The Causes of the American Revolution on This Episode of Stories & Myths

Learn the causes and effects of the American Revolution. What ironic event of American history took place on July 4th, 1826 - the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence? All this and more on this episode of Stories & Myths with Dr. Craig von Buseck and David von Buseck.

Watch this Episode: Stories & Myths on the American Revolution

Other Episodes of Stories & Myths on Craig's YouTube Channel

Subscribe to Craig's YouTube Channel

Order your copy of Victor! The Final Battle Battle of Ulysses S. Grant

Order your copy of Forward! The Leadership Principles of Ulysses S. Grant

More books by Craig von Buseck

Transcript

Good evening. Good morning.

Good afternoon. We're so glad

that you could be with us once

again for Stories and Myths. I

am your host Craig von Buseck

and I am happy to be joined

this evening. uh by another co

host and now he didn't put his

last name down below. uh in uh

down below in the in the name

place but by looking at him,

you probably could that. This

is my other son, David von

Buseck and uh I am so happy

that David is able to join me

as co host tonight. Uh first of

all, hello, David. How are you

doing? Great. Doctor von

Buseck, how are you doing

today? Oh, you can just say

dad, that would be just fine as

well. Yeah, that seems better.

Well, good, good. I'm so glad

that you could join with us and

uh John C Farrell who is the

normal co host. had some family

things arise and he was not

able to be with us this week.

He said to say hello to

everyone in the audience. Um uh

but he will hopefully be back

with us next week but that

gives me the opportunity to

introduce another member of the

family uh because as you know,

Erin, your older brother was

the co host last week and uh

but I'm kind of happy that

you're here this week because

uh the subject matter is

something that you and I both

uh enjoy. um and that is uh

we're going to be talking about

the revolutionary war. We want

to say hello to Kelly Williams

Duncan who writes in that. it's

clear that he belongs to you.

Laugh out loud. Um we almost

look like twins. So, except

I've got the gray hair. This is

what I look like in 1989. See

that doesn't track because I

don't have a perm. Well, I

didn't have a perm in my perms

stopped uh in the early 80s.

So, um happily so Well actually

I think no, that's not true. I

had a wave in 88 but that was

the last one. my last wave but

at any rate, we're going to

talk tonight about the

revolutionary war, the American

Revolution but before we do,

tell us a little bit about you

what you're doing and uh and

you uh a keen interest in

history as well. That's right.

Uh right now, I am uh working

for Regent University. I work

as an admissions evaluator just

uh helping students through the

enrollment process uh which is

a really great uh it's a really

great thing to do. I feel like

I'm really helping people along

their way uh getting moved

forward uh but yeah, no, I've

had a uh an interesting history

for as long as I remember uh

now, a lot of that does come

from the musical 1776 and we're

going to talk about tonight.

Exactly. Exactly. Uh and then

also we've been to so many uh

colonial and historic sites

around the country. Uh I

honestly couldn't even count

them if I tried Yes, Uh it has

been uh something that has been

a family I guess you would say

it's one of the things that we

love to do and maybe it's

because I love to do it and you

guys got dragged along but I

think some of that passed down

to you as an interest as well.

Yeah, that's true. I've

definitely been to Colonial

Williamsburg without you so.

Oh, it's like, it's not just

you. It's just uh you planted

that seed there Well, that's

good. So, thinking back over

the years, what were some of

the highlights of the

historical places that we

visited that an impact on you.

Obviously, Colonial

Williamsburg is one Colonial

Williamsburg. Um you know, with

living in Virginia, you also do

uh uh Jamestown, New York town.

Uh definitely the Civil War

battle sites uh are up there uh

especially like Gettysburg just

kind of being up there and

seeing that and just looking

back on like the toll that that

took uh it's just interesting

um and then for a more like

side of things. Uh Colonial

Williamsburg. Uh like I said is

it's like stepping into

history. It's not something

that uh a lot of people who

aren't familiar with it get to

do and so that's uh something

that I really appreciate the

fact that they've preserved it

the way they have and uh even

like uh I believe it was the

governor's mansion that they

had that they found blueprints

and rebuilt it like it had been

destroyed. Exactly. And so it's

not only preserving the old but

it's updating and retaining it.

Uh maintaining like the uh I

guess character educators. is

that the right term that they

use uh uh yeah, the

interpreters uh who uh maintain

those like historical

techniques for like

blacksmithing all the different

things that they craft and

create down there and it's

right they actually do. They

make the things that they're

working on and then they sell

them in the bookstores. Yeah

which I think is awesome. Yeah,

it's fantastic. Yeah. Well,

excellent. Very good. Well, um

you know, you and I both have a

love for uh 1776 and I recently

was a keynote speaker at the

Blue Ridge Christian Writers

Conference and I shared a

little bit of the debate scene

between John Adams and John

Dickinson. Now, do you remember

any of that debate scene? Uh

like specific words of it or uh

not off hand. Uh that's

actually one I've been wanting

to rewatch. How about if I give

you a little snippet? Oh yeah,

go for it because uh I was II

played uh Dickinson as I recall

when I was in ninth grade and

so uh the debate scene is

they're they're debating

whether or not to break free

from Great Britain and declare

their independence. So, uh John

Dickinson opens up by saying,

well sir, You've gotten your

way at last. The matter can now

be discussed. I confess I'm

somewhat relieved. I have a

question that I've been fairly

itching to ask you, sir, why?

