WEBVTT

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Wow.

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So this is my last true
confession to you,

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my class, and it's a true -- I
always give you true

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confessions.

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I never lie to you,
my class, but this is a truly

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true confession because the fact
of the matter is,

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I actually really couldn't
figure out how to end the

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course.

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[laughs]
I couldn't figure out what this

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last lecture was supposed to be,
and I really wondered about it,

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agonized over it.

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It's the last lecture.

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There's all this pressure.

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Several of you have e-mailed me
and said, "Looking forward

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to the last lecture."

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[laughs]
How can I live up to the

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expectation?

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So I decided that I would do
two things in the lecture,

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and the first thing that I'm
going to do is talk about the

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end of the American Revolution,
which is not an easy thing to

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do, and I'm not going to be so
good as to actually put my

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finger on the moment when the
Revolution ends,

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but I'm at least going to
suggest a couple things about

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that.

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And then at the end you'll see
I'm going to come back around

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and hopefully magically just tie
the whole course together by the

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end of the lecture.

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You will for sure notice that
some of the things I'm talking

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about now have references to
things I talked about way at the

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beginning of the course.

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So I'm trying for symmetry --
course symmetry.

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And if you think back in the
distant ages of time when this

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course started I talked on that
first --

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I think the very first lecture
-- I did --

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I used a quote from John Adams
and I used a quote from Benjamin

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Rush.

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Those are the quotes that are
on the top of the syllabus.

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And both of them talk about
when the Revolution supposedly

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began.

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So Adams, writing in 1815,
said that he thought the

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Revolution began "in the
Minds of the People,

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and this was effected,
from 1760 to 1775,

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in the course of fifteen Years
before a drop of blood was drawn

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at Lexington."

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So he says the war,
quote, "was no part of the

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Revolution."

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And then the other quote I read
was Rush,

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who in 1776 basically agreed
that the war and the Revolution

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were two different things but
then says,

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"The American War is over:
but this is far from being the

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case with the American
Revolution."

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"We have changed our forms
of government,

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but it remains to effect a
revolution in our principles,

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opinions, and manners,
so as to accommodate them to

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the forms of government we have
adopted."

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Okay.

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So when I quoted those at the
very beginning of the course,

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I basically was quoting them to
kind of shake up your

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assumptions about what the
American Revolution actually

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was.

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If the Founders can't even
agree, that kind of opens things

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broadly for us to really talk
about what the Revolution was.

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Today I'm mentioning them
because I actually do want us to

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think a little bit about,
if that -- if there's all that

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confusion about when it starts,
what can we say about when a

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Revolution ends?

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And there's definitely a hint
about how to discuss that

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question in both of those
quotes,

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even though they don't
necessarily agree,

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because both men in one way or
another saw the revolution as

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being fundamentally about what
Rush called "principles,

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opinions and manners"
and Adams called a "change

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in the minds of the
people."

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So in a way they're both saying
that a real Revolution,

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a full revolution,
involves some kind of a

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fundamental change in
principles.

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And, as both men suggest,
obviously this isn't something

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that happens instantly like a
declaration of war or a

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surrender on a battlefield,
that it's a process and it

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takes place over years,
maybe even over decades.

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Now obviously if you think
about what a revolution is,

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formally speaking,
it's a change of forms of

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government more than anything
else.

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So it involves some kind of a
large-scale transfer of power

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after some kind of a struggle
between competing groups.

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Right?

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So it's a major shift in
sovereignty of some kind.

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But for the struggle and the
instability of the Revolution to

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come to a close,
obviously there had to be some

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kind of a shared agreement about
the nature of whatever this new

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regime was going to be,
about what its ideals were,

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about what its shape was going
to be.

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And without that kind of shared
agreement on those kinds of

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things,
this new regime would really

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stay in a state of flux and
would be vulnerable to all kinds

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of continued dramatic and
potentially revolutionary

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change.

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So in a sense,
what I'm saying here is that

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revolutions involve both
deconstruction and

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reconstruction,
and that basically it's one

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thing to rebel against
something,

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and it's quite another thing to
construct something in its place

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that manages to get some kind of
general acceptance.

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And a revolution can't be said
to have ended until both parts

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of that equation have been met.

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And I think if you think back
over the course of the semester,

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you can see that during the
semester we've looked at both

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parts of that equation,
in a sense.

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We've looked,
at the very beginning of the

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course when we were getting
toward the beginning of the war,

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we've seen how Americans
generally agreed about what they

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protesting against,
but the 1770s,

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1780s, 1790s revealed they
weren't necessarily in agreement

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about what they were fighting
for;

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they didn't necessarily agree
about what the most desirable

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outcome would be.

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And we've watched this over the
course of the semester.

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We've seen people basically
just figuring out what this new

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regime is going to be.

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So, we looked at the 1770s,
we saw how people tried to

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create constitutions that would
reflect whatever this new regime

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was going to be,
and we saw how those

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constitutions pretty much
distrusted centralized power.

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Unfortunately,
the 1780s revealed that that

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first wave of reform wasn't
quite right,

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that there were some pretty
important problems that weren't

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solved,
that there were some new

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problems that seemed to be
erupting that maybe hadn't been

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anticipated before,
and then we've seen the result.

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We've watched Continental Army
officers sort of vaguely

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threatening some kind of coup
and saw the mighty power of

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George Washington's glasses.

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We saw soldiers sticking their
bayonets through the windows of

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the Pennsylvania state house to
demand their pay from the

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Confederation Congress.

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We saw indebted farmers in
Massachusetts joining in protest

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to close down the courts,
and then of course we saw the

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Independent Republic of Vermont
and my favorite,

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the State of Franklin.

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So clearly there was some
pretty widespread discontent,

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and some of the elite also,
as we heard,

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were not particularly happy.

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Many of them wanted some kind
of economic stability.

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Some of them were none too
pleased about what they saw as

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this sort of widespread social
instability.

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So in one way or another,
all of these groups felt that

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the promise of the Revolution
wasn't really being fulfilled,

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and the political system that
had been put into place during

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the Revolution not only was
incapable of dealing with the

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problem,
but in many ways it was fueling

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the problem.

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Now of course everything in one
way or another added up to lead

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to the Constitutional
Convention, which we discussed.

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And as we discussed in the
course, a new Constitution was

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by no means a done deal,
and in fact there was some

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pretty fervent debate over
whether or not some individual

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states even wanted to
participate in the whole

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Convention at all.

