@ Subtitles generated with Happy Scribe 00:00:31:160 00:00:31:920 "I wanted to ask you - 00:00:32:120 00:00:35:560 do you know what the original 13 states were?" "No." 00:00:37:000 00:00:38:280 200 years ago 00:00:38:480 00:00:44:520 13 British colonies said no to domination by the crown and a nation was begun. 00:00:44:720 00:00:46:560 Today the bicentennial council of the 13 00:00:46:760 00:00:51:280 original states presents this film because we want you to know about those times, 00:00:51:480 00:00:55:920 those events, those places and these states. 00:01:51:560 00:01:55:160 "I am going to talk now. 00:01:55:680 00:01:59:720 The man above is he who made the land 00:01:59:920 00:02:02:520 and his majesty over the water desires 00:02:02:720 00:02:08:160 that the white people and ourselves should mutually possess it. 00:02:08:800 00:02:14:920 As I said before, the man above is head of all. 00:02:15:120 00:02:18:200 He made the land and none other. 00:02:18:400 00:02:22:640 And he told me that the land I stand on is mine, 00:02:22:840 00:02:25:440 and all that is on it. 00:02:26:120 00:02:32:800 True it is the deer, the buffalo, and the turkey are now almost gone. 00:02:33:000 00:02:38:520 The white people eat hogs, cattle, and other things which they have here. 00:02:38:720 00:02:41:600 But our food is further off. 00:02:41:800 00:02:45:240 The land here is very good land. 00:02:45:440 00:02:51:440 It affords good water, good timber, and other good things. 00:02:51:640 00:02:53:600 I will not love it. 00:02:53:800 00:02:58:680 I do not love the land as we are going to make a division. 00:02:58:880 00:03:03:040 I want to do what is fair and right. 00:03:03:600 00:03:09:440 The price the white people give for land when they buy is very small. 00:03:10:000 00:03:11:320 They give a shirt, 00:03:11:520 00:03:18:600 a match coat and the like, which soon wear out but land lasts always. 00:03:19:360 00:03:22:520 I am now done talking. 00:03:22:720 00:03:28:920 The land is given when the line is run, and I quit all pretensions to it." 00:03:29:120 00:03:32:840 Those were the words spoken by the man they called the linguist [?]. 00:03:33:040 00:03:35:520 He was Ostenaco, one of the Cherokee chiefs 00:03:35:720 00:03:38:240 and on June 2nd, 1767, 00:03:38:240 00:03:41:960 he had met with Governor Tryon to discuss the boundary line between the white 00:03:42:160 00:03:45:560 settlers and the Cherokee Indian hunting grounds. 00:03:45:560 00:03:46:640 Of course, in the beginning, 00:03:46:840 00:03:49:520 the entire continent had been the land of the Indians. 00:03:49:520 00:03:51:120 It was the openness of the land that had 00:03:51:320 00:03:55:600 made the white man come, the challenge, the opportunity to build upon nature 00:03:55:800 00:04:00:160 and to harness it, to develop it, for better or worse. 00:04:00:360 00:04:04:000 It was a land where there was a freedom of choice. 00:04:09:160 00:04:12:920 Many of those that came from the old world were indentured servants. 00:04:13:000 00:04:15:000 People who bonded themselves for four or 00:04:15:200 00:04:19:720 five years of work in exchange for their passage, or youngsters from poor families 00:04:19:920 00:04:25:080 who saw in far off America a greater future than England could offer. 00:04:25:280 00:04:27:320 Steven Vincent Benét wrote eloquently 00:04:27:520 00:04:31:200 about these people who look to America for hope of a new life. 00:04:31:370 00:04:33:320 "And those that came were resolved to be 00:04:33:520 00:04:37:120 Englishmen, gone to the worlds end but English every one, 00:04:37:320 00:04:40:240 and they ate the white corn kernels parched in the sun 00:04:40:310 00:04:41:360 and they knew it not, 00:04:41:560 00:04:44:720 but they'd not be English again." 