And you would answer why What

mister Dickinson? why

Independence Mister Adams? For

the obvious reason, John Adams

answers that Our continued

association with Great Britain

has grown intolerable and

Dickinson. It's tolerable to

whom to you then I suggest you

set your ties immediately but

please be kind enough to leave

the rest of us where we are. We

won't, we won't go into too

much more than that but I love

it. Comes down to the point

where they're almost ready to

come to blows. They do come to

blows. They're hitting each

other with canes by the end of

the scene. Right. Right. Well,

they are almost ready to start

hitting each other with canes

and uh Dickinson says uh now

are these the acts of English

men and John Adams answers? No

sir. Americans, not Englishman

Dickinson. Americans, which

leads us which will transition

from there into our first

question which is So our first

question is going to be, what

was the cause of the American

Revolution? Well, uh there had

been uh decades and decades of

fighting between the French and

the British and the Spanish who

are the three most powerful

empires Portugal was uh lesser

power but still a power at that

time. and so over the years,

they fought for control of the

lands all around the world as

their navies would go out into

the world and so, uh we know

that the Spanish actually were

the first to establish a colony

in North America and the oldest

part of that is still intact in

Florida at Saint Augustine and

then almost around the same

time, ironically, they were

also establishing a uh uh a

fort in a church in New Mexico.

and so the Spanish had the

first foothold and then the

French and the British came in

and each one uh laid claim to a

certain amount of land. Now,

that didn't mean anything other

than that. Uh they were saying

that uh well, you know, we're

going to we're going to claim

this and if if you want to try

and claim it, you're going to

have to fight us for it and uh

we want to just say real quick.

hello. um my sister Aaron's

staff says hi again to the

other Von. So, we say hello to

her. Um so, that's what

happened is that each of these

empires started to stake out

their claim. So, the French

took the interior of what is

now the United States and then

took a large swath of what is

now Canada and the British took

the Eastern Seaboard all the

way down to Florida which

obviously was Spanish and

started to move in there both

in what is now the United

States and also up into what is

now Canada and so that was uh

where everybody kind of stake

their claims. Well, in the

meantime and in the midst of

all of this uh there was where

the Native Americans that were

living on these lands and in

some cases, the European powers

would give give them money or

some sort of a trade for land.

other cases uh they would just

fight for it and they would

take it uh although I know that

English really did try uh to to

be fair in many cases. and also

the French but in the end, uh

the French uh kind of gained

the hearts of the native

Americans and so the British

and the French have been

fighting in Europe uh and that

spilled over into the new

world. uh as they were trying

to establish where the boundary

lines would be and so the

French convinced the Native

American to fight on their

behalf and basically said,

we're going to give you your

land. We're not going to mess

with it like the English have.

So, if you fight with us, you

know, everything will be hunky

dory. So, there was a major war

that we call the French and

Indian war that took place in

the eighth in the um 1750s in

the end. Uh that war actually

spread all over the world. It

was really a World War 200

years before what we had in the

twentieth century. So, in the

eighteenth century, there was

this world war between the

French and the British that

went on for decades and uh the

estimates are that more than a

million people died in those in

those battles over all those

years which is hard to fathom

that back then that many people

could be killed in that kind of

a war but that's what happened.

It ended up costing the British

so much Um it was tremendous uh

cost in lives in materials and

in money but in the end, the

British uh one and the uh

defeated the French and they

pushed the French primarily out

of Canada and took over most of

Canada and then continued with

the colonies on the East Coast

of what is now the United

States. Well, the cost of this

was so exorbitant that it had

emptied the coffers in Great

Britain and so King George who

was a little bit nuts. Um he

was an unbalanced He was highly

intelligent but he was also

highly unbalanced and so he

pushed parliament to levy uh

what we're called uh different

stamp acts upon the colonies

and these were taxes. So, they

would put a stamp on a barrel

of wheat or flour. Uh they

would put a stamp on a barrel

of uh tobacco or whatever it

might be and every time that

that went in or out of a port,

the colon had to pay taxes on

this and to them, these were

very high taxes but they were

willing to pay for it because

they understood that. well,

this gives us protection. We

have protection of the most

powerful empire in the world.

The most powerful army in the

world. It continues trade and

that's a good thing. So, at

first, they kind of put up with

it but the taxes kept getting

more and more. They kept

getting higher and higher and

then what really bothered the

colony here in in America, the

American British columnist was

that they had no representation

to determine what taxes would

be levied upon them All of

those taxes were passed by the

parliament in Great Britain and

so uh these colonists uh they

were told that they were

English citizens but they

didn't have true representative

government. Now, they did have

it on the local and the

colonial level but they didn't

have it on federal level and

that is where they started to

chafe against uh what was

happening and it got worse and

worse uh and unfortunately,

instead of negotiating and try

to trying to find some sort of

a settlement with the most

prosperous colony that England

had by far. I mean, it was so

much bigger than England and it

produces so much more raw

materials. It's almost crazy

that the British allowed what

happened to happen. uh but it I

think a lot of it had to do

with King George and his

erratic behavior and also just

pride. I think that the

parliament said, well, we're

the parliament. You're not.

we're in charge and so we're

going to, you know, pass these

laws and uh they didn't realize

the will of the people of

America because the American

colonists by this point had

been uh on the continent for

150 years more than 150 years

Uh Generations of people having

lived, their families lived

here, their parents, their

grandparents. Exactly. This is

their turf and someone else is

basically just saying, you're

going to pay this. I do kind of

wonder how things may have gone

different if they had uh had

representation. You might be

speaking with a British accent

right now that kind of went

Irish a little bit there.

