mr. adams, is it, i have so missed the -- >> ben franklin is literally world famous at this point. on the other hand, he was

considered very close to the parliament and the brits. really had been spending years in london and had cozied up quite nicely to the powers that be there. >> there were some people who thought either he was a british spy or he had sort of gone over to the british and they looked at him with considerable suspicion. >> while you were busy cavorting in london, we have been dragging these colonies toward liberty. and no up-jumped printer grasping for oil table scraps is going to stand in my way. >> there was no jump. it was a long climb. i came to philadelphia with barely a dutch dollar in my pocket, and through a regiment of hard work, i made success of myself.

>> franklin borrows money to buy a print shop, gibeginning of a successful franchise. leads to writing four almanacs, collection of franklin's witty sayings and useful advice making him one of the wealthiest, most famous men in america. >> i still own the living with my hands, and because of that, some doors were closed to me. >> the american colonies still share in the rigid class system of the mother country. to be a gentleman in the 18th century, you must be independently wealthy and devote your time to philanthropy, public affairs or politics. this is the path that franklin follows. become a gentleman and seek acceptance from the british elite. >> franklin retires from printing at 42 and takes the first steps toward the life he truly desires.

>> so franklin takes his money and uses it to get involved in all sorts of other enterprises. >> franklin's facility with science, particularly his investigations into electricity, ends up being a calling card that he uses as an entree to the high society. >> if you will indulge me, an exhibition of natural process. >> ben franklin inferred with tremendous accuracy that metal conducts electricity, but the early experiments could have killed people. >> he'll be all right. >> his experiments in electricity won him his generation's equivalent of the nobel prize. that changed things dramatically. he became this world-famous figure as a scientist. >> to this day, we use ben franklin lightning rods on our

buildings. he also came up with the first bifocals. >> franklin's inventions, including the strange musical instrument, the glass wharmonic, enhanced his stature even more but franklin once more and his ego and ambition changed the way many americans see him, even decades later. >> shall i play you a tune? ar have i done nothing you're not doing now. i tried to unite these colonies. >> the next step in franklin's climb is politics. landing a seat in the pennsylvania assembly.

but when western pennsylvania becomes an easy target for french-aligned natives, franklin tries to unite the colonies for the first time to share in the defense of the frontier. >> so the join or die cartoon becomes a famous revolutionary symbol. benjamin franklin actually creates it two decades earlier. it's an attempt to persuade the colonies to come together, not as an independent nation, but as a stronger member of the british empire. when the colonies reject his plan, franklin turns to britain for protection. >> franklin was never much of a soldier, per se, but he was a good organizer. he could help set up colonial defenses on behalf of the british empire. and so he gained a certain prominence at that point. as a good, loyal englishman. >> thanks to help from the

mother country, franklin builds a string of defensive garrisons securing pennsylvania's frontier. and vital territory for british america. >> when my home soil was inva invaded, i took up arms to defend it. history is repeating itself, mr. adams. open your eyes. >> my eyes are open, dr. franklin, and what i see is an old man obsessed with the past who still keeps a portrait of the king on his mirror. >> ben franklin has already fought a personal revolution. now as war threatens to consume america, the colonies need him to help lead the way, but to do so, he must shed his british ties. and prove himself a true american patriot.

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colonies are thrust into war at lexington and concord and benjamin franklin's loyalty is called into question. ♪ >> you'll have to do more than burn a portrait of the king to convince me of your commitment to american liberty. >> what is it about me, mr. adams, that you so detest? >> i do not believe that you have the stomach for rebellion. you have lived a decade in london, growing fat off the crown's largesse. your son is the king's own appointed royal governor of new jersey. >> i did only what i thought was best for the empire and for america. i, william franklin, do sincerely promise and swear to

be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty, king george iii, so help me god. >> congratulations. >> william franklin does whiindp getting his very powerful influential position and so there's a great deal of suspicion about benjamin franklin giving his son allegiance to the crown. >> i much thank you, father. i know this was your doing. >> i merely mentioned your name to the right people. you earned the honor. >> franklin is finally achieving the level of influence he's always craved but he's doing it at the wrong time. to pay their enormous debt from the french and indian war, britain hits the colony with oppressive taxes, as americans turn against the crown, franklin's british loyalties make him a natural target. >> this is the moment when the

expectations of british and the americans begin to diverge dramatically, so if franklin had a family connection with the crown, maybe, indeed, he was. >> franklin loses touch with the common man. the people vote him out in the assembly. but he's as disgusted with them as they are with him. with the clout he has left, franklin secures a post that better suits his interests, representing the colonies in london. >> must you really go, ben? >> you can come with me. >> you know i won't cross the water. >> then you must take comfort, i shall return to you next spring. >> franklin leaves deborah in america for a world more attractive to a man of his influence. >> franklin's wife did not have