00:04:50:440 00:04:54:400 Back in 1621, just 14 years after the first permanent 00:04:54:600 00:04:57:600 English settlement was established here in Jamestown. 00:04:57:800 00:05:01:840 17 year old Adam Thoroughgood set foot on the shores of Virginia. 00:05:02:040 00:05:04:800 What followed was an early American success story. 00:05:05:000 00:05:09:680 By the time his indenture ended, he was a prosperous planter and a man of property. 00:05:09:880 00:05:14:200 By 1636, he was able to afford to build this house in Norfolk. 00:05:14:400 00:05:17:360 It's the oldest brick house surviving in America. 00:05:17:560 00:05:21:240 And even today, they say that it's haunted by friendly spirits. 00:05:21:280 00:05:24:680 About the same amount of time elapsed between the first airplane ride 00:05:24:680 00:05:28:560 at Kitty Hawk and the landing on the moon, as did between Adam Thoroughgood's 00:05:28:760 00:05:33:080 building of a house and the creation of Williamsburg. 00:05:33:280 00:05:51:657 [music] 00:05:52:080 00:05:53:840 Williamsburg was the new capital 00:05:54:040 00:05:57:320 of Virginia, and in 1765, there was harpsichord 00:05:57:520 00:06:03:000 music here and revolutionary thoughts in the mind of Patrick Henry. 00:06:03:200 00:06:23:429 [music] 00:06:23:640 00:06:27:720 Patrick Henry's passionate words, not only warned King George, 00:06:27:920 00:06:32:720 but fired the House of Burgesses into passing the Virginia Resolutions. 00:06:32:920 00:06:38:760 These resolutions of 1765 were in protest of the Stamp Act. 00:06:38:957 00:06:46:214 [music] 00:06:46:320 00:06:50:200 The publication of early American newspapers had been severely affected 00:06:50:400 00:06:53:560 by the Stamp Act. Some publishers unable to afford 00:06:53:760 00:06:57:840 the expensive stamps which were required by law to be affixed to each edition, 00:06:58:040 00:07:00:520 had been forced to close down their presses. 00:07:00:720 00:07:05:760 Others defied the law and continued to publish without stamps. 00:07:27:600 00:07:30:720 Ten years later, the Virginia Gazette carried the news 00:07:30:920 00:07:34:640 that the Declaration of Independence had been signed in Philadelphia. 00:07:34:840 00:07:39:120 There were more signers from Virginia than from any other state except Pennsylvania, 00:07:39:320 00:07:41:400 and John Adams said "These gentlemen 00:07:41:600 00:07:45:840 of Virginia appear to be the most spirited of any." 00:07:51:240 00:07:54:520 One of these gentlemen was George Wythe, whose house still stands here 00:07:54:720 00:07:58:000 in Williamsburg. Wythe was a lawyer and a teacher who taught 00:07:58:200 00:08:03:240 at the College of William and Mary as the first professor of law in America. 00:08:03:240 00:08:04:560 At a time when England had two 00:08:04:760 00:08:08:400 universities, nine colleges had been founded in America, 00:08:08:600 00:08:12:440 the oldest being Harvard, and the second, William and Mary. 00:08:12:640 00:08:15:200 Wythe's most notable pupil was Thomas Jefferson, 00:08:15:400 00:08:19:440 who would prove his devotion to the ideals of American education by founding 00:08:19:640 00:08:23:160 the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. 00:08:26:720 00:08:30:080 [singing] "Yet the place I love most is Virginia 00:08:30:314 00:08:34:200 Tom Jefferson he lived on a lovely hill 00:08:34:271 00:08:37:786 And he laid out a town called Charlottesville. 00:08:37:843 00:08:41:114 And the town and the hill are a sittin' there still 00:08:41:115 00:08:44:614 in the central part of Virginia." 00:08:44:814 00:08:57:957 [music] 00:08:58:000 00:09:00:880 Thomas Jefferson also designed his home. 00:09:00:950 00:09:04:200 He called it Monticello, which means "little hill" in the Italian he 00:09:04:400 00:09:07:640 had learned along with French, Latin, Greek, and Spanish, 00:09:07:640 00:09:08:920 and it was here that one of his 00:09:09:120 00:09:13:960 inventions, a seven day clock, operated by cannonball weights and pulleys, 00:09:14:160 00:09:18:440 ticked away the last hours of the 83 years of his life. 00:09:19:320 00:09:23:000 John Adams died in Boston just a few hours later. 