the continental congress is in existence. that colony work took precedence over work in the congress. congress changes when they look to for their next president, they look to the colonies and the records of the second continental congress. blandly that you, john hancock is unanimously selected a president. his moderation is what gets him the job his wealth assuages. moderates and conservatives. but he has strong rebel. he smuggled which fomented a mob. and he also had been served as president of the the provincial congress in massachusetts, which was the first political body to form reject rule by the british empire. so he had credentials. but this is the problem for his fellow massachusetts delegates, john adams and samuel adams. hancock. oh, look at him. okay. so this is we know this as independence hall today, but this is the pennsylvania state house at the time where second continental congress was held. and we see hancock with the arrow as president. he sat in the front of the room with the delegates at the tables in fro

the continental congress is in existence. that colony work took precedence over work in the congress. congress changes when they look to for their next president, they look to the colonies and the records of the second continental congress. blandly that you, john hancock is unanimously selected a president. his moderation is what gets him the job his wealth assuages. moderates and conservatives. but he has strong rebel. he smuggled which fomented a mob. and he also had been served as president of the the provincial congress in massachusetts, which was the first political body to form reject rule by the british empire. so he had credentials. but this is the problem for his fellow massachusetts delegates, john adams and samuel adams. hancock. oh, look at him. okay. so this is we know this as independence hall today, but this is the pennsylvania state house at the time where second continental congress was held. and we see hancock with the arrow as president. he sat in the front of the room with the delegates at the tables in fro

washington as a general was urged to march on the continental congress and forced into appropriate money to pay the troops as they have promised to do. they have broken their promises. his general said you have a moral right to do that. washington said basically no. we can't do that. that is not our role. we have to accept the command of the civilian elected authority. and the rule of law is again made reference to in the constitution and in the various amendments to the constitution, some of which concerns specific issues that have been raised in english law. you cannot be forced to incriminate yourself to be a witness against yourself. you have a right to a jury trial. you have a right to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. a right to grand jury indictment. this comes out of a case in 1683 in england. and something that the founders knew very well. they were revolutionaries, but they sought to have a revolution that also observed a rule of law , that can be depended on. that people would honor even to their own disadvantage. and even when the circumstances seemed really co

washington as a general was urged to march on the continental congress and forced into appropriate moneypay the troops as they have promised to do. they have broken their promises. his general said you have a moral right to do that. washington said basically no. we can't do that. that is not our role. we have to accept the command of the civilian elected authority. and the rule of law is again made reference to in the constitution and in the various amendments to the constitution, some of which concerns specific issues that have been raised in english law. you cannot be forced to incriminate yourself to be a witness against yourself. you have a right to a jury trial. you have a right to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. a right to grand jury indictment. this comes out of a case in 1683 in england. and something that the founders knew very well. they were revolutionaries, but they sought to have a revolution that also observed a rule of law , that can be depended on. that people would honor even to their own disadvantage. and even when the circumstances seemed really compel

outside of british rule, george washington showed up at continental congress in his military uniform, even though independence hadn't been declared. it was clear that there needed to be a military. we must act now. let us declare our independence. everybody was looking around for a leader and there was george washington congress appoints him the head of the army. the fate and the future of this nation rested on his shoulders. the continental army struggled through the early years of the war, and without any major victories, they had lost spirit. general washington knew something bold needed to happen. we cannot hold this position. what he decides is that there needs to be quick action to assert american authority and get a victory that might sustain morale through the conflict. and so that's his decision to cross the delaware. the daring move changed the tide of the war. victories at trenton and princeton convinced the continental army that the british could be beat. americans realized we can still win victories. the cause is not lost, but the hard times would be far from over. as was

historical formation that is around the struggle for independence that the united states, the continental congress in the summer of 1776. and we recently ten days ago celebrated the independence of our nation and are moving towards. 250th commemorative of. assessment and, reassessment and celebration and commemorations in the summer of 2026, which is not that long from now. so in three years we will look back again at the history of our nation, the birth of, the republic, and hopefully we can do so in a slightly more inform and inclusive and capacious way. and so my talk today is really largely going to draw from chapter five of my book, which i've subtitled, the indigenous origins of the american revolution and my talk tonight might perhaps be well or potentially hopefully understood as the hidden history of the declaration of independence or a hidden history of the declaration of independence. so i think we should all obviously know and study and try to appreciate as best we can the declarations deep and profound visions of a pluralistic society and of liberties that followed. since for many of