You're better at the accents

than I am. No, it's uh it is

kind of interesting. Uh II do

wonder if it's like that out of

sight out of mind mentality

that uh the British uh like

actual in England uh people had

that they're like oh yeah no

like it doesn't even come into

their mind how massive America

is because they're just focused

on what they can see and what's

immediately impacting them. I

think that there's a lot of

truth to what you're saying,

David but I also think that

colonialism as a was an

arrogant obnoxious system. Oh

yeah. And you can't come up

with a catchphrase. The sun

never sets on the British

empire. when you're about the

size of New Jersey, I want to

say, what was that? Oh, you

mean the the England? do you

mean? Yeah. Yeah. I don't I

don't know exactly uh what a

comparable thing but it would

be compared to one of our

states in the United States and

it was ruling an empire that

went all the way around the

world like you said, they're

literally under Victoria. It

got to the point where the sun

never on the British empire

which is hard to even fathom

right now. So, in the end, uh

the Americans started to rebel

They started to not pay the

tax. they started to blockade

British military ships uh and

then when the British military

started to move uh in response

especially in Massachusetts and

in Boston specifically uh the

militias started to be raised

all across the Uh to protect

the different areas against the

British and so it was

inevitable that there would be

eventually a clash and so then

the British started to raid

these uh arms depot and the

places where they were keeping

their gunpowder where the uh

malicious were keeping their

gunpowder basically trying to

disarm them and that's why uh

the founding fathers put in a

such a strong second amendment

to protect right of citizens to

bear arms to protect themselves

both personally but also

against a tyrannical government

which is why I am AA strong and

never ending proponent of the

Second Amendment because no

government should be in a place

where it does not have a

healthy fear of their people.

Meaning that they respect the

fact that the people are not

just going to be bold over and

that that's where tyranny

happens when a government has

no respect for its own people

and tyranny takes place and

that's what what was happening

and so in order to battle this,

the Sons of Liberty or the

Patriots, uh there's a reason

why New England named their

football team, the Patriots

because they were naming them

after these patriotic colonials

in Boston who stood up against

the British troops uh in a very

bold way knowing that they

could lose their lives and so

uh one of the major moves was

what was called the Boston Tea

Party uh where people like

Samuel Adams, which was John

Adams. Cousin and um other

Patriots, Paul Revere and and

others. Uh they were they went

on to British ships and they

threw British tea into the uh

into the ocean into the bay and

uh as a protest against the

British. Well, that caused a

clamp down of the British and

the tempers rows and rows until

1 day they uh militia and just

regular came to a screaming

match with a regimen of British

soldiers and the soldiers felt

fearful for their lives and

unfortunately, they opened fire

and killed several of the

colonials and that was called

the Boston massacre and uh

interestingly, uh the person

who defended those troops was

none other than John Adams.

It's an interesting position to

be in someone who believes that

Your country should be

independent but it's also that

dedicated to the law and the

justice that it's like, I

believe that these people were

in the right and defending

people who politically you're

against but morally, you would

not have said he believes

totally that they're in the

right but he believed that they

had the right to a fair trial

and they had a right to have

their uh you know, their cause

brought out in front of uh uh

of a jury of their peers Uh

However, John Adams was greatly

conflicted because he was more

and more seeing that uh

continued association with

Great Britain had grown

intolerable and so uh that is

that is how it all began and

then uh not long after that the

uh sister colonies uh decided

that they needed to get

together to discuss what was

going on and so they sent the

best and the brightest of uh

the men at that time because

women were not involved in

politics and did not have the

vote at that time and so the

best of the brightest of the

men gathered in Philadelphia

for the first Continental

Congress and one of the first

things that they did in seventy

was to appoint George

Washington who had been an

officer in the British

government or in the British

army years before and had

fought in the French and Indian

war. Uh they appointed him to

be general in chief over the

army. uh the Continental Army

many in the congress at that

point in 7075 merely did this

uh as a protection but they

were not interested in

Independence They were looking

to put out an olive branch.