his education, hid not have his abilities and he virtually l ma was off galavanting around. >> the trans-atlantic crossing was a dangerous month-long journey, especially for a nearly 60-year-old man. but the opportunity to join british high society makes the hardships worthwhile. ♪ >> gentlemen and ladies. >> there is one american celebrity and that celebrity is benjamin franklin. he's famed as a scientist and inventor in england, and franklin starts to enjoy a little bit of his own legend. i think he's seduced by it a little bit. >> dr. franklin, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you. >> i heard the americans are covered head to toe in hair. >> well, my good woman, as you can see, some reports are greatly exaggerated.

>> of all the enviable things england has, i envy its people. why? i say in that little island, they have sensible, virtuous and elegant minds. >> you must come take tea with me sometime. >> indeed, i will. >> oh. tell me, dr. franklin, for you to kiss my lips? >> well, in the name of science, at least five -- >> benjamin franklin finally finds the elite, intellectual world, he's been longing before. the british aristocrats love him. especially the ladies. while franklin does flirt,

shamelessly, there's little evidence those become anything more. >> samuel adams and his fellow revolutionaries are outraged by parliament's plan to implement the act which ships the tax from merchants to the colonists, themselves. ♪ >> gentlemen, your colonies have long enjoyed the protection of the british military. is it not proper that you contribute your fair share to the maintenance? >> no one disputes necessity of taxes, my lord, and, but some may see an internal tax as an overreach on parliament's part. >> you mean the usual rabble-rousers?

this stamp tax, gentlemen, will be enacted. >> then we shall comply, crown's wishes. >> now you're thinking like an englishman. >> franklin understood that empires have their place. for america to be part of this larger world realm could be really good and things were going well for benjamin franklin. there was nothing of material gain, nothing of greater stature, in siding with the revolutionaries. >> the colonists who opposed the stamp act are middle class tradesmen and artisans like franklin used to be. they fight back against british oppression because they, too, want to achieve the american dream. but in his quest for british acceptance, benjamin franklin forgets what it's like to be

oppressed. while he's living the lie hive in london, his fellow americans are taking to the streets. >> in the mindset of the colonists, the stamp act is going to be the end of liberty in the english colony. act as stamp collector, the ability to outlaw essentially things they didn't like or newspapers they didn't like which would mean it would be a crushing of free speech. >> frankly was astonished by this. he had no idea how much the americans would like it and folks in america who thought that franklin was not sufficiently radical point add finger of blame at him. >> with franklin in london, it's his wife, deborah, who suffers the rebel's rath. the protests are some of the first steps from the long march to war. and in every war, there will be casualties.

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ask your doctor about eliquis. do you remember what your sdad and i taught you. about hands only cpr? yes. uh, kind of. if you see a teen or adult suddenly collapse, the first thing you do is...? call 9-1-1. and the second thing you do is? push hard and fast in the center of the chest at a rate of at least one hundred beats per minute. who even knows what one hundred beats per minute even sounds like? ♪ well, you can tell by the way i use my walk, ♪ ♪ i'm a woman's man: no time to talk. ♪ ♪ music loud and women warm, ♪ i've been kicked around ♪ since i was born. and now it's all right. ♪ ♪ it's ok. and you may look the other way ♪ ♪ we can try to understand ♪ the new york times' effect on man ♪ remember it's only two steps: call 9-1-1. and push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of 'staying alive' until help arrives.

♪ ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ stayin' alive ♪ ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ stayin' alive ♪ ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ stayin' alive ten years before the american revolution, a violent rebellion turns personal for benjamin franklin. but by the time franklin returns to america, his wife, deborah, dies of a stroke.

>> protesters, threatened my wife and my home. >> she held them off. >> you see, i know the cost of rebellion. not just our soldiers who fall in this war, but innocents who die. our cities and our homes will burn. we have reached a point where we no longer have any other choice. >> this is why i spent ten years in london. i wanted to prevent war and save the empire. >> you thought the best way to accomplish this feat was with the letter? >> as tensions between america and britain rise, franklin makes a desperate effort to preserve his status and prevent a war. he obtains shocking letters written to parliament by thomas

hutchinson, the royal governor of massachusetts and secretly sends them to the rebels in america. the letters outline hutchinson's plan to oppress the american colonists. >> mr. speaker, i have obtained the letter. >> the letters find their way to sam adams who, of course, knows exactly what do to do with them. share them widely with everyone. >> my sedear sir, for the peace and good order of the colonies, there must be a great restraint of natural liberty, enbridgement of english lishliberties. >> franklin probably had the idea he could pin the problem between the american colonies and on hutchison.