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And we've seen some of what
people were scared of in those

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debates about whether or not to
go to the Convention.

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A stronger government or even
just a new government might open

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the door to things like an
established aristocracy,

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monarchy, tyrannical
centralized power,

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the rise of a privileged few
over an impoverished many.

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So in essence,
these people are seeing that

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there might be a big change
happening,

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they don't know what the change
is going to be,

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and anything seems possible,
and all of those things

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obviously would represent going
back on what the Revolution had

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just gone forth for.

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So in essence,
you see people who had

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absolutely no sense of political
stability or permanence,

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no sense of what was going to
come,

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no real consensus about the
best way to fix things.

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Now following the 1780s came a
period that obviously we don't

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cover in this course.

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My other lecture course covers
it, and that's the 1790s,

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which saw yet another wave of
reform and this time it has to

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do with the rise of the
Federalist party.

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And the Federalists in one way
or another were largely about

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centralizing power even more,
and strengthening the national

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government even more,
and controlling and channeling

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the protests and politicking of
the populace;

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they're not all that
comfortable with ongoing popular

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politicking.

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And here again,
in the 1790s with this sort of

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counter-wave,
you also see more instability,

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more of a sense that there's
some kind of potentially drastic

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change that might be happening
just around the corner.

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So throughout the 1790s,
people have things in their

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letters,
throwaway lines like:

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'If this government lasts
another five years,

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here's what I think we should
do.'

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You can almost feel in some of
these letters how frightened,

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in a sense, some of these
people were who were stepping

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onto the stage of a new
government in this sense of

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amazing instability.

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I'm going to offer three quotes
because it's amazing to me how

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similar they are.

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They all use the same image.

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It's almost like they went into
a room and said,

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'How shall we describe being
scared in 1789?

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Oh, I know.'

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So James Madison says in 1789,
" We are in a wilderness

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without a single footstep to
guide us."

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George Washington in 1790:
"I walk on untrodden

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ground."

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And good old Pennsylvania
senator William Maclay,

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who offered us that quote way
at the beginning of the course,

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sitting next to Virginians at
dinner and saying that all they

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talked about was alcohol and
horses.

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Maclay says,
"The whole world is a

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shell, and we tread on hollow
ground every step."

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Now that's kind of interesting
to me,

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that all of those quotes are
all saying the same thing,

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which is basically all of these
guys literally are saying,

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'Wow.

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I'm on this really unstable
ground and I have no idea where

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I'm supposed to be going or what
a safe path is going to be.'

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So throughout the 1790s,
the Federalists countered their

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sense of social disorder by
trying to legislate and

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administrate their way into
order and control.

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And the Alien and Sedition Acts
of 1798, which I'm sure you

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probably studied in high school,
are two of the most extreme

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examples along those lines.

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This brings us to Thomas
Jefferson and the presidential

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election of 1800.

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Now significantly,
for the purposes of this class,

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Jefferson years later,
very modestly called his own

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election to the Presidency,
quote, "the Revolution of

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1800."

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Right, not modest at all:
'ah, yes, when I came to power

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it was the Revolution of 1800.'

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And not only that -- he said it
was "as real a revolution

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in the principles of our
government as that of 1776 was

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in its form."

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Okay.

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He's talking serious
revolution;

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'my rise to power was just as
significant as 1776.'

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Thank you, Thomas Jefferson.

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But you can kind of see that,
given what was happening in the

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1790s --
in my amazingly quick and

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dirty, frighteningly condensed
version of the 1790s that I just

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gave you --
given what the Federalists

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seemed to represent,
you could see why Jefferson

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would have thought that his rise
to the Presidency was some kind

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of a return to core principles,
or Revolutionary principles.

11:36.490 --> 11:41.590
Now this change of principles
wasn't easy,

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and actually I think it was the
whole intensity of the

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experience of that 1800 election
that led Jefferson to experience

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and describe his election as a
revolution that was fought and

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won.

11:53.460 --> 11:57.200
His rise to the Presidency came
after a seemingly deadlocked tie

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vote in the Electoral College
that was thrown into the House

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of Representatives to decide.

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So deadlocked was the election
and so extreme were the fears

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and expectations on all sides
that if the wrong person got the

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office,
the entire nation would come

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crashing to ruin,
that two states -- in two

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different states --
and in one state I believe the

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governor was in on it --
people were stockpiling arms

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because they were going to march
on Washington and take the

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government for Jefferson.

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That's amazing.

12:28.379 --> 12:30.949
That's America,
in a sense, on the brink of

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some sort of civil war --
if the people are marching on

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the government to take it for
the person who they think should

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be President.

12:38.240 --> 12:43.720
Massachusetts Federalist Fisher
Ames, at that time,

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thought about this and believed
that he understood why this was

12:50.514 --> 12:52.054
happening.

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And I'll mention here only
because it's been a continuing

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theme in our course:
we've seen lots of crying guys

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over the semester.

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Washington's really good at
reducing people to tears

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apparently.

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And I have to mention here --
partly because I just really

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like Fisher Ames,
because he's sort of an

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intriguing character who always
says quotable things.

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But he also -- he was in
Congress in the 1790s and the

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thing that he's most known for
is he made a speech about the

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Jay Treaty and everybody started
to cry.

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So he reduced Congress to
tears, which to me is kind of a

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terrifying image,
Congress crying.

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So Fisher Ames,
mighty orator,

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reducer to tears.

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Here's what he says in 1800,
when he's looking around and

13:31.553 --> 13:33.953
he's trying to figure out what
this all means.

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"The fact really is,
that ...

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there is a want of accordance
between our system of government

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and the state of our public
opinion.

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The government is republican;
opinion is essentially

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democratic....

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Either, events will raise
public opinion high enough to

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support our government,
or public opinion will pull

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down the government to its own
level.

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They must equalize."

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That's really interesting.

13:59.350 --> 14:02.510
So here, watching what's
happening in 1800,

14:02.509 --> 14:07.239
Ames is kind of confirming what
Adams and Rush were suggesting

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in the quotes that I started out
by discussing.

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For a revolution to end,
forms and public opinion have

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to equalize in some way,
and before they do,

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things remain unstable.

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So in a way,
what all of these guys are

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saying,
is that revolutions end when

14:23.868 --> 14:28.438
public opinion conforms with new
post-revolutionary forms of

14:28.437 --> 14:31.187
governance,
and until that happens,

14:31.193 --> 14:34.593
revolutionary change is still
entirely possible.