the population of economies -- colonies, with economies based on for trapping -- the second continental congressoverned them at the time and john hancock was president of the congress. the revolutionary war started 4/19/1775. an independence from britain was declared six months after common sense on july 4 1776 and the taxation rate, this is the number that surprises me, was 1.5%. and there was protest against that. richard: times have changed somewhat haven't they? we could talk in depth about taxation and british policy but i -- let me make two points about the taxes. one is why is britain imposing all of these taxes over the previous 10 or 13 years on these hapless american colonists who don't like having their taxes raised? one thing to bear in mind is that britain in those colonies had just fought a major global war in the 1750's and 1760's called the seven years war. we in the united states sometimes call it the french and indian war which is its local name. but this global war against the french empire had almost bankrupted the english treasury and so there was a massive national debt in

macaulay wrote a pamphlet in support of the the first continental congress.so she's a really important character. again, we'll get back to her. i know. i've got to keep moving on, so let's keep moving on. but you can see if you look in the corner, a little nod to sydney in the bottom, the great champion of liberty from the 17th century. okay, next slide, someone he didn't like, macaulay as well. someone who didn't like macaulay at all, i should say. but someone who appears in my story as a foil to the progressives to the enlightenment ers who believed that society should be moving forward at a pace and all development was good with samuel johnson. now, samuel johnson's birthday is today in the old style, so i hope you'll kind of wish him well on this on this occasion. he's a real hero of mine. i'm from lichfield in staffordshire very much like him. but i have to say, if he's got a home in america, it may well be cambridge in massachusetts because that's where a lot of his papers are kept in the library. he did some some so many great johnson scholars have com

it is a kind of really weird thing for the continental congress to do. the ones that come into my head are only really about -- the french one you mentioned before, i think there is something quite peculiar yet american about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. i will be very happily corrected if someone can find an island somewhere in the south seas or somewhere which has a similar mission statement. i am not aware of one. so -- >> another, this one says the use of self-evident seems to have a likeness to the language of mathematical proofs. [ indescernible ] is there any substance to this gas, [ indescernible ] peter's next book is going to be about the writing of mathematical by isaac newton. >> we will have to see. if i am allowed. >> does it have that -- >> [ indescernible ] here is your idea and i will go and prove it. so, the idea of proof and what proof should be is the kind of thing that the natural philosophers of the time spent a lot of effort and energy on. and it does actually amplify the enlightenment quality of the document, frank

washington as a general was urged to march on the continental congress and forced into appropriate moneye troops as they have promised to do. they have broken their promises. his general said you have a moral right to do that. washington said basically no. we can't do that. that is not our role. we have to accept the command of the civilian elected authority. and the rule of law is again made reference to in the constitution and in the various amendments to the constitution, some of which concerns specific issues that have been raised in english law. you cannot be forced to incriminate yourself to be a witness against yourself. you have a right to a jury trial. you have a right to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. a right to grand jury indictment. this comes out of a case in 1683 in england. and something that the founders knew very well. they were revolutionaries, but they sought to have a revolution that also observed a rule of law , that can be depended on. that people would honor even to their own disadvantage. and even when the circumstances seemed really compelling t

and in july 1776, six months after "common sense" was published, the continental congress signed the declaration of independence. peter: welcome to books that shaped america, a special c-span series that looks at how throughout our history, books have influenced who we are today. this 10-week series will focus on different eras, topics and viewpoints. we are glad you are with us, joining us through this walk through history. tonight, our focus is thomas payne and his 1776 "common sense." joining us is richard bell, a university of maryland history professor who teaches "common sense" in his classes. professor bell, it is january 1776, what is going on in the american colonies? prof. bell: oh goodness, it is a busy time. thanks for having me here, peter. where do we start? we can scroll all the way back to the stamp act of 1765, but that seems too far. why don't we say 1774 might be where we want to start this conversation. there has just been the boston tea party in december 1773 and the british king and parliament have retaliated with a series of very coercive, draconian responses a