They were wanting to ask King

George for reconciliation Uh

but unfortunately, the British

government came down very hard

especially in Connecticut and

Massachusetts and in New

England and then down into New

York on the colonials and uh

many in the country who had

just the year before Uh thought

there's no way that we'll ever

leave uh our association with

Great Britain as Great Britain

became more and more heavy

handed. Uh people to have a

change of heart even though um

from the standpoint of the

colonials, they did not look

like there would be much hope

for um

for you know, or for

Independence but they were

going to fight for it anyway

and their overall hope was that

they would have the

intervention of maybe Spain or

France which is over time,

many, many years went by where

the where George Washington

would hit and run, hit and run,

hit and run. um and so uh that

was how the the war began uh

just answering uh Kelly

Williams. Duncan writes, don't

tell Abigail Adams women

weren't involved in government

and politics. Uh that is Uh but

it was an unofficial capacity.

with the official capacity. It

was only men uh but Abigail

Adams who I have the greatest

respect for and had uh women

been involved. She probably

would have been our first woman

president. She was a genius and

she created uh a lineage of

Adam's geniuses uh her own son

becoming president just like

her husband, John Quincy Adams.

So, I have the greatest respect

for for Abigail Adams as well.

So, what's the next question?

Alright, so next up, if

congress voted in favor of

independence on July 2nd, 1776,

then, why do we celebrate the

birth of the nation on July

4th? Do you know the answer to

this? I do actually know the

answer to this. Well, then, I

would like to hear you answer

this question. So, July 2nd is

when they had voted but they

hadn't actually finished

signing everybody's name to it.

So, while the vote was in, they

hadn't all attached name to it

and so basically, anyone who is

going to be voting for this

needs to attach their name to

it. You know, if we're all

going to be hung, let's be hung

together, right? What what did

Franklin said Uh unless we hang

together, we will surely hang

separately. Yeah.

Yeah. Um John Adams argued

probably most of his life for a

good part of his life that the

uh date of Independence should

have been July the second

because that is when congress

voted for the passage um and it

was passed by the vote but as

you said, it wasn't officially

ratified until the majority of

congress signing their name.

Now, there were still people

that took them a while because

they were not there in

Philadelphia and they had to uh

get back to and sign it. So,

there were some who didn't sign

it but the vast majority of

congress signed the declaration

on July the fourth and that is

why we uh celebrate it to this

day. Now, why did John Hancock

do what he did? Uh he wanted

King George to be able see it

without his spectacles. So,

what is it that he did that he

uh that he did John Hancock uh

and this is where the face uh

place here. John Hancock

decided to sign the biggest

signature out of everyone on uh

the document. he put his name

Very large, very prominent in

the center of the document. at

the center of the signing area

of the document at the top.

Very good. Excellent boy. I am

impressed with your knowledge.

Oh, yeah. I've seen national

treasure. I know you're quite

your story. Very good. Alright,

what's next? Alright, so next,

uh we've got John Quincy Adams

declared during the armistice

cause before the Supreme Court.

If it means civil war, then let

it come. It may be the final

battle of the American

Revolution. Why did Lincoln

call this Civil war. A new

birth of freedom. Well, it was

during the uh just to clarify

the Amistad uh Supreme Court.

uh discussion and if you ever

watched the movie Amistad, uh

you'll know what we're talking

about and I highly recommend

that is AA very accurate film

about what happened to the

Amistad Africans in they're

trying to break free. They were

illegally taken as slaves after

the slave trade had been um

overturned and made it illegal

and that was pushed through as

as we've talked on this program

before by William Wilbur Force

Britain. And so the the nations

of the Atlantic all agreed that

they would stop the Atlantic

slave trade. Now, there were

still nations like the United

States and several Caribbean

island nations that still had

slavery but slavery had uh

pretty much been uh done away

with uh Europe Sadly, it was uh

still being held uh for many

many years in Africa and it a

multiracial slavery in Africa.

Uh so, in North Africa, the um

the Muslim Raiders would uh

attack a ship on the

Mediterranean or on the

Atlantic and uh these were

called the barbers and our

barbers and uh it was called

Barberry Coast and so they

would attack and if they won

the battle, they would take all

of the sailors and they would

become slaves and many of

slaves were slaves for the rest

of their lives in Africa. This

was also true in Turkey. Uh so,

John Smith uh who we know from

Jamestown, you had mentioned

Jamestown before, you you know,

John Smith and Pocahontas.

Well, John Smith had been

fighting in a uh crusade in

Eastern Europe uh where the

Christian armies of Western

Europe were fighting the Muslim

armies of Eastern Europe just

outside of Austria and Vienna.

They actually were very very

close to the gates of Vienna

and there was possibility that

Vienna or Austria would have

been a Muslim nation and so the

Christian um armies pushed the

Muslims back uh into Turkey

which is you know, still in

Europe but it was uh you know a

Muslim nation primarily and

during those battles, John

Smith, Captain John Smith was

taken prisoner. uh by the Turks

and he was turned into a slave

and so John Smith could have

lived his whole life as a slave

in Turkey. but 1 day, he was

out hoeing uh some fields and

the overseer was not paying

attention and you don't want to

do that with a military person.

You want to be, you know, fully

paying attention and John Smith

took his hoe and crushed the

back of the guy's skull and

took the keys and uh we don't

know exactly the route that he

took but it's believed that he

went down through um probably

the Red Sea um got on a ship

there. Yeah. Just so you know,

your video seems to be frozen.

Oh, is it? am I back yet? Uh

no. you've been frozen for a

little while now. I've been

waiting for it to circle back

around. I don't know if you can

refresh that. Yeah, I don't

know that I can. So, we'll just

hope that it comes back up

here. Uh so, if you try turning

off your camera and turning it

back on again, that may do it.