14:34.590 --> 14:37.630
Once that happens,
once the sort of new car smell

14:37.629 --> 14:41.049
has dissipated from a new
government and the government

14:41.051 --> 14:44.981
can be taken for granted as kind
of the normal state of affairs

14:44.979 --> 14:49.169
and it's endorsed by a majority,
then it becomes much harder to

14:49.168 --> 14:52.548
stage some kind of full-scale
revolution from outside of the

14:52.548 --> 14:53.348
government.

14:53.350 --> 14:56.540
So in essence,
revolutions end when the public

14:56.535 --> 15:00.125
mind declares that they do;
it's up to the public.

15:00.129 --> 15:03.389
Now that's a nice,
big, broad general discussion

15:03.388 --> 15:06.988
about defining the bounds of the
American Revolution,

15:06.993 --> 15:09.423
but what does that really mean?

15:09.418 --> 15:13.138
What are we really saying here
and how could we show it?

15:13.139 --> 15:17.749
How do you actually show public
opinion changing and eventually

15:17.754 --> 15:20.364
conforming with a new
government?

15:20.360 --> 15:23.560
Well, one way that you can
begin to do this is to find a

15:23.562 --> 15:27.112
wonderful primary source that
includes all kinds of eyewitness

15:27.114 --> 15:30.554
testimony about one person's
ideas and how they changed over

15:30.548 --> 15:31.188
time.

15:31.190 --> 15:35.140
So I bring to you today the
recorded recollections of George

15:35.144 --> 15:38.434
Robert Twelves Hughes,
a New England shoemaker.

15:38.428 --> 15:41.008
I know he's popped up once or
twice in one or two of the books

15:41.009 --> 15:41.559
we've read.

15:41.558 --> 15:44.268
And he's popped up once or
twice for good reason,

15:44.267 --> 15:47.257
because it's hard -- it's
harder to find comments from

15:47.255 --> 15:49.395
people who are not lofty
Founders.

15:49.399 --> 15:53.219
It's hard to find recollections
and memories and thoughts about

15:53.221 --> 15:57.291
the Revolution in a broad sense
from average Americans because,

15:57.288 --> 15:59.848
number one, they don't spend a
lot of time often sitting down

15:59.849 --> 16:01.709
and musing on paper,
and number two,

16:01.711 --> 16:05.291
their papers don't get saved as
often as an elite politician's

16:05.293 --> 16:06.473
papers get saved.

16:06.470 --> 16:09.650
So people always quote George
Robert Twelves Hughes because

16:09.645 --> 16:12.875
he's there and he's thoughtful
and he actually went back and

16:12.876 --> 16:16.546
talked about his entire life,
and his life spans this entire

16:16.547 --> 16:17.027
period.

16:17.029 --> 16:18.609
He was born in 1742.

16:18.610 --> 16:22.690
He dies in 1840,
so he lives a really long time.

16:22.690 --> 16:26.710
And he ended up being one of
the last surviving veterans of

16:26.712 --> 16:29.702
the Revolution,
or at least that people knew

16:29.696 --> 16:30.386
about.

16:30.389 --> 16:32.389
So because of that,
in the 1830s,

16:32.393 --> 16:35.463
he was interviewed so that he
could talk about his

16:35.460 --> 16:38.740
recollections,
things of his life that he saw

16:38.738 --> 16:40.268
as being significant.

16:40.269 --> 16:44.819
So let's look for a minute at
what Hughes can show us.

16:44.820 --> 16:47.340
For one thing,
you can see in some of the

16:47.335 --> 16:51.295
stories that he told and the way
that he tells them some kind of

16:51.297 --> 16:54.567
subtle but actually pretty
significant changes in the

16:54.567 --> 16:58.087
public mind that were unleashed
by the Revolution.

16:58.090 --> 17:00.220
So for example,
one of Hughes's earliest

17:00.217 --> 17:03.817
memories was of having to bring
a pair of shoes to John Hancock.

17:03.820 --> 17:06.420
And as he recalled the occasion
all these years later,

17:06.420 --> 17:08.890
he was terrified,
and he says he's first ushered

17:08.890 --> 17:11.730
into the kitchen where his type
of person belongs --

17:11.730 --> 17:13.600
and then Hancock says, 'No, no.

17:13.598 --> 17:16.528
Actually, I'd like to thank
this guy personally,' so then

17:16.534 --> 17:19.574
he's ushered into the sitting
room, and he mumbles a little

17:19.573 --> 17:20.153
speech.

17:20.150 --> 17:21.770
He didn't quite know what he
was supposed to say or how to

17:21.766 --> 17:23.406
say it,
and he's really embarrassed,

17:23.405 --> 17:25.825
and then Hancock actually asked
him to sit down,

17:25.829 --> 17:27.259
which terrifies him even more.

17:27.259 --> 17:29.149
And then worst of all,
Hancock says,

17:29.150 --> 17:31.760
'Let me drink to your health'
-- and wants to do the whole

17:31.759 --> 17:33.399
glass-clinking thing,
and Hughes said,

17:33.402 --> 17:34.862
'I've never done the
glass-clinking thing.

17:34.858 --> 17:36.478
[laughs]
I didn't know what I was doing.

17:36.480 --> 17:37.730
We did the glass-clinking
thing.'

17:37.730 --> 17:41.040
And then he basically ran away
as soon as he could without

17:41.036 --> 17:41.786
being rude.

17:41.788 --> 17:45.208
Now, Hughes's memory of this
whole episode,

17:45.211 --> 17:50.021
even all of these years later,
shows really sort of colonial

17:50.020 --> 17:52.140
era deference at work.

17:52.140 --> 17:52.470
Right?

17:52.465 --> 17:55.675
This is not someone who's just
respectful of John Hancock.

17:55.680 --> 17:59.880
This is someone who's scared of
interacting with someone who's

17:59.881 --> 18:01.811
that above him in society.

18:01.808 --> 18:05.898
Now Hughes lived in Boston in
the 1760s and 1770s.

18:05.900 --> 18:07.860
This is very handy for us
obviously,

18:07.858 --> 18:11.068
because then he offers us
eyewitness testimony about other

18:11.068 --> 18:13.548
kinds of sort of
floating-in-the-air opinions

18:13.546 --> 18:15.626
that were developing at the
time.