james madison is a member of the continental congress. begin thinking about how we can do better than the people who set up the system we've got. one of the astonishing things about this is the oldness -- boldness. you can sort of say that egotism of two young men like hamilton and madison. hamilton, when this starts, is in his 20s. i have this design for a new government for this country. this is a big statement for somebody, his not just exactly fresh off the boat from the west indies but this is somebody certainly full of himself and he thinks i know better than anybody else. he starts lobbying for these changes. medicine comes along, they meet in the continental congress and realize they have the same idea, we know better how to do this. you could imagine, i will ask you to imagine, could anything like this be accomplished today? first of all, alexander hamilton , at the time, seven or eight years away from being president of the united states, barely old enough to be a member of the house of representatives. he presents to give advic

but they need him because the continental congress and the articles of confederation were loosely holdingogether. the colonies together. they were not cutting it. there are a lot of different disputes that did not have any unity on the different colonies. he is called to be the leader again and the congressional constitutional convention. he reluctantly agrees. he is kind of got some lumber toward arthritis. he doesn't want to get into the carriage all the way up to philadelphia but he says for the good of the country he is going to do it. he gets there and not surprisingly he is elected the head of the constitutional convention. he sits in the chair that is ornate and carved. you are right benjamin frankel looks at that chair and where the carvings and said son on the back of the chair is rising or setting. when they finish in 1787 at the end of the summer it is rising. but it is his service it's the biggest part of washington's life frequency watches the delegates to get out. it is very intense. it will determine if the united states is the united states. they still have to get it rarat

they meet in the continental congress and they realize they have this same idea. we know better how to do this. you can imagine. well, actually, i ask you to imagine. could anything like this be accomplished today? so, first of all, alexander hamilton at the time was seven or eight years away from being even old enough to be president of united states. he was barely old enough to be a member of the house of representatives, but he presumes to give advice to george washington on the changes we ought to make in the government. madison is designing new schemes, and he's really saying that this business of allowing delaware, rhode island to have an equal vote to my virginia in the government this is absurd. so we're going to change it. so they do they come together and they write this they write this new constitution and they put it to the states. and the deal is that if nine states ratify, i, then this new constitution will supersede the art of the federation. who gave madison and hamilton and the other members of the continental assembly, other considers convention

. >> in june of 1775, the continental congress created a unified army. our army manned the -- it ran the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do. >> oh, okay. so he [ bleep ] up. >> yeah. >> i guess we have slipups here and there. >> yeah, that's a little bit of an early christmas gift, thank you so much, because i love seeing joe rogan show up. i can't stand the guy. but look, here's what i think, on a serious note, that it also -- in this season of peace, i will say, it shows sometimes how baked in misinformation and disinformation can be, and this time, it was on the right, it's true on the left at times, as well. and, you know, that segment ends with him saying, oh, media's got to really check their work. i think we all -- obviously they didn't. but it's a good reminder to all of us that, you know, let's take a pause before we say certain things and make sure we've got all the facts, especially for this upcoming election where we know there's going to be just a lot of, you know, information, disinformation and insults flyi

this is the moment we have a continental congress that meets in 1774 for the first time . in which representatives from all the colonies come to try to figure out how do you respond to this kind of intolerable series of acts against us. 30 seconds. was anything here wrong? no, not really. was anything here biased or was i just telling the truth? >> i think both sides of it i have read and i think anytime one side did something the other side just took it very aggressively. oh, i'm lowering your taxes. but our colony is like you're trying to turn us against each other well said. excellent. other responses. what's going on here, is anything wrong? were there particular parts that were convincing or now having heard the otherside less convincing than it was when you heard some of these arguments in middle school or high school . >> i think the colonies said we're not going to pay. >> as they never framed it like that, i framed it like that . they were finding it in comparative terms to what people were talking about but very good point . that issue is one that seems to be pre