00:09:23:200 00:09:26:480 The date was July 4th, 1826. 00:09:26:480 00:09:29:400 It was the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration 00:09:29:600 00:09:34:120 of Independence, and Jefferson's lifelong hope had been granted for he had always 00:09:34:314 00:09:40:243 said all my wishes end where I hope my days will end at Monticello. 00:09:40:443 00:09:54:300 [music] 00:09:54:400 00:09:56:040 The southern region of the coastal 00:09:56:220 00:09:59:320 expanse, which the English called Virginia, now the Outer Banks 00:09:59:520 00:10:02:920 of North Carolina, was described in 1584 as 00:10:03:120 00:10:09:240 "the Goodliest Soile under the Cope of Heaven" where the Indians are mannerly and civil. 00:10:09:400 00:10:10:000 Powhatan, 00:10:10:070 00:10:13:920 the father of Pocahontas, brought together more than 30 tribes of these coastal 00:10:14:120 00:10:17:760 Algonquins, and he formed a Powhatan Confederacy. 00:10:17:760 00:10:21:520 Now, much of what the Indians produced was tobacco, which they not only smoked 00:10:21:720 00:10:26:720 in stone or clay pipes, but burned in fires as an offering to the gods. 00:10:27:640 00:10:29:000 Sir Walter Raleigh, 00:10:29:060 00:10:32:560 who had persuaded Queen Elizabeth to authorize the colonization of this 00:10:32:760 00:10:37:200 goodliest soil, introduced the smoking of tobacco to England. 00:10:37:400 00:10:41:840 It wasn't until 1612, however, that tobacco from improved Spanish seed 00:10:42:040 00:10:46:720 was grown by colonists at the English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. 00:10:46:920 00:10:51:480 In a few years, Virginia tobacco replaced the Spanish product. 00:10:51:686 00:10:59:814 [music] 00:10:59:880 00:11:01:200 In the 18th century, 00:11:01:400 00:11:06:600 a smoker could buy tobacco at Brother Miksch's tobacco shop in Old Salem, North Carolina. 00:11:06:600 00:11:09:200 "He made basically two different types of tobacco products. 00:11:09:400 00:11:10:400 He made snuff, 00:11:10:600 00:11:14:080 and he made chewing and smoking tobacco for pipes. The way he made his snuff is 00:11:14:280 00:11:17:200 he would grind up dry tobacco leaves and stems, 00:11:17:400 00:11:20:960 then he would put it through two sieves and get a fine tobacco dust out of it. 00:11:20:960 00:11:22:800 He would add salt, sugar, and water to this 00:11:22:800 00:11:26:600 and let it ferment near a fire for about three weeks and he would dry that back out 00:11:26:800 00:11:28:120 and sell that as snuff. 00:11:28:320 00:11:32:520 And the way he made his chewing and smoking tobacco for pipes is he would twist together 00:11:32:720 00:11:35:320 moist tobacco leaves into a tobacco rope. 00:11:35:520 00:11:38:760 And then with this rope, he could make a comb or a tobacco twist or 00:11:38:760 00:11:42:040 he could make his plug tobacco. They did not have cigars or cigarettes 00:11:42:240 00:11:43:560 back then." 00:11:46:200 00:11:48:240 Salem, which means peace was one 00:11:48:440 00:11:51:240 of the first planned communities in the new world. 00:11:51:440 00:11:55:320 It was the creation of the Moravians, a devout Germanic people who believed 00:11:55:320 00:11:58:200 that the work of their hands, no less than the stirrings of their 00:11:58:400 00:12:02:360 consciences, was a direct expression of the will of God. 00:12:02:560 00:12:12:300 [music] 00:12:12:400 00:12:15:640 It was in July 1783 that the Moravians 00:12:15:810 00:12:19:760 responded to Governor Alexander Martin's announcement that news of the peace had 00:12:19:960 00:12:24:320 come and theirs was the first official celebration in the land. 00:12:24:514 00:12:29:014 "... in Salem square, for the very first Fourth of July celebration 00:12:29:214 00:12:34:514 by legislative enactment, held anywhere in the newly formed United States. 