Alright, it'll be. let's try

it. Okay, my back. Oh, I lost

you. David. David, come on back

in. Uh if you would uh while

David is coming back into the

uh the room, let me just finish

up what I had. Um what I had

been saying and that was that

um so John Smith got a boat

somewhere and he um he came. So

here's David again. Hello.

Yeah. uh Daniel Wilbur. hello

to Daniel Wilbur. my my buddy

from grade school in Erie,

Pennsylvania is is with us and

he said that uh I'm not frozen.

Kelly says I'm not frozen. July

says I'm not frozen So I'm just

going to say I was just. yeah.

So, at any rate, so, John Smith

got a boat when around Africa

came back up to England and

almost immediately was asked to

be a part of the Virginia

company when across the

Atlantic and the rest is

history but he had been a slave

and so uh slavery had been had

taken place uh in a lot of the

Muslim countries in Turkey in

the Middle East in Africa but

slowly over the years uh it had

It had been eradicated but it

was still going strong in the

United States. and so, in the

Amistad case, uh they it went

all the way up to the Supreme

court because the uh government

uh Martin Van Buren had said

that they were uh actual slaves

in uh I think in Cuba uh and

the um the people in the north

in Connecticut, I believe where

they came in. They had said no

that these were Africans who

were taken illegally and it

went all the way to the Supreme

Court and uh they were able to

convince John Quincy Adams who

by this time was an old man

close to death but John Adams,

John Quincy Adams like his

father had been a very strong

proponent of abolition uh but

they were both politicians too.

So they had to walk carefully

in those times but Adam's

argued the case before the

Supreme Court and at the end of

his argument, he said, listen,

if this whole case brings us to

civil war, then let it come and

may it be finally, the final

battle of the American

Revolution and many people

including Abraham Lincoln and

actually people on both the

north and the south in the

Civil War believed that it was

a second uh Independence

especially in the south. They

call it their own second war of

independence and their patron

saint was George Washington. a

great Virginian uh but Lincoln,

he didn't necessarily call it a

war of independence but he did

call it it uh he believed it

was the last and final battle

of the war of of uh

Independence in that it was

going to give what he called in

the Gettysburg address a new

birth of freedom. Mm hmm. Uh

We've had new birth of freedom

throughout our history. So, the

civil war was a new birth of

freedom for black people and

slaves where they were given

their freedom. Now, uh they

went through another eighty to

100 years of Jim Crow racism

after that and there was a

great struggle and there

continues to be for all of us.

A great struggle with regard to

race in our country but it us

at As far as the law was

concerned, it was a birth of

freedom for them. Then, we

could say that women received a

new birth of freedom when they

were given the right to vote.

and to hold political office Um

so, there have been these

different places where there

have been in our country a new

birth of freedom and the civil

war uh really was that because

what it did is it finalized

something that the founding

fathers did not have the

political courage or to argue

and it's understandable because

they had enough on their mind.

Now, I'm not in any way saying

that they shouldn't have

addressed slavery but as frail

human beings which they all

were, I understand why that was

one thing that they didn't get

to uh and they allowed their

their sons and their daughters

over the generations to grapple

with but it took the war to

finally finalize and bring that

new birth of freedom

Alright.

Alright, next up. What ironic

event of American history took

place on July 4th 1826, The

fiftieth anniversary of the

adoption of Declaration of

Independence. Well, you know,

that's one of the fun things

about uh studying history and I

know you've seen some of these

because you like me are

interested in history but uh

every once in a while, you see

one of these things where you

just say, wow, that almost

looks providential and in this

It's hard. You know, I know

know that there are plenty

cynics and skeptics out there

who say it's just a coincidence

but for those who are people of

faith, it's hard to uh not see

something providential and what

happened on July the fourth

Independence Day in 1826, it

was the fiftieth anniversary of

the signing of the, you know,

signing of the Declaration of

Independence and on that day in

the morning, John Adams died

and his last words. Do you know

what his last words were?

Jefferson survives. That's

right. Jefferson's is ironic

because on that same day,

didn't he pass away as well? He

did. Oh, I take that back.

Jefferson was the one who died

first. He said, Adam survives.

No, he didn't say anything. He

was and out of consciousness

but uh John Adams said

Jefferson survives but in

reality, Jefferson had died

earlier that day but both the

dynamo or the engine, the drive

force behind Independence was

John Adams and The Voice at

least on paper of the of the

declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson. They both

died on the same day. 50 days

or 50 years after the signing

while John Adam's son was

president of the United States.

I really can't recommend uh

1776 enough if you haven't seen

it already. Now, why would you

say that? What is it about 1776

that you that you love so much?

1776 is uh it is a musical. So,

uh fair warning. If you're not

familiar with that, it's

definitely in there uh and if

you're a fan of Boy Meets

World, you'll be happy because

mister Finney place John Adams

uh but it's interesting because

it's off William William

Daniels. Uh so, it starts off

with John Adams pushing for

independence and literally

everyone in the room is telling

him no and he uh the next day

is working with uh Benjamin

Franklin and Benjamin Franklin

is like, you know, I don't

think it's Independence. They

have a problem with it. It

seems like it's just you that

they have the problem with.