and james madison is a member of the continental congress and they begin thinking about how we could do better than the people who set up the system we've got. now one of the astonishing things about this is the boldness, you could sort of say the, the egotism of two young men like hamilton and madison hamilton when this starts is in his twenties. and he's saying i got this design for a new government for this country. this is a big statement for somebody. he's not, he's not exactly just fresh off the boat from the west indies, but here's somebody who is certainly full of himself and he thinks i know better than anybody else and he starts lobbying for these changes. and madison comes along, they meet in the continental congress and they realize they have this same idea. we know better how to do this. you could imagine. well, actually, i'll ask you to imagine, could anything like this be accomplished today? so, first of all, alexander hamilton at the time, was seven or eight years away from being even old enough to be president united states. he was barely old enough to be a member of

we were established in 1775 by the second continental congress. benjamin franklin was our first postmaster general. he had more here than, postmaster general dejoy. but he was just as efficient. and in 1787, he was the only federal agency mentioned by name in the constitution. but it was only until 1847, 75 yes later, that the congress authorized the issuance of. and that year, george washington and benjamin franklin were so honored. well, stamps were initially introduced to provide revenue to pay for service. over the years, it has become really a history of our nation in visualorm. today, a person has to be deceased three years before he or she is considered for a stamp in our nation's history. we've 103 supreme court justices that have passed away. but before today, as you heard from, the chief. only 14 have been honored on a stamp. one of them was charles evans hughes. he mentioned chief justice from 1930 to 1941. and on postal family no, his great granddaughter, his gat granddaughter, is here tonight. sandra, and she's maied to our vice chair

tions that regulated voting to the committee to the continental congress. and so you had states and state courts participating in the business of federal elections from 1781 to 1787. it's the exact same provision from the articles of that is transplanted over to the united states constitution. and in addition, there's just all this original list evidence that basically the founders believed in checks and balances. they would have never let just state legislatures have carte blanche over something as important as elections and the like. okay. all that is to say, i had my like golden ticket for the supreme court in terms of the original understanding of the document. then the question was and a 30 minute supreme court argument, they actually had me up for more than an hour. but the rules are 30 minutes. how do you actually get out? and in a way that's persuasive to the court. supreme court advocacy has changed a lot just in the last two years because for my first, like 45 arguments before covid covered, i would stand up. i'd have a line, my legal pad that i'd

this is the moment we have continental congress meeting in 1774 for the first time. representatives from all of the colonies come to try tot figure out how you respond to this kind of an tolerable series of acts against us. was anything here wrong? no? that'se not what the issue is? was anything here biased or was i just telling the truth? >> i think both sides anytime one side does something the other side took it very aggressively a. in the colonies it was like you were trying to trick us. >> well said. excellent. other responses on what's going on here? is anything wrong with? with their particular part that was convincing are now having heard the other side less convincingd than it was when he learned as a middle school? the colley said we are going to pay the equal amount of taxes but they never framed it like that. i framed it like that. the historians weren't bring it in comparative terms to what other people were talking about but that issue is one that seems by historians to be pretty darned important at the time. i don't know that everybody knew what other

usurping the rights of colonists, this is the moment that we have a continental congress that meets in774 for the first time in which representatives from all of the colonies come to try to figure out how do you respond to this kind of intolerable series of acts against us. 30 seconds. was anything here wrong? no? not really, that's not what the issue is? was anything here biased or was that just telling the truth? >> both sides saw each other as a threat and anytime one side did something the other side took it very aggressively. the tea act, lowering your taxes on the tea, but for the colonies you are trying to turn this into -- >> and do whatever, well said. excellent. other responses? what is going on here, is anything wrong? was there are particular part that was convincing? or now, having heard the other side, less convincing than it was when you heard these arguments in middle school? in high school? >> >> the tax act. >> they never framed it like that. i framed it like that, they weren't framing it in comparative terms to what other people were talking about, but very good poin