>> how could you be so blind? >> i felt if i shared the letters, perhaps my rebellious friends would make peace. >> my goodness. you had no idea what it was like for us here in the colonies. >> franklin is so out of touch, he doesn't realize that neither side wants peace. the british are outraged that the private letters wind up in american hands. the controversy surrounding their source even leads two prominent gentlemen to a duel. ♪ ♪ realizing the furor he's caused, franklin confesses publicly in a london newspaper.

♪ >> finding two gentlemen have been unffrl ortunately engaged duel, i feel it incumbent upon me to declare that i transmitted to boston the letters in question. >> was a brave thing you did, ben, but in avoiding another duel, you may have ignited a war. >> in his attempt to fix the situation, ben franklin winds up jeopardizing his position in london because that's considered a great betrayal. >> the timing could not be worse because news of the boston tea party reached great britain. they're not only mad at franklin, they're mad at america.

and the most famous american in london is -- ♪ re the powerful privy council, the king's personal advisory board, >> franklin is summoned before the powerful privy council. the king's personal advisory board. to answer for his actions. >> what concerns me most is how the private correspondences came into the hands of some aged printer from pennsylvania. this american has forfeited -- embarrassment. he will remain in his office as a diplomat. >> franklin, all the misdeeds, by basically the british government's hit man.

>> this scheming american put himself in -- i call upon you, dr. franklin, to explain yourself. ♪ >> franklin realized there was no point in responding. this was the direction the british government was going and that being the case, i want no part of it. in that two-hour session he went from being an englishman to being an american. >> with nothing left for him in london, franklin returns to america. while he's at sea, the american revolution moves out of the street and onto the battlefield.

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♪red roses too ♪i see them bloom ♪for me and you ♪and i think to myself ♪what a wonderful world ♪music ♪oh yeah

>> ben franklin's dream of acceptance by the british elite is dead. ben franklin's dream of acceptance by the british elite is dead. he returns to america a changed man committed to independence. >> franklin was driven back to america by what he saw as british mistreatment. he was driven right into the arm s of the american revolutionary. >> franklin's peers in congress still suspect him of british loyalties. hoping to prove himself a patriot, franklin tries to convince his son, william, a high-ranking royal governor, to join him. >> i've managed to keep the rebellious element in new jersey at bay. now that you're back, we can work together for reconciliat n reconciliation. >> there so no hope for reconciliation. i stand for independence now.

>> i know not what has caused this change in you, father. withdr you have not seen what i have seen in london. treat honest americans almost as a different species from the english of britain. >> reason once governed your action, passion now rules it and it will lead you to ruin. >> one of the tragedies of franklin's life is that a son that he loved very much will become a diehard loyalist and he and his father split when revolution breaks out and will never speak again. and in fact, when asked about his son, franklin will say he deserves to be hung. >> dr. franklin, you say you've changed but no man reverses his defining philosophy at your advanced age. >> did not reverse anything. simply recognized what always was.

an american. i more than anyone know the price of liberty. >> after a lot of thought, lot of debate, eventually john adams becomes absolutely convinced that franklin is a true patriot. >> franklin's time in london isn't the liability many in congress fear. it's actually an asset. embedded in british high society, frankly learns how they think and he knows that britain will stop at nothing to bring the rebellious colonies back into law. the americans must be ready to fight even harder. >> dr. franklin does not hesitate at our boldest measures and discovered a disposition entirely american. >> as franklin throws himself into the preparations for war in congress, the siege of boston is

entering its third month and standoff between the british army and american militias is reaching the breaking point. through their spy network, colonial leaders get word of a british plan to seize the high ground around boston and secure control of the harbor. in response, general putnam is ordered to set up defenses on the charleston peninsula and repel any british advance. >> here we have another historical mystery. the massachusetts militiamen are told to set up fortifications on bunker hill but instead they entrench themselves on breed's hill in full view of the british. to this day, no one knows if that was a deliberate provocation or a simple mistake. regardless, the american presence alarms the british and the fight that will ensue will be forever known as the battle of bunker hill.