18:15.630 --> 18:18.780
So he -- certainly,
you can see when he's talking

18:18.775 --> 18:22.575
about his experiences -- shared
the feelings of many of his

18:22.575 --> 18:24.995
neighbors in Boston in the
1770s.

18:25.000 --> 18:27.970
In his later years,
he remembered how much he

18:27.972 --> 18:31.492
really hated the British
soldiers that were occupying

18:31.486 --> 18:32.226
Boston.

18:32.230 --> 18:34.800
He actually remembered that one
of them had a pair of shoes made

18:34.797 --> 18:36.997
and then never paid for them,
so it's a really specific

18:36.997 --> 18:38.217
I-hate-the-British memory.

18:38.220 --> 18:41.530
He also remembers watching an
eighteenth-century mugging in

18:41.525 --> 18:44.885
which a soldier knocked a lady
down and stole her bonnet and

18:44.886 --> 18:45.966
stole her muff.

18:45.970 --> 18:48.710
So he remembers
ugly-British-soldier moments

18:48.708 --> 18:49.598
from Boston.

18:49.598 --> 18:52.118
And then on March 5,
he says that when he heard

18:52.115 --> 18:55.175
noise in the street he ran to
see what was happening,

18:55.180 --> 18:58.400
and he saw British soldiers
firing on American civilians,

18:58.400 --> 19:00.830
and his response really says
something,

19:00.828 --> 19:04.008
because he immediately ran home
to arm himself.

19:04.009 --> 19:07.449
He grabbed a cane and he ran
back to the uproar,

19:07.450 --> 19:10.380
and when a soldier tried to
grab the cane out of his hands,

19:10.380 --> 19:13.350
Hughes insisted that he had a
right to carry whatever he

19:13.348 --> 19:13.888
pleased.

19:13.890 --> 19:17.380
Now that's really interesting,
because here you see Hughes --

19:17.380 --> 19:19.920
He's defending his fellow
Bostonians literally and

19:19.923 --> 19:21.883
physically,
and he's clearly -- I suppose

19:21.881 --> 19:24.431
in insisting that he has a right
to hold on to that cane --

19:24.430 --> 19:26.190
defending his rights too.

19:26.190 --> 19:28.630
But what you see is that he's
taken action almost

19:28.634 --> 19:29.454
instinctively.

19:29.450 --> 19:31.470
It's not like he saw what was
happening and said,

19:31.474 --> 19:32.914
'This is a Revolutionary
moment.

19:32.910 --> 19:35.540
I must go home and grab my club
so that I can say I was there at

19:35.539 --> 19:37.669
the beginning phases of the
American Revolution.'

19:37.670 --> 19:40.110
He just sees what's happening
in the street,

19:40.108 --> 19:43.638
he's upset, it's his neighbors,
it's people from Boston who are

19:43.637 --> 19:46.797
getting shot at,
and he instinctively is just

19:46.799 --> 19:49.029
drawn in to what's happening.

19:49.029 --> 19:52.389
So clearly, his sense of
involvement in unfolding events

19:52.391 --> 19:56.001
is growing, particularly given
that he next took part in the

19:55.996 --> 19:57.276
Boston Tea Party.

19:57.279 --> 20:00.189
Obviously, that's a very
deliberate choice to take part

20:00.191 --> 20:01.001
in a protest.

20:01.000 --> 20:03.700
And then he fights as a soldier
during the Revolution,

20:03.703 --> 20:06.513
which I guess is the ultimate
way in which you show that

20:06.510 --> 20:07.890
you're part of a cause.

20:07.890 --> 20:11.380
And then he went back to being
a shoemaker, and then he became

20:11.380 --> 20:13.440
an aged veteran of the
Revolution.

20:13.440 --> 20:15.940
Oh -- and one thing I can't
help mentioning,

20:15.940 --> 20:18.150
only because whenever I talk
about George Robert Twelves

20:18.152 --> 20:21.012
Hughes I always mention this,
because I just love the fact

20:21.009 --> 20:22.409
that it exists:
He had,

20:22.410 --> 20:24.200
I think -- Well,
actually I know,

20:24.202 --> 20:25.662
he had fifteen children.

20:25.660 --> 20:29.960
But what's wonderful about that
fact is that his eleventh son

20:29.962 --> 20:34.122
was named Eleven [laughter]
and his fifteenth son was named

20:34.122 --> 20:37.352
Fifteen [laughs]
and I just love the guy.

20:37.348 --> 20:40.708
George Robert Twelves Hughes
has the humor.

20:40.710 --> 20:42.820
I don't know if his sons were
really thrilled about being

20:42.823 --> 20:44.313
named Eleven and Fifteen,
[laughter]

20:44.313 --> 20:46.783
but I just love the fact that
he did that and that we know

20:46.782 --> 20:47.132
that.

20:47.130 --> 20:48.990
That makes me even happier.

20:48.990 --> 20:49.350
Okay.

20:49.347 --> 20:53.217
So what does Hughes show us
besides very bizarre naming

20:53.221 --> 20:53.941
habits?

20:53.940 --> 20:56.470
For one thing,
his recollections offer a great

20:56.473 --> 20:59.803
example of the ways in which the
Revolution inspired average

20:59.797 --> 21:02.217
Americans to become politically
active.

21:02.220 --> 21:04.980
He was literally drawn into the
action,

21:04.980 --> 21:07.460
first defending his neighbors
and his town,

21:07.460 --> 21:11.270
but over time obviously feeling
like he was taking part in some

21:11.271 --> 21:12.811
kind of a larger cause.

21:12.808 --> 21:14.738
So in essence,
he helps us see how the

21:14.738 --> 21:16.718
Revolution could politicize
someone.

21:16.720 --> 21:18.790
And you kind of see this in
action.

21:18.788 --> 21:22.458
Obviously, with the Hancock
story, you can see what a real

21:22.461 --> 21:25.621
sense of pre-revolutionary
deference felt like.

21:25.618 --> 21:28.068
Now of course,
the Revolution didn't just

21:28.069 --> 21:31.509
stamp out deference,
but a politicized public was a

21:31.512 --> 21:35.442
public that understood that it
had rights and that it could

21:35.442 --> 21:36.462
demand them.

21:36.460 --> 21:39.490
And eventually,
the American people would not

21:39.489 --> 21:43.479
show that kind of fear and
trembling before a member of the

21:43.481 --> 21:45.801
supposed elite,
so basically,

21:45.801 --> 21:49.791
eventually the American public
would find their voice.