00:12:34:714 00:12:38:500 As we look above us, the windows of Salem 00:12:38:700 00:12:42:729 are glowing with the light of candles. For inside the houses, 00:12:42:757 00:12:46:086 the townspeople are preparing for this, 00:12:46:114 00:12:48:157 the final celebration of the day." 00:12:48:350 00:13:23:050 [background choir singing, music, bird chirping] 00:13:23:117 00:13:25:483 The night watchman's proclamation's sounds 00:13:25:683 00:13:30:483 the finale to this moving celebration held here annually in Old Salem. 00:13:30:683 00:13:52:833 [night watchman shouting, music] 00:13:53:033 00:13:56:683 During the years 1767 to 1770, 00:13:56:880 00:14:01:120 the royal governor of North Carolina, William Tryon, to whom Ostenaco had so 00:14:01:320 00:14:04:400 eloquently talked, built what contemporaries considered to be 00:14:04:600 00:14:07:720 the finest government house on the continent. 00:14:07:920 00:14:11:360 Tryon Palace is situated near the coast in New Bern, 00:14:11:360 00:14:15:040 and walking through these magnificent rooms, we might reflect on the monetary 00:14:15:240 00:14:18:920 differences in costs between those days and now. 00:14:19:720 00:14:21:840 The original cost of the palace was around 00:14:22:040 00:14:25:360 fifteen thousand pounds, which was the equivalent of around seventy 00:14:25:560 00:14:29:720 five thousand dollars. When it was restored in the 1950s, 00:14:29:920 00:14:31:680 the overall costs were four million 00:14:31:880 00:14:35:800 dollars paid for by gifts and bequests, particularly those of 00:14:36:000 00:14:38:040 Mrs. Maude Moore Latham. 00:14:38:240 00:15:05:000 [music] 00:15:05:320 00:15:09:560 Well, the governor in his household were residing at Tryon Palace in opulence, 00:15:09:620 00:15:11:320 another Tea Party was taking place 00:15:11:520 00:15:14:920 in the port town of Edenton. Over their cups and saucers, 00:15:15:120 00:15:19:480 a group of 51 women of Albemarle County, North Carolina, resolved that they would 00:15:19:680 00:15:24:280 boycott goods manufactured in England until the tax was repealed. 00:15:24:480 00:15:27:480 Edenton's Tea Party was one of the earliest known instances 00:15:27:680 00:15:31:080 of political activity on the part of women in America. 00:15:31:280 00:15:36:040 It was presided over by Penelope Barker, wife of the London agent for the colony, 00:15:36:240 00:15:39:560 whose home still stands on the edge of Edenton Bay. 00:15:39:560 00:15:41:120 The oldest house in town was named 00:15:41:320 00:15:46:720 for the octagonal cupola on its roof, from which incoming ships were sighted. 00:15:46:920 00:15:51:650 [music] 00:15:51:720 00:15:53:960 Edenton, originally known as "Ye town 00:15:54:160 00:15:58:920 on Queen Anne's Creek", is particularly proud of the Chowan County courthouse, 00:15:59:120 00:16:02:560 an example of tidewater architecture. 00:16:02:760 00:16:09:783 [music] 00:16:09:833 00:16:13:633 Old world loyalties and new world self-reliance clashed on 00:16:13:717 00:16:18:920 February 27, 1776, at Moores Creek, North Carolina. 00:16:19:100 00:16:20:600 The winners were the patriots, 00:16:20:600 00:16:23:920 and their victory was a major factor in preventing a full-scale British 00:16:24:120 00:16:28:760 invasion of the southern states in these opening days of the revolution. 00:16:28:967 00:16:34:117 [singing drumming] "Will ye no' come back again? 00:16:34:317 00:16:40:417 Will ye no' come back again? 