You're a disliked. Yeah. you're

obnoxious and disliked. It

can't be denied. Uh So, maybe

let someone else propose and so

of course, they get Richard Hen

Lee to uh go down to Virginia

and proposed the idea of

independence and get it Now

that the government familiar.

Yeah, it does. I feel like

there was another famously who

was involved in at least one.

There were at least cousins

right? right? The Lee's this of

old Virginia. Yes. So Richard,

she was was uh the uncle of

Robert E. Lee and the brother

of Whitehorse. Harry Lee, which

of course was Robert E. Lee's

father. and Richard Henry Lee

had been governor of Virginia

but he was also part of the

Continental Congress and he was

wasn't he asked to be service,

wasn't he asked to serve

governor after proposing Uh I

believe so. I don't know if he

had been governor before that

as well but I know that he left

to go and serve as governor in

Virginia. So the leaves were

very important and influential

family in Virginia and of

course, Robert E. Lee was part

of that family. So, anyway, I

interrupt. Oh, no, no, you're

fine. I will, I will will defer

to historical knowledge. I've

got movie knowledge but that's

not take that with a grain of

salt. You've got some good

historical knowledge. I do. I

do but uh I definitely will

defer to the the man with

several more degrees than I

have two more, two and a half

Two and a half. Two and a half.

Yeah. Uh but no and so after

it's been proposed by a

Virginian, that's when the

other states are willing to

come on board because it's not

just that was because it's not

just a New England problem

anymore, Right. It's it showed

the other uh colonies uh not

were the states at that point

where they still considered

colonies. Okay. So it shows the

colonies that it's not just oh

this is a New England thing.

They're obviously just you

know, aching about the taxes.

I've got taxes too. My taxes

are too high as well. but once

someone from a colony outside

of New England, they can't

withhold their support anymore

and so more and more people

come over to the side of

independence at least being

able to discuss Independence if

not fully pursue it because

it's something that they can't

ignore anymore. Well, and

especially because it came from

Virginia because Virginia was

considered at that time. It was

the first colony Uh you know,

we know that uh the the English

tried to plant a colony in

North Carolina um under Raleigh

uh but it was lost and if you

go to the Outer Banks, you can

go watch the play called The

Lost Colony. Um uh most people

and I think they've pretty much

have proven it with DNA now

that uh at least some of that

colony got taken into the uh

Native American tribes and then

they came down through the

generations. but they, you

know, they lost that

opportunity to play at the

colony but then uh thirty some

years later, um they try it

again in Jamestown and that

stuck uh which is why you

talked about Jamestown,

Williamsburg, and Yorktown on

the James uh Yorktown Peninsula

in Virginia. uh because that is

where uh the colonies took hold

at least the English colonies

took hold at that time and so

Virginia was They always said

the first colony of Virginia

and um even into the history of

the United States all the way

up to Woodrow Wilson. There

were several presidents that

came from Virginia. So,

Virginia had a tremendous

influence on uh early American

both pre american and American

history wasn't I believe it's

four out of the first five were

from Virginia because George

Washington, Thomas Jefferson,

John Adams wasn't uh right

Madison and Mon and then John

Quincy Adams broke that streak

again. Alright, two Adams.

Adams Hey, I'm not, I'm Ed. If

you just keep that going in

math class in high school,

Alright, if you have two

Virginians and one Adams and

then, you know, you are

Virginians, what will come

next? Another ad. It's like,

follow this pattern. Yeah.

exactly right. So, um 1776

yeah, I actually that along

with visiting Williamsburg when

I was a child, uh those were

the that set me on the course.

uh to my interest in my

lifelong interest in history

and so uh it's pretty uh pretty

interesting that you had a

similar path although I'm sure

that I influence that to a

certain degree but if you

haven't that that really makes

sense. Yeah. yeah. But if I

hated it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah

And then you would have

rejected it. Oh no and I've

I've just got that you know,

predisposition towards like the

historical sites and you know,

musical telling me history.

Yeah. Especially, you know,

1776 in Hamilton. It's nice

getting that uh continuance Uh

so many years later. isn't it

interesting? Um that Hamilton

has been such a booming success

um because a lot of people I

think most people most critics

would have said, you know, Lynn

Manuel Miranda, you're crazy.

You know, nobody is going to be

interested in this story about

the American Revolution. they

did that. It was called 1776

but it was It was an

unbelievable hit. Now, a lot of

that has to do with the amazing

songs. Yeah. And the songs, the

choreography and it has a story

that you can root for and it's

a bittersweet story and I feel

like that it's triumphant and

it continues being triumphant

even with the bittersweet

ending of his passing and so

like even after he dies, his

legacy carries on from there

and it's uh till today. it's

hopeful. Exactly. Yeah.