21:49.788 --> 21:53.588
And this idea that the public
had a voice and had a right to

21:53.592 --> 21:56.882
express it is the sort of
general changing of public

21:56.878 --> 22:00.808
opinion that would ultimately
connect to the nation's new form

22:00.809 --> 22:02.099
of government.

22:02.098 --> 22:03.758
So basically,
you see the sort of beginning

22:03.761 --> 22:06.181
of a chain reaction that might
actually lead to the end of the

22:06.175 --> 22:06.765
Revolution.

22:06.769 --> 22:10.389
You can see patterns unfolding
that represent pretty major

22:10.386 --> 22:12.796
changes over a long stretch of
time.

22:12.798 --> 22:15.428
Now obviously,
it's not just average American

22:15.430 --> 22:18.420
citizens who are being shaped by
the Revolution.

22:18.420 --> 22:21.390
The elite were profoundly
affected by it as well.

22:21.390 --> 22:24.330
And for one obvious thing --
suddenly,

22:24.328 --> 22:27.738
they were presented with this
opportunity to create and shape

22:27.738 --> 22:29.838
a new government for a new
nation,

22:29.838 --> 22:33.558
and they knew that this was a
pretty rare opportunity.

22:33.558 --> 22:36.438
So even as they're doing it,
they know that this is not

22:36.444 --> 22:38.374
something that happens very
often.

22:38.368 --> 22:41.288
Just listen to how John Adams
discussed what he felt like was

22:41.285 --> 22:44.245
the change that he experienced
over the course of his life.

22:44.250 --> 22:46.130
And this is in one of the
letters --

22:46.130 --> 22:47.560
I mentioned this at the
beginning of the course --

22:47.558 --> 22:49.888
these great letters they write
to each other in their old age.

22:49.890 --> 22:52.730
So here, writing to Jefferson,
Adams says,

22:52.730 --> 22:55.510
"When I was young,
the Summum Bonum--

22:55.509 --> 22:57.869
or the sort of ultimate
height--in Massachusetts,

22:57.868 --> 23:00.628
was to be worth ten thousand
pounds Sterling,

23:00.630 --> 23:03.980
ride in a Chariot--a carriage,
be Colonel of a Regiment of

23:03.980 --> 23:06.980
Militia and hold a seat in His
Majesty's Council.

23:06.980 --> 23:11.140
No Mans Imagination aspired to
any thing higher beneath the

23:11.135 --> 23:12.135
Skies."

23:12.140 --> 23:15.410
So Adams is thinking back,
and he's here basically

23:15.414 --> 23:19.434
suggesting that the Revolution
and its aftermath expanded the

23:19.425 --> 23:21.895
horizons of an entire
generation.

23:21.900 --> 23:25.760
Now, he's talking about the
elite, but you could expand this

23:25.757 --> 23:28.697
to include the American
citizenry as well,

23:28.700 --> 23:32.110
because in a variety of ways
the Revolution shook things up,

23:32.108 --> 23:35.478
and in doing so it expanded
people's horizons.

23:35.480 --> 23:37.300
Now I use the word
"citizenry"

23:37.303 --> 23:38.743
--
and I did that really

23:38.743 --> 23:42.093
deliberately,
because all Americans did not

23:42.093 --> 23:47.173
have their horizons expanded
during the Revolutionary war,

23:47.170 --> 23:49.820
and this is something clearly
we talked about in class and

23:49.824 --> 23:52.534
we've talked about in sections
that's linked to some of the

23:52.525 --> 23:55.085
discussions that we've been
having about how radical the

23:55.086 --> 23:56.526
Revolution was or wasn't.

23:56.529 --> 23:58.469
So the elite,
like everyone else,

23:58.470 --> 24:01.260
were profoundly affected by the
Revolution,

24:01.259 --> 24:04.079
but of course they're not the
people who get to decide the

24:04.082 --> 24:05.322
fate of the Revolution.

24:05.318 --> 24:09.048
It's the American public who
gets to make that decision.

24:09.048 --> 24:12.628
It's their opinions of the new
government that are going to

24:12.634 --> 24:16.164
either make or break the
government and the Revolution.

24:16.160 --> 24:19.390
And during the period covered
by this course we've seen the

24:19.385 --> 24:22.385
beginnings of a long period
during which public opinion

24:22.390 --> 24:25.690
would continue to change,
sometimes really dramatically,

24:25.686 --> 24:28.886
concerning just what this new
government and this new nation

24:28.885 --> 24:30.075
was supposed to be.

24:30.078 --> 24:33.458
Now, I'm not going to end by
continuing here to talk about

24:33.460 --> 24:36.710
the end of the Revolution,
because it isn't just the

24:36.713 --> 24:39.233
events of the Revolution that
mattered,

24:39.230 --> 24:40.530
even when they're ending.

24:40.529 --> 24:43.409
It's actually how we remember
them that matters,

24:43.411 --> 24:46.411
because the way that we
remember history obviously

24:46.414 --> 24:49.424
really determines its meaning
and its impact.

24:49.420 --> 24:51.940
So basically,
history -- and how we

24:51.942 --> 24:56.252
understand our history -- can
have a profound effect on the

24:56.248 --> 24:57.508
here and now.

24:57.509 --> 24:59.859
In a way, this is what
Jefferson referred to -- I think

24:59.862 --> 25:02.432
a couple lectures back -- I've
talked about the dead hand of

25:02.432 --> 25:04.302
the past;
Jefferson wanting to -- every

25:04.300 --> 25:05.740
nineteen years,
'let's make a new

25:05.737 --> 25:06.497
constitution.'

25:06.500 --> 25:10.350
That's kind of linked to that
Jeffersonian idea of the dead

25:10.346 --> 25:12.986
hand of the past --
and since history could have

25:12.987 --> 25:15.477
that impact on the present,
depending on how you understand

25:15.483 --> 25:15.643
it.

25:15.640 --> 25:22.090
And that dead hand of the past
can be a pretty heavy hand.

25:22.088 --> 25:25.108
At this point,
basically I need -- I need to

25:25.105 --> 25:26.715
tell you an anecdote.

25:26.720 --> 25:28.570
I actually do need to tell you
an anecdote.

25:28.568 --> 25:30.508
As I was writing the lecture
this morning,

25:30.509 --> 25:33.739
I was writing about the dead
hand of the past,

25:33.740 --> 25:35.130
and I guess whenever I use that
phrase,

25:35.130 --> 25:37.040
I think of this one particular
letter I found --

25:37.038 --> 25:40.788
which actually is relevant,
so I'm not being completely

25:40.785 --> 25:41.405
random.