00:16:40:617 00:16:46:400 Better lo'ed ye canna be 00:16:46:600 00:16:49:879 Will ye no' come back..." 00:16:49:880 00:16:52:760 Two hundred miles to the south, 00:16:52:960 00:16:54:640 the logs of the palmetto tree, 00:16:54:840 00:16:58:720 unknown to Europe, withstood the attack on Fort Sullivan. 00:16:58:920 00:17:01:720 This attack in June 1776 was staged 00:17:01:920 00:17:07:120 by a British fleet bent on capturing Charleston, South Carolina. 00:17:07:320 00:17:14:100 [drum and fife music] 00:17:14:160 00:17:17:760 The ingenious reinforcement of the fort had been ordered by the American 00:17:17:960 00:17:22:520 commander, Colonel William Moultrie, and the British cannonballs fell 00:17:22:720 00:17:26:520 harmlessly into the beach sand which protected the enclosure. 00:17:26:720 00:17:30:480 Watercolor sketches made by a young lieutenant who witnessed the action show 00:17:30:680 00:17:35:960 the Americans returning the fire and forcing the British fleet to withdraw. 00:17:35:960 00:17:37:240 Now, these two early victories 00:17:37:440 00:17:40:080 in the South, Moore's Creek and Fort Sullivan, gave 00:17:40:280 00:17:45:040 the patriots a sense of elation, a feeling that their cause was almost won 00:17:45:210 00:17:47:560 and there followed a relatively peaceful period 00:17:47:760 00:17:51:320 as the war went on far to the north. 00:17:51:517 00:18:07:867 [mechanical cranking noises] 00:18:08:040 00:18:12:880 For people like the family of Charles Moore of Walnut Grove, South Carolina, 00:18:13:080 00:18:16:400 life went on, as it always had. 00:18:16:600 00:18:30:733 [music] 00:18:30:880 00:18:36:040 It was on colonial plantations such as this that a new breed of man was born: 00:18:36:240 00:18:38:400 the southern planter whose lifestyle would 00:18:38:600 00:18:42:640 influence the personality of so many American achievers. 00:18:42:840 00:18:45:120 Four such men made up the South Carolina 00:18:45:320 00:18:48:280 delegation to the Second Continental Congress. 00:18:48:440 00:18:50:240 They included the youngest of the 56 00:18:50:440 00:18:53:160 signers of the Declaration of Independence. 00:18:53:360 00:18:56:680 Their average age was twenty-nine years. 00:18:56:880 00:18:58:680 One of them was Arthur Middleton, 00:18:58:680 00:19:02:120 whose plantation was pillaged in the fighting that returned to the south 00:19:02:320 00:19:04:000 two years later. 00:19:04:200 00:19:17:883 [music] 00:19:17:960 00:19:21:040 In 1778, the British land forces 00:19:21:240 00:19:25:520 in Florida moved north towards the Georgia port city of Savannah. On their way, 00:19:25:720 00:19:29:560 they passed through Midway, whose church had two of Georgia's signers, 00:19:29:760 00:19:34:280 Dr. Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett, as members of his congregation. 00:19:34:600 00:19:37:800 Around the same time, a British fleet still smarting 00:19:38:000 00:19:42:360 from the memory of its earlier defeat at Charleston, was on its way from New York. 00:19:42:560 00:19:47:960 And by December 29th, 1778, Savannah was in British hands. 00:19:48:167 00:19:56:617 [music] 00:19:56:760 00:19:59:120 Savannah's Fort Pulaski was built long 00:19:59:170 00:20:02:120 after the revolution, but it honors the memory of the Polish 00:20:02:320 00:20:06:320 patriot who joined the Americans and their French allies under the Comte d'Estaing 00:20:06:520 00:20:11:520 in an attempt to recapture the city. After a siege that lasted 32 days, 00:20:11:720 00:20:15:400 the British were still in command and Pulaski lay dead. 00:20:15:400 00:20:16:560 He was shot by a bullet, 00:20:16:760 00:20:20:560 which is on display at the Georgia Historical Society. 00:20:20:760 00:20:30:167 [music] 00:20:30:280 00:20:31:560 For many Savannahians, 00:20:31:760 00:20:35:800 the lion is a benevolent beast, a symbol of happy occasions, 00:20:35:800 00:20:37:240 while the symbol of vigilance is 00:20:37:440 00:20:40:960 the crane, a symbol that seems to have left its mark 00:20:41:160 00:20:44:880 on the city's very personality when it comes to a careful preservation 00:20:45:080 00:20:50:960 of the original concept that was laid out by its founder, General James Oglethorpe. 