I also really um and I know

that in some circles, it was

controversial but I thought it

was wonderful. uh how they

allow different people of

different racial backgrounds to

play parts that were

traditionally white men and um

I think that that is wonderful

because it reflects the birth

of freedom that happened on

July 2nd and that was uh that

was ratified on July 4th and

what we This week is is this um

is this birth of freedom and

what? You know what Lincoln

said was really profound and I

don't think that we appreciate

what it was that Lincoln was

saying and and that was that

this uh thing that we call

representative democracy was a

complete experiment and there

are still large parts of our

world now that look on it as

stupid. They think It's uh

untamed. It is obnoxious. It is

out of control. Uh that you

can't really accomplish the

great things because you don't

have the control of the people.

whereas the American Viewpoint

is just the opposite and that

is when the people have

freedom. That is when there's a

whole burst of ingenuity.

There's a whole burst of

creativity. There's a whole

burst of creative and Lincoln

said that, you know, when he

was giving the uh Gettysburg

address, he really was giving

an observation. You know, there

have been um I think his name

was Bates that had done a two

and a half hour or talking

about the great battle of

Gettysburg and he's spoken that

mid nineteenth century oratory

with all the grand gestures and

all that kind of thing and

Lincoln got up there in two and

a half minutes gave the Gettys

address that totally gave the

meaning to all of that. So, and

in a much higher pitched voice.

Yeah. Yeah. Right. It's 7 years

ago or however he's he talked,

everybody said that he had a

very high pitched voice. We

have no idea what it really

sounded like but yeah, Daniel

Day Lewis did I I think a

really great job of capturing.

oh II love the performance in

the in the movie. It was but

going back to what I was

saying, Lincoln said this was

an experiment Can a people

govern themselves or is this

destined to uh blow up? Is this

civil war Uh which is a

tempest, a testing of that

principle, that concept, that

experiment Uh is it going to

last or will it be overturned

with tyranny and going back

away from freedom because

slavery goes the opposite

direction and the south was

fighting for slavery. There are

people today who want to argue

that but you can't you can't

argue with the only They

weren't fighting for state's

rights. State's rights to what

we're fighting for. Tariffs,

tariffs for what? So that we

can sell our cotton which is

provided by what slave labor.

It all goes back to slavery and

they had a desire to extend

slavery out to the West Coast

and then down through Mexico

all the way into Central

America and South America as a

massive slave holding empire

Imagine what would have

happened with the rise of

Nazism which is what Race-based

Master race in the twentieth

century. If there had been a

massive empire in the new world

that held the same beliefs and

you'd say, oh well, they only

held black slaves. Well, who's

to say that would have not

changed over time because it's

certainly changed in the minds

of the Nazis the same seeds

that brought forth race-based

slavery in America. grew into

full flower with the master

race concepts in Nazi Germany.

and so what Lincoln was saying

was we can either go that way

away from freedom or we can

eradicate slavery and truly

embrace freedom across our

United United States. The

United United United States.

Thank you. They didn't deal

with the name change to the

reunited states, the United

States, that just doesn't work

as well. Uh but thank god.

thank god that uh that the

north one that the union

prevailed that slavery was done

away with and that a United

States was there to rise up

with Great Britain and with all

of the British empire uh and

the free fighting people

against the axis powers in

World War two uh which was by

no way uh or by no means an

easy victory. It was a six-year

hard-fought millions of people

died. Victory that took place.

Uh that was yet another

worldwide rebirth of freedom at

least for a while.

So, any further questions for

today? No, I believe that's

just about everything. It's

interesting seeing how each

individual war uh effects and

like leads into the next the

French and Indian war leading

to issues that caused the

revolutionary war revolutionary

going into War of 1812 going

into the civil War. uh and then

the outcomes of those things

leading down the way until

World War one which led to

World War two. It's it's

interesting went to the Cold

War. which was exactly. It's

it's definitely interesting

seeing uh the the path that

history takes uh and along

those lines uh Dan Wilbur said

I like Ben Franklin's answer

about the congressional meeting

that we have a republic. If you

can keep it and uh Dan and and

uh Ben are absolutely right. Uh

it's something that there's a

never ending vigilance to keep

freedom Um um and to keep true

freedom because there are some

people who would want to call

some things freedom when in

reality, they're not and um so

we those who believe in

freedom, those who believe in

the concept of representative

democracy uh there's a never

ending struggle and it's one of

the reasons why I do what I do.

Uh writing the books going out

and speaking, doing this uh

stories of this program is to

say, alright, This is what

happened in history which like

you. So, um insightful pointed

out those things back then led

to where we are today and

there's a chain in life. One

generation that leads to

another one event that leads to

another and then it's our turn

to take up the banner. Exactly.

It's uh you know Russell

Crowe's line and gladiator. you

know what we do in life echoes

in eternity, right people uh

you know, small little tangent.

It's interesting like people in

like time travel movies, they

go to the past and like, oh, we

can't step on a butterfly.

We'll change the future. It's

like, that's every day of your

life right now. the things that

you're doing that is so many

things that is so good like

taking a stand against

oppression, going out and

voting, just doing your part,

those little things they ripple

out. It's like pebbles in a

pond and it's so important for

us to know what the

constitution says and what our

are uh to know that um I need

to protect the right of people

to speak that I don't agree

with because if I ever try to

shut them up, down the road

even though we might be

political opposites, they might

try to shut me up when they

come to power and so if we all

want the opportunity to have a

voice then we all need to

protect each other's right to

have a voice and right now

that's not happening. We have

We're in one of the most

dangerous places we've ever

been in our country because

freedom of speech even though

it might offend people even

though they might see it as

politically incorrect, they

should still protect the right

of people to to say what

they're saying. Uh even though

it might offend them and that

is the place of there's never

ending tension between

different rights. So right now,

there are people who are

fighting for religious freedom

against others are fighting for

freedom of certain expression.