♪ >> general thomas gage, commander of all british troops in north america, orders his guns in the harbor and nearby battlefields to fire on the colonists. >> i need two and i need them here now. be careful. >> general putnam, sir. >> general warren? >> my rank is not official yet. as far as i'm concerned, i'm just another volunteer. >> arrives and people know who he is. they know his reputation, they know his contribution.

he's one of the sons of liberty and they're surprised to see him. why is he at the front? that's what he wants to do. >> as the british shell the americans from the water, general william howe, distinguished veteran of the french and indian war, prepares to overwhelm them on the ground. howe is convinced the colonials will cut and run when confronted head-on with his formidable troops. >> forward, march! >> and the liberties that ben franklin yearn for will vanish but the general is soar sorely mistaken. >> to declare our independence. >> america is at war, dr. franklin. >> welcome home. >> for more revealing stories on these and other patriots

featured in "legends & lies" purchase the companion book available at billo'reilly.com and bookstores nationwide. cartels, militias, terrorist groups. they all need a place to park their cash and cherna is their dirty little piggy bank. we're going to insert into the country while nobody is looking. we're going to steal their money, sir? no, we are going to destroy it. we're going to finish this mission. anything we find is ours. do you want to trust a bunch of black water marks? i mean the rush, i've never felt anything like it. if we stay here we're going to die. then we die. test test test

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>> as benjamin franklin and the as benjamin franklin and the continental congress rush to create a unified american army, the battle at bunker hill is

about to erupt. across the river british commander thomas gage watches as general william howe drives his troops toward the cloolonial frt line. >> the americans fortify the top of the hill so that they can have an advantageous position of the british and in way that the british weren't anticipating. >> dr. joseph warren, president of the massachusetts provincial congress and soon to be general joi joins his fellow volunteer in the trenches. >> when liberty is the prize, to redeem our right and privilege. >> these fellows say we won't fight. i shall die up to my knees in blood. >> forward, march! here they come!

>> how many heads do you see? >> there's a whole crowd. >> men. we cannot waste any powder. take your shots carefully. do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes. >> fire!

>> with their superior numbers, training and firepower, the red coats think this will be an easy victory but their arrogance will be possible. though the american militias lack british discipline, rather than run as general howe expects, they stand their ground, fighting. eventually, the patriots are forced to retreat but only because they've run out of ammunition.

>> men, we must stand our ground. [ gunfire ] >> finally, howe is able to take the hill, but at such a cost -- about 1,000 british soldiers dead or wounded. more victories like that, and the british would have lost the entire enterprise. >> the americans suffer tremendous losses, as well, with more than 400 patriots killed or wounded, including dr. joseph warren, who gives his life for the revolution he helps to create. one choice of dentists. with tr

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>> news of the bloodbath in boston soon reaches the continental congress in philadelphia. >> we've just received word. the british have taken bunker hill and they've set charlestown ablaze. dr. warren is dead. >> well, mr. adams, it sounds as though we have work to do. >> the colonial militias proved that they can stand toe-to-toe with the redcoats, but to defeat the massive british army, the american troops need a leader. the continental congress puts george washington in command. but the task before the new general may be impossible. >> [ coughs ] >> my god. [ horse neighs ]

this is my army? >> the americans still have the british surrounded in boston, but with dwindling supplies and rampant illness, washington's force grows weaker every day. if the british find out this secret, they could easily wipe out the americans. >> here, you have washington's army willing to die, willing to fight under incredible odds, and they don't have blankets. they don't have guns. they don't have boots. >> not for the last time in american history was a commander given a command without the resources to command it. and that was very much george washington's dilemma. >> congress sends benjamin franklin to meet with the general to assess his needs. but washington has kept his plight secret even from them.

>> present arms! >> dr. franklin. >> general washington. from the looks of your strategic position, you have trapped the british in their own mousehole. >> now, if i could only launch an attack. >> well, no gains without pain, sir. no gains without pain. >> these new englanders are undisciplined, untrained, and there's some 5,000 fewer of them than expected. we are in want of weapons, of uniforms, of adequate tentage, of all things required by a proper army. >> i had no idea that the situation was so dire. >> you ask what i need, dr. franklin. i need everything and i need it now, or this war will be over before it even begins. >> benjamin franklin is an

unlikely revolutionary -- a sickly 70-year-old man who spends most of his life maintaining loyalty to britain. though he doesn't lead troops into battle, like george washington, franklin gives the revolution his greatest invention -- the american dream. he proves that, with enough hard work, most can improve their standing in life. the hardest work of george washington's life will be turning his army into a force that will defeat the british. once he does, he and his fellow patriots will form a new nation where most everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve their own american dream.

we begin with a fox news urgent iconic singer george michael has died. that according to sky news u.k. the star's publicist saying he passed away peacefully at home at age of 53. as a solo star and before that one half of the musical duo wham, george michael sold more than 100 million records, you may have even heard the well nope christmas song a few times today. ♪ last christmas, i gave you my heart ♪ ♪ ♪ but the very next day you gave it away ♪ this year to save me from