this is the moment that we have a continental congress that meets in 774 for the -- 1774 for the first time. in which representatives from all of the colonies come to try to figure out how do you respond to this kind of intolerable series of acts against us. 30 seconds. was anything here wrong? no? not really? that's not what the issue is? was anything here biased? or was i just telling the truth? yes. >> i think both sides saw each other as a threat, and i think that, like, anytime one side did something, the other side just took it very aggressively. i think the tea act -- [inaudible] oh, i'm lowering your taxes on the tea so that you buy more tea, but for the colonies, it was like you're trying to tick us -- [inaudible] >> and do whatever. well said. yes. excellent. other responses? what's going on here in is anything wrong? was this a particular part that was convince ising -- convincing or nowing having heard the other side, less convincing than it was when you heard some of these arguments in middle school, in high school? yeah. >> [inaudible] colonies -- [inaudible] yeah -- [ina

that's when the continental congress put the flying predator on the great seal of the country.mmon sight throughout the u.s. until the 1950s. that's when hunting and pesticides brought the bird to the brink of extinction. new laws led to a comeback, and the bird was taken off the endangered list in 1995. but now the greatest concentration of bald eagles is threatened by a plan to build a copper mine. jonathan vigliotti reports. >> reporter: every november, an american icon returns to alaska's chilkat river to roost. >> it's akin to being on the serengeti and watching the migration of the wildebeest. >> reporter: the town of hanes is the gateway to the largest bald eagle habitat in the u.s. this wildlife preserve a migratory mecca. >> this is the greatest concentration of bald eagles anywhere on the planet. at times, we've counted up to 4,000 individuals. >> reporter: it's a phenomenon photographer mario ba nashi says is made possible by geothermal springs which prevent the river from freezing, leaving the salmon that run through it ripe for picking. but upstream, there is a pot

lord, in your wisdom, you led the predecessor to this congress, the continental congress of 1775 out of concern for the souls of sailors serving in the continental navy to mandate the divine services be held on all navy ships. thus giving rise 248 years ago to the navy chaplain corps. inspired by the insight of our forebearers, we seek your divine hand to raise up more religious ministry professionals to serve as united states navy chaplains. in our day, lord, grant us an increase of navy chaplains to care for the souls of sailors, marines, coast guard men and their families as they 1/2 gate the daily challenges of military service. lord, empower our nation to send navy chaplains to care for its greatest treasure, our sons and daughters. in your divine hands we commit our prayer trusting in your divine mercy. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house the approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from texas, mr. mor

the continental congress and how did you see that evolve in your work? well, it's one of the most interesting relationships in american. he invents the notion civilian control of the military. it's not in the manual he humphrey blend. it's not in there. no, it's not there. right from the get go, right from the time he takes over the continental in july of 1775, in cambridge, he acknowledges the superiority of his civilian masters. he writes dozens and dozens of letters and there's first months as commander of the continental army to congress to state. they're not states yet, but they're all the states the summer of 1776. but to colonial governments, to committees, safety to movers and shakers and the underlying thesis of all this correspondence is basically i am your servant. i am here now. he can be very hard on. the masters, and he can be manipulative, but he basically is acknowledging two things. one, i see your concern about. this thing you've created the continental i know that you know who cromwell was very aware of english history. and i am here t

lord, in your wisdom, you lead the predecessor to this congress, the continental congress of 1775, outconcern for the souls of sailors, to mandate that divine services be held on all navy ships thus giving rise 248 years ago to the navy chaplain corps. inspired by the insight of our forebears, we seek your divine hand to raise up more religious ministry professionals to serve as united states navy chaplains. in our day, lord, grant us an increase of navy chaplains to care for the souls of sailors, marines, coast guardsmen, and their families as they navigate the daily challenges of military services. we give you thanks for raising up righteousness leaders who foster justice and promote the good. grant your wisdom to the newly confirmed and soon to be confirmed flag and general officers that they may bless your people. grant your favor to our nation this holiday season that though we are a people of many faiths or even no faith, we live united as a nation without hate or rancor. into your divine hands we commit our prayer, trusting in your divine mercy. amen. the presiding officer: plea