00:20:51:160 00:21:07:700 [music] 00:21:07:800 00:21:10:080 General Oglethorpe arrived from England 00:21:10:280 00:21:14:440 in 1732 with 114 colonists, and there's a model 00:21:14:640 00:21:18:520 of the Anne, the ship that brought them, in the Ships of the Sea Museum. 00:21:18:720 00:21:21:040 Another model is of the Savannah, 00:21:21:240 00:21:25:080 the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. Its 20th century 00:21:25:280 00:21:28:600 atomic-powered namesake was a forecast for the future, 00:21:28:800 00:21:34:360 when the seaport of Savannah would again symbolize a new and dynamic south. 00:21:34:567 00:22:33:633 [music] 00:22:33:920 00:22:37:760 The Pirates' House is the oldest house in Savannah. 00:22:37:960 00:22:42:040 Today's sophisticated dining here is quite different from colonial times when 00:22:42:240 00:22:46:320 the preparation of every meal was a major undertaking. 00:22:46:520 00:22:48:680 "Even breakfast involved the preparation 00:22:48:880 00:22:53:520 of such dishes as pork, beef, and wild or domesticated birds. 00:22:53:720 00:22:59:120 A rugged life required rugged fare. Cornmeal and flour were basic essentials. 00:22:59:320 00:23:01:880 Honey and West Indian molasses served 00:23:02:080 00:23:05:520 in place of scarce and therefore expensive cane sugar. 00:23:05:600 00:23:09:400 Just setting the fire for cooking meant that someone had to rub flint against 00:23:09:600 00:23:15:560 steel in order to strike a spark and then painstakingly bring the wood to a glow." 00:23:16:120 00:23:18:320 Agusta was the home of George Walton, 00:23:18:320 00:23:21:360 one of the Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence who was 00:23:21:560 00:23:26:080 badly wounded during the siege of Savannah and taken prisoner by the British. 00:23:26:280 00:23:27:920 A year after that siege, 00:23:28:120 00:23:32:880 13 Americans were hanged at the staircase of the Mackay Trading House. 00:23:32:910 00:23:34:760 They had taken part in Elijah Clark's 00:23:34:960 00:23:38:680 surprise attack on the British-held storehouse that contained a shipment 00:23:38:880 00:23:42:680 of bribes, which they called presents for the Indians. 00:23:42:880 00:23:44:280 The mission was a failure, 00:23:44:480 00:23:49:200 and twenty-nine wounded patriots who couldn't join the retreat were captured. 00:23:49:200 00:23:50:360 Meanwhile, in Charleston, 00:23:50:560 00:23:55:520 other patriots were incarcerated in the Provost Dungeon. Behind a wall next to them, 00:23:55:720 00:24:00:200 ten thousand pounds of powder and small arms had secretly been stored just before 00:24:00:400 00:24:03:520 their British captors had taken over the city. 00:24:03:720 00:24:05:560 All this took place in Charleston's 00:24:05:760 00:24:10:680 Exchange Building, which was then used as a military headquarters of the British. 00:24:10:880 00:24:12:720 Their commander, Sir Henry Clinton, 00:24:12:920 00:24:16:800 had come down from New York with over 8000 troops and was residing 00:24:17:000 00:24:22:560 in the Miles Brewton house as an unwelcome guest to the owner, Mrs Motte. 00:24:22:880 00:24:26:720 Charleston remained in British hands for the rest of the war. 00:24:26:720 00:24:27:720 After it was all over, 00:24:27:920 00:24:32:280 the great chandelier of the Miles Brewton House reflected a new era. 00:24:32:440 00:24:34:280 President Washington visited the city 00:24:34:480 00:24:39:600 after the war, and he stayed in the house built by Daniel Heyward. 00:24:41:000 00:24:43:800 Noticed the unique staircase of the Russell House. 