25:41.410 --> 25:44.600
It does have something to do
with the dead hand of the past

25:44.598 --> 25:45.368
and history.

25:45.368 --> 25:48.378
It actually also has nothing to
do with the American Revolution,

25:48.380 --> 25:51.390
but it really shows you how the
past can have an enormous weight

25:51.391 --> 25:52.301
on the present.

25:52.298 --> 25:55.418
And it's also just an amazing
little piece of paper that I

25:55.421 --> 25:55.861
found.

25:55.858 --> 25:58.768
And it has to do with this
letter that I found when I was

25:58.772 --> 26:01.532
rummaging through the Adams
family correspondence,

26:01.528 --> 26:04.578
which is indeed what it's
called: the Adams family.

26:04.578 --> 26:07.488
So the John Adams family
correspondence -- and I found

26:07.489 --> 26:09.519
this letter from John Quincy
Adams.

26:09.519 --> 26:11.249
I wasn't looking for it,
but I found this letter.

26:11.250 --> 26:15.050
And he was overseas when his
father was running for President

26:15.050 --> 26:18.980
and he -- clearly he really
wants to know if his father won.

26:18.980 --> 26:21.770
And it takes a long time for
news to make it across the

26:21.773 --> 26:23.693
ocean,
so what I found was first one

26:23.690 --> 26:26.380
letter in which he's writing,
'Do you know what happened in

26:26.380 --> 26:26.970
the election?'

26:26.970 --> 26:28.660
And then I found a lot of them.

26:28.660 --> 26:30.790
He's writing to people and
writing to people saying,

26:30.785 --> 26:31.405
'Do you know?

26:31.410 --> 26:32.000
Do you know?

26:32.000 --> 26:33.170
Has my father won the election?

26:33.170 --> 26:34.090
Who's won the election?

26:34.088 --> 26:35.028
What's happened in the
election?'

26:35.029 --> 26:36.439
So, I can't help it.

26:36.440 --> 26:38.940
Now I'm following the trail,
because I have to find the

26:38.942 --> 26:40.242
letter where he finds out.

26:40.240 --> 26:41.040
Right?

26:41.038 --> 26:42.338
And you would assume -- I
assumed --

26:42.338 --> 26:45.868
that when I found that letter,
he would say something like,

26:45.868 --> 26:48.738
'Oh, this is a great day for
America' or --

26:48.740 --> 26:51.850
I don't know -- something,
something lofty and

26:51.845 --> 26:54.395
visionesque,
sort of looking out -- ahh --

26:54.395 --> 26:56.065
sort of John Quincy Adamsesque.

26:56.068 --> 26:59.958
So finally I find the letter,
and I'm going to paraphrase it

26:59.963 --> 27:03.603
with my own bad paraphrasing
here, but the point will be

27:03.595 --> 27:04.185
true.

27:04.190 --> 27:07.160
He basically says, 'Oh, God.

27:07.160 --> 27:08.910
I'll never live up to this.'

27:08.910 --> 27:11.390
[laughter]
It is like -- the first thing

27:11.390 --> 27:13.930
he thinks is:
now I'm going to have to be

27:13.934 --> 27:15.084
President too.

27:15.078 --> 27:18.678
[laughter/laughs]
That was amazing to me.

27:18.680 --> 27:20.900
I really felt for John Quincy
Adams.

27:20.900 --> 27:24.600
You suddenly got a quick flash
of what it felt like to be an

27:24.604 --> 27:25.654
Adams,
[laughs]

27:25.654 --> 27:29.124
or particularly -- the Adams
family had a habit of picking

27:29.115 --> 27:32.325
one Adams per generation and
then dumping all of their

27:32.334 --> 27:34.524
expectations on that one Adams.

27:34.519 --> 27:37.129
Clearly, John Quincy Adams is
this generation's guy,

27:37.125 --> 27:40.035
so it certainly gives you a
sense of -- I want to say dead

27:40.037 --> 27:42.747
hand of the past;
I guess it's the live hand of

27:42.747 --> 27:45.567
the past, because it's his
father, this poor guy.

27:45.568 --> 27:48.248
Anything his father does he's
clearly like:

27:48.251 --> 27:49.631
'oh,
damn, [laughs]

27:49.625 --> 27:52.135
now I have to be President to'
[laughs]

27:52.138 --> 27:53.398
--
which is amazing,

27:53.404 --> 27:56.324
but concrete -- a concrete
example of what I'm talking

27:56.318 --> 27:57.088
about here.

27:57.088 --> 28:00.218
And it certainly shows how the
next generation beyond the

28:00.223 --> 28:03.693
Founding generation really felt
like they had to live up to the

28:03.694 --> 28:06.274
achievements of what had gone
before them.

28:06.269 --> 28:09.079
Now, as far as the people who
had gone before them,

28:09.078 --> 28:10.798
as far as the Fathers are
concerned,

28:10.798 --> 28:14.698
they knew that they were
becoming history,

28:14.700 --> 28:18.250
and so they thought about the
making of history and the

28:18.252 --> 28:20.032
writing of history a lot.

28:20.028 --> 28:23.628
To me, the most concrete
example of people becoming

28:23.632 --> 28:27.092
history is something that
happened to poor Thomas

28:27.089 --> 28:29.179
Jefferson in his old age.

28:29.180 --> 28:31.890
I wonder if any of you have
ever seen a life mask.

28:31.890 --> 28:33.610
You know there's death masks
and life masks.

28:33.608 --> 28:36.918
Death masks are obvious,
but there do exist life masks

28:36.923 --> 28:37.553
as well.

28:37.548 --> 28:40.298
So again, in Jefferson's old
age, someone went to Monticello

28:40.295 --> 28:42.385
and they wanted to make a life
mask of him.

28:42.390 --> 28:45.430
I don't know who this guy was,
but he wasn't good at his job,

28:45.426 --> 28:47.296
so whatever he did he did it
wrong.

28:47.298 --> 28:51.968
And his daughter later said she
came into the room to see the

28:51.969 --> 28:56.639
guy with a hammer and chisel
trying to chip the plaster like:

28:56.638 --> 28:58.958
'oh,
my God, I killed him.'

28:58.960 --> 29:01.240
[laughs]
The plaster hardened and they

29:01.240 --> 29:04.570
couldn't get it off [laughter]
so Jefferson's basically

29:04.570 --> 29:08.040
thinking, this is so bad;
[laughs] this is really bad.