The truth is, is that both of

them are protected under our

constitution and so what the

congress and the president and

the Supreme Court have to

decide is where do those lines

meet. So, the old, the old

adage is that we have freedom

of speech in this country but

there are limits to that

freedom and that is the freedom

but you don't have, you have

freedom of speech but you don't

have freedom from the

consequence of the speech and

you don't have to say certain

things that can cause harm in

certain places. So, the old

example from uh during World

War one uh Oliver Wendell

Holmes said uh that does not

give you the right to yell fire

in a crowded movie theater. If

you do that, you are putting

those people's lives in danger

and you therefore was like you

said, suffer the consequences

of what you're saying. You

don't have the right to libel

somebody or to I'm sorry to

slander somebody. Libel is in

print slander. It's to speech

Uh but the the uh Supreme Court

has given very wide latitude to

what slander is. So slander is

in danger or uh damaging

someone's reputation which will

cause them to have uh a

breakdown in their ability to

make their living and doing it

Uh knowing that what you're

saying is wrong and and with

the intent to damage. So all of

those things have to be met in

order for a to give a slander

uh justification and so it's

hard to get a slander or libel

ruling uh but not impossible

and that I think is the beauty

and the wisdom of our system Mm

hmm. Yeah. Uh there's an

interesting thing that I uh I

saw online. It was uh talking

about the paradox of

intolerance You know, we strive

to be a tolerant society but in

order to be at a a tolerant

society, we to be intolerant of

intolerance and so like when

Nazism rises up and they have

that society of intolerance,

you have to be intolerant of

that specifically. Yeah. In

order to maintain tolerance,

it's a tricky ground um because

there are reasons why certain

people are intolerant and they

are deeply held Um So, a good

example of that would be Te in

Fiddler on the roof. Someone

would say that Tavia is

intolerant against uh Russians

and against Christians but he's

point of view and this is where

our truths clash Tavia stands,

you know, so some people would

say that he's in a, you know,

intolerant place. He would say

that he's standing on the

traditions of the Jewish

religion as he interprets them

and so in America, both sides

have to be protected and

somebody might be really upset

and angry at the so called

intolerance while the person on

the other side is angry, that

they're angry at them for their

strongly held religious beliefs

or political beliefs or

psychological beliefs, whatever

you might have, social beliefs,

The truth of the matter is that

our founding fathers were very

wise in how they put things in

place so that buddies Beliefs

are protected as long as you're

not causing damage to the other

person. that's uh that that is

why we the the uh we talk about

striving for a more perfect

union Mm hmm. Uh it's a more

perfect union. It's not a

perfect union. There will never

be a perfect union until the

prince of peace returns uh on

earth and all sin is done away

with. So until then, We need to

find the the system that will

protect everybody's rights as

best as possible and where that

doesn't happen. that's where we

have to rise up to defend those

who are unjustly accused in

their rights are taken away.

It's a never ending battle and

that's one of the reasons we

have that amendment process in

place. You know, the first ten

amendments, the bill of rights

laid down all those, you know,

inalienable rights or

unalienable if you're John

Adams talking to the printer

Right. Right. Exactly. Right.

And why the founding fathers

made it extremely difficult to

put in a new amendment knowing

that they didn't want it to

just be some political wind

that blows through and have the

constitution changed constantly

but when it was time for

slavery to go, the amendment

passed when it was time for

women to have the vote, the

amendment passed and so um I

thank god for our founders

because I think that they uh I

believe was providential that

they were led by god uh but

they were also led by what they

had just gone through in the

recent Revolution and they

didn't want to go through that

ever again and they also saw

what happened in the French

revolution and they didn't want

to go through that as well. So,

they were trying to strike a

balance and thank god I think

that they did so well. that's

about it. Uh our time is up.

Thank you David for uh a

wonderful conversation. I'm so

glad that you were able to join

us uh tonight and for else.

Who's uh who's been with us. We

want to thank you for being

with us. Uh remember my books.

This one here is called Forward

uh the leadership principles of

Ulysses S Grant. This one here

is called Victor the Final

Battle of Ulysses S Grant.

They're available at Grant

Victor Book.com and grant

forward Book.com on Amazon.com.

Uh at my website, von

Buseck.com or wherever books

are sold and uh you can go and

see the other books that I have

available as well. We want to

thank you for being uh with

Daniel writes in. Let's

celebrate what we have here in

America. A flawed system that

is still the greatest in the

world II agree with you, Daniel

And so with that note, um we

want to remind you that we will

be back here again next week on

Thursday night 7 PM Eastern

Time in the United States,

Eastern United States time. So,

for David von Buseck for uh

John see Farrell who couldn't

be with us tonight. I'm Craig

von Buseck. We will see you

back here next week. Same bad

time, same bat channel. Have a

great night.