00:24:43:800 00:24:46:760 This is one of the many examples of the grace and style that went 00:24:46:960 00:24:50:360 into the grand Charleston interiors even after the war. 00:24:50:420 00:24:52:520 That's when the city itself became a model 00:24:52:720 00:24:57:240 for an elegant way of life that not only dazzled the post-revolutionary south, 00:24:57:440 00:25:01:920 but set a mood of culture for the young United States. 00:25:02:120 00:25:28:020 [music] 00:25:28:320 00:25:33:040 It's Carolina Cup Day in Camden. On August 16th, 1780, 00:25:33:040 00:25:35:200 the winners were the British because they'd whipped 00:25:35:400 00:25:37:480 General Horatio Gates so soundly that his 00:25:37:680 00:25:40:280 horse didn't stop running until it reached Charlotte, 00:25:40:480 00:25:42:600 and that was about 60 miles away. 00:25:42:800 00:25:48:560 It was, as someone said, a shameful comedown for the hero of Saratoga. 00:25:49:920 00:25:53:440 In 1781, after the Battle of Hopkirk Hill, 00:25:53:640 00:25:56:720 it would be the British turn to run away from Camden. 00:25:56:720 00:25:58:520 The town had served as the principal 00:25:58:720 00:26:03:040 supply post in this part of America, and Charles Earl Cornwallis used 00:26:03:240 00:26:08:560 the home of Camden's founder, Joseph Kershaw, as his headquarters. 00:26:08:760 00:26:09:760 [music] 00:26:22:200 00:26:24:240 In South Carolina, there's a place called 00:26:24:440 00:26:29:600 Ninety-Six simply because it was 96 miles away from the nearest Cherokee village. 00:26:29:800 00:26:33:640 Student archaeologists are exposing a tunnel here. 00:26:33:840 00:26:35:880 The tunnel at Star Fort Ninety-Six was 00:26:36:080 00:26:40:440 conceived by the brilliant Polish military engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko, 00:26:40:440 00:26:43:320 and it might have spelled success for General Nathaniel Greene's 00:26:43:520 00:26:46:080 siege of a Tory garrison. 00:26:46:280 00:26:48:000 It was meant to secretly penetrate 00:26:48:200 00:26:51:200 into the fort, but by the time it was almost completed 00:26:51:390 00:26:54:240 news of approaching British reinforcements reached Greene 00:26:54:440 00:26:56:640 and so he withdrew his men. 00:26:56:640 00:27:00:360 Near victories like this, though, caused the determined Rhode Islander to write: 00:27:00:560 00:27:04:680 "We fight, get beat and rise to fight again." 00:27:04:880 00:27:06:760 Months before, it was from Ninety-Six 00:27:06:850 00:27:10:000 that Major Patrick Ferguson, inventor of a breech-loading rifle, 00:27:10:200 00:27:14:280 had set out to recruit more loyalists for his sovereign, King George. 00:27:14:480 00:27:16:600 Instead, he stirred up a hornet's nest 00:27:16:800 00:27:22:880 of back country patriots who came at him like timberwolves at a place called Kings Mountain. 00:27:23:120 00:27:25:400 The shrill sound of his silver drill whistle pierced 00:27:25:600 00:27:27:320 the Carolina woods as his army, 00:27:27:520 00:27:33:320 which was composed entirely of Americans loyal to England, was cut to ribbons. 00:27:34:760 00:27:37:200 Three months later, only a few miles away, 00:27:37:400 00:27:41:000 the Americans again charged the British and won another victory. 00:27:41:200 00:27:46:200 The place was Cowpens, and the hero was Daniel Morgan. 00:27:46:400 00:27:49:720 Another hero at Cowpens was Colonel William Washington's Black 00:27:49:920 00:27:55:080 orderly, whose quick thinking and sure aim saved the officer's life. 00:27:55:080 00:27:56:280 Throughout the Carolinas 00:27:56:280 00:27:58:080 there had been a series of hit and run 00:27:58:280 00:28:01:680 skirmishes, which they called "Cornwallis's Country Dance." 00:28:01:880 00:28:05:400 But now, in March 1781, the British commander had a head 00:28:05:600 00:28:09:120 on confrontation with General Nathaniel Greene. 