29:08.038 --> 29:10.518
He really was terrified that
that was the end for him.

29:10.519 --> 29:12.299
He literally almost became
history.

29:12.299 --> 29:12.939
He was history.

29:12.940 --> 29:14.070
He was gone.

29:14.068 --> 29:16.648
[laughter]
Luckily, they got the plaster

29:16.645 --> 29:18.095
off and he survived.

29:18.098 --> 29:22.538
But aside from the fact that he
almost melted into plaster,

29:22.538 --> 29:25.838
obviously that whole cohort of
people had really strong

29:25.844 --> 29:28.664
feelings about the story of the
Revolution,

29:28.660 --> 29:31.420
about how that story should be
told,

29:31.420 --> 29:35.270
and they were not in love with
the whole idea that the Founding

29:35.267 --> 29:38.987
period is some kind of golden
age of patriotic perfection.

29:38.990 --> 29:42.320
They did not see the Revolution
as some kind of divine strike of

29:42.321 --> 29:44.581
providence;
they did not see themselves as

29:44.577 --> 29:45.097
demigods.

29:45.098 --> 29:47.908
And here I'm going to turn to
John Adams,

29:47.910 --> 29:52.340
which always makes me happy --
who did a really good job in his

29:52.339 --> 29:56.339
old age of answering letters
from strangers who wanted to

29:56.340 --> 29:59.200
know: 'Tell us about the
Revolution.

29:59.200 --> 30:00.230
What really happened?'

30:00.230 --> 30:03.810
And in answering,
he did a great job of basically

30:03.814 --> 30:05.834
popping bubbles of myths.

30:05.828 --> 30:09.188
He basically said over and over
again in one way or another,

30:09.192 --> 30:12.162
'You know, the Revolution
wasn't some kind of golden,

30:12.155 --> 30:13.405
wonderful moment.'

30:13.410 --> 30:16.590
Now, like the other Founders --
He actually lived to be ninety,

30:16.587 --> 30:19.097
so unfortunately he had a lot
of these letters.

30:19.098 --> 30:22.258
I think Jefferson -- I think --
I was about to say Jefferson,

30:22.263 --> 30:24.533
I think got more,
which obviously would make

30:24.531 --> 30:25.641
Adams really mad.

30:25.640 --> 30:27.110
Like: 'even now
[laughter/laughs]

30:27.111 --> 30:29.181
they're thinking about him more
than me' --

30:29.180 --> 30:33.090
but I think all of these guys
were getting these letters from

30:33.087 --> 30:35.177
people,
basically in one way or another

30:35.181 --> 30:36.391
saying,
'Tell us.

30:36.390 --> 30:36.910
What was it really like?

30:36.910 --> 30:37.680
What was it like?

30:37.680 --> 30:39.550
What happened you signed the
Declaration?

30:39.549 --> 30:40.189
What happened?

30:40.190 --> 30:40.920
What was it really like?'

30:40.920 --> 30:46.060
Jefferson in particular was
driven crazy.

30:46.058 --> 30:50.158
Jefferson doesn't normally
emote on paper in a deep kind of

30:50.162 --> 30:52.852
sincere, he's-not-thinking-hard
way.

30:52.848 --> 30:54.768
You always get a sense he's
thinking really carefully about

30:54.765 --> 30:57.395
how he expresses himself,
but when he's writing to Adams

30:57.404 --> 31:00.324
in their old age,
he really sort of vents about

31:00.321 --> 31:03.041
this whole strangers-writin
g-letters-and-as

31:03.039 --> 31:04.809
king-about-history thing.

31:04.808 --> 31:08.038
So he says -- he complains:
"From sunrise to one or

31:08.040 --> 31:10.510
two o'clock, and often from
dinner to dark,

31:10.508 --> 31:12.798
I am drudging at the writing
table.

31:12.798 --> 31:16.408
And all this to answer letters
into which neither interest nor

31:16.413 --> 31:19.953
inclination on my part enters;
and often from persons whose

31:19.952 --> 31:22.242
names I have never before
heard."

31:22.240 --> 31:25.600
And in this letter,
Jefferson estimates that in

31:25.597 --> 31:29.467
1822 he got 1,267 of these
letters from people -- just

31:29.468 --> 31:32.898
strangers: 'tell us about the
Declaration.'

31:32.900 --> 31:34.660
He called it "the
burthen"

31:34.663 --> 31:35.373
of his life.

31:35.368 --> 31:37.068
And then at one point in this
letter --

31:37.068 --> 31:39.188
and this is where I felt like
he really hit Jeffersonian

31:39.185 --> 31:41.445
bottom --
he's whining and whining and

31:41.449 --> 31:43.079
he's going on,
'I hate this.

31:43.079 --> 31:43.499
I hate this.

31:43.500 --> 31:44.100
Will they stop?'

31:44.098 --> 31:46.868
Probably Adams was thinking,
'send some to me;

31:46.868 --> 31:48.388
[laughter]
I have something to say.'

31:48.390 --> 31:52.570
But finally at this point in
the letter, Jefferson just

31:52.569 --> 31:55.279
writes: "Is this
life?"

31:55.279 --> 31:57.709
[laughter]
I just thought -- that's so

31:57.711 --> 31:58.831
weirdly modern.

31:58.828 --> 32:01.488
That's like something we have
probably all said at one point:

32:01.486 --> 32:02.146
Is this life?

32:02.150 --> 32:03.910
Please stop writing me the
letters.

32:03.910 --> 32:07.230
His life actually got worse on
this front.

32:07.230 --> 32:10.520
You got to -- You're feeling
bad for the Founders here.

32:10.519 --> 32:14.339
People didn't just deluge him
with random letters.

32:14.338 --> 32:17.558
Strangers made pilgrimages to
Monticello.

32:17.558 --> 32:20.168
It became like a tourist
attraction and he was still

32:20.171 --> 32:20.941
living in it.

32:20.940 --> 32:25.490
And so strangers would come and
just swarm around Monticello,

32:25.490 --> 32:27.890
peering in the windows
[laughter], like:

32:27.885 --> 32:29.135
'oops,
I broke the glass' --

32:29.141 --> 32:30.411
[laughter]
like trampling the garden.