00:28:09:320 00:28:12:400 It was the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina. 00:28:12:600 00:28:14:480 Here, the redcoats were outnumbered, 00:28:14:680 00:28:17:360 but they were superior in organization and discipline. 00:28:17:360 00:28:19:320 They managed to drive back the Americans 00:28:19:320 00:28:20:800 but because of their own casualties, 00:28:21:000 00:28:26:960 a British statesman remarked "Another such victory will ruin the British army." 00:28:27:070 00:28:29:720 A few months later, Lord Cornwallis had moved his army 00:28:29:920 00:28:33:320 to Virginia. After an indecisive campaign there, 00:28:33:320 00:28:36:800 the allied armies and the French fleet forced him to hole up in the village 00:28:37:000 00:28:40:760 of Yorktown, and the stage was set for the final act. 00:28:40:960 00:28:44:880 Admiral deGrasse defeated the British fleet off Cape Henry and landed troops 00:28:45:080 00:28:47:720 to join those of Lafayette and von Steuben. 00:28:47:720 00:28:50:960 And once the combined forces of Rochambeau and Washington reached 00:28:51:160 00:28:55:400 Yorktown from the north, Cornwallis couldn't move. 00:29:07:320 00:29:09:800 It was a siege such as no English army 00:29:10:000 00:29:15:480 in America had ever undergone, and after 21 days of almost continuous bombardment, 00:29:15:680 00:29:18:840 Lord Cornwallis surrendered. 00:29:19:600 00:29:24:050 As Lafayette said, "The play, sir, is over." 00:29:24:250 00:29:28:859 [music] 00:29:29:200 00:29:33:000 Exactly where and when did the American Revolution begin? 00:29:33:200 00:29:37:200 It's debatable, even today during America's bicentennial. 00:29:37:400 00:29:41:040 The American Revolution doesn't belong to any state or region. 00:29:41:240 00:29:44:760 It grew in the minds of people in all the 13 colonies. 00:29:44:960 00:29:49:360 It was an effort of unity from which emerged the 13 original states. 00:29:49:360 00:29:50:760 But as to where and when the war 00:29:50:960 00:29:55:920 for independence ended, the places and the times are very clear. 00:29:56:120 00:29:58:200 "This is the old Senate chamber, 00:29:58:400 00:30:00:640 the room in which the Revolutionary War 00:30:00:840 00:30:04:040 ended with the signing of the peace treaty, 00:30:04:240 00:30:07:960 January 14, 1784. 00:30:08:160 00:30:10:160 This was the ratification of the Treaty 00:30:10:360 00:30:15:480 of Paris that made America a member of the family of nations. 00:30:15:490 00:30:16:840 Two weeks before this time, 00:30:17:040 00:30:21:320 December 23, 1783, George Washington entered the room 00:30:21:520 00:30:27:160 and faced his compatriots for the first time since the struggle had been ended. 00:30:27:360 00:30:30:840 It must have been a very dramatic experience for everyone. 00:30:31:040 00:30:33:000 A moment filled with triumph and 00:30:33:200 00:30:38:000 appreciation and regard - high regard - for this man who had made it all possible. 00:30:38:200 00:30:42:000 George Washington had been the Revolutionary War. 00:30:42:200 00:30:44:320 He stood before them an'd he said in his 00:30:44:520 00:30:47:880 final words, 'Having finished the work assigned me, 00:30:48:080 00:30:53:000 I retire from the great theater of action and building an affectionate farewell 00:30:53:200 00:30:57:360 to this august body under whose orders I have so long acted, 00:30:57:560 00:31:04:160 I here offer my commission and take leave of all the employments of public life.' 00:31:04:360 00:31:07:720 After his speech, he and Martha Washington went 00:31:07:920 00:31:11:480 to Mount Vernon following a celebration given in their honor 00:31:11:680 00:31:16:280 and upon arriving home at last after eight years, he wrote in his diary. 00:31:16:480 00:31:18:920 'The scene is at last closed.'" 00:31:19:120 00:35:15:344 [music]