32:30.410 --> 32:32.420
[laughter]
He got so overwhelmed by this

32:32.422 --> 32:35.672
that he basically after a while
left Monticello and lived in one

32:35.672 --> 32:38.992
of his other homes for a while,
like: 'I just can't take it.

32:38.990 --> 32:41.130
[laughs]
I'm abandoning my house to the

32:41.133 --> 32:43.133
strangers;
I'm going to go live in my

32:43.126 --> 32:44.796
other house for a little while.'

32:44.798 --> 32:46.598
And that's why,
actually those of you who have

32:46.604 --> 32:49.014
been to Monticello and you've
seen his little sanctuary --

32:49.009 --> 32:52.479
There's a little area that's
really his and he has sort of

32:52.483 --> 32:54.743
all his books and his bed and it
--

32:54.740 --> 32:57.010
really there are doors that can
lock it off to everything,

32:57.009 --> 32:59.369
which is really there for a
real reason,

32:59.368 --> 33:01.588
because that was -- that
literally was his sanctuary.

33:01.588 --> 33:03.558
That was like:
the swarms are outside,

33:03.558 --> 33:06.008
lock, lock, lock,
lock, like, you're not coming

33:06.007 --> 33:06.377
in.

33:06.380 --> 33:10.240
So, I think it wasn't fun being
a Founder basically.

33:10.240 --> 33:12.160
I think that's what Jefferson
is showing us here.

33:12.160 --> 33:16.030
But whether or not they were
happy old Founders,

33:16.028 --> 33:19.478
the Founding types who were
answering these letters were

33:19.482 --> 33:22.942
really trying to shape the
telling of the history of the

33:22.938 --> 33:23.878
Revolution.

33:23.880 --> 33:26.060
And different Founders I'm sure
had different messages,

33:26.064 --> 33:28.494
and some were probably happier
than others or more optimistic

33:28.491 --> 33:29.141
than others.

33:29.140 --> 33:31.610
I think James Madison was
optimistic to the end.

33:31.608 --> 33:35.098
Adams, as I said before,
spent a lot of time sort of

33:35.102 --> 33:38.392
punching holes in myths about
the Revolution,

33:38.390 --> 33:42.460
that already were circulating
in the 18-teens and the 1820s.

33:42.460 --> 33:45.440
So over and over and over
again, he told people that there

33:45.443 --> 33:48.013
had not been some kind of
unanimous patriotic,

33:48.009 --> 33:51.459
glorious moment,
as it seemed to have been,

33:51.460 --> 33:53.440
looking from the distance of
time.

33:53.440 --> 33:57.260
So in response to one letter,
he insisted that the Revolution

33:57.261 --> 34:00.131
was not a big wave of unanimous
patriotism.

34:00.130 --> 34:03.170
As he put it,
"Every measure of Congress

34:03.170 --> 34:06.980
from 1774 to 1787 inclusively,
was disputed with acrimony,

34:06.984 --> 34:09.944
and decided by as small
majorities as any question is

34:09.943 --> 34:11.653
decided these days"
--

34:11.650 --> 34:13.660
actually saying,
'It's not we were like,

34:13.659 --> 34:15.469
yes, independence!'

34:15.469 --> 34:17.589
He's saying,
'Sometimes it's one or two

34:17.586 --> 34:20.446
votes that we decided this,
and it goes out into history

34:20.451 --> 34:22.661
and all that people know is we
voted yes and it seems

34:22.664 --> 34:24.674
unanimous,
and it really wasn't.'

34:24.670 --> 34:27.790
Even iconic revolutionary
moments, he thought,

34:27.786 --> 34:31.526
should not be viewed as the
sort of glorious moments of

34:31.527 --> 34:32.357
triumph.

34:32.360 --> 34:34.290
He -- In one letter,
he recalled what he was

34:34.289 --> 34:36.669
thinking as he watched people,
his fellow congressmen,

34:36.668 --> 34:38.508
sign the Declaration of
Independence.

34:38.510 --> 34:40.480
And he said,
"I could not see their

34:40.481 --> 34:41.141
hearts, ...

34:41.139 --> 34:43.869
but, as far as I could
penetrate the intricate foldings

34:43.869 --> 34:45.679
of their Souls,
I then believed,

34:45.681 --> 34:47.941
and have not since altered my
Opinion,

34:47.940 --> 34:49.950
that there were several who
signed with regret,

34:49.949 --> 34:52.029
and several others,
with many doubts and much

34:52.034 --> 34:53.034
lukewarmness."

34:53.030 --> 34:54.710
So he's saying, 'Okay.

34:54.710 --> 34:57.630
Even while they're signing the
Declaration, I don't think some

34:57.628 --> 35:00.738
of these people actually really
wanted to be signing it at all.

35:00.739 --> 35:02.839
And some of them,
I think, kind of wished they

35:02.840 --> 35:04.710
were somewhere else not signing
it' --

35:04.710 --> 35:06.960
which is not the image that's
floating around at this point

35:06.958 --> 35:08.198
about what the Revolution was.

35:08.199 --> 35:10.669
So people were disagreeing,
he's saying,

35:10.666 --> 35:12.686
back in the Revolutionary era.

35:12.690 --> 35:14.010
They caved to the majority.

35:14.010 --> 35:16.020
They weren't sure about what
they were doing.

35:16.018 --> 35:18.698
They didn't even like what they
were doing sometimes,

35:18.702 --> 35:20.872
and their decisions weren't
always good.

35:20.869 --> 35:23.879
He of course had something to
say about that as well,

35:23.880 --> 35:27.730
so he said in a different
letter, "I say we do not

35:27.730 --> 35:31.010
make more mistakes now than we
did in 1774,

35:31.010 --> 35:34.360
5,6, 7,8, 9."

35:34.360 --> 35:35.550
He's clearly making a point
here.

35:35.550 --> 35:37.800
When I was copying this I was
like: how many more years?

35:37.800 --> 35:40.920
"80,81, 82,83."

35:40.920 --> 35:42.110
I get your point.

35:42.110 --> 35:43.720
[laughs]
We made a lot of mistakes

35:43.724 --> 35:45.884
through the whole Revolution,
he's saying.

35:45.880 --> 35:47.320
"It was patched and
piebald ...

35:47.320 --> 35:48.610
then, as it is now, ...

35:48.610 --> 35:50.790
and ever will be,
world without end."

35:50.789 --> 35:54.679
Nor were battlefields any more
sacrosanct.

35:54.679 --> 35:57.869
As Adams put it,
"We blundered at

35:57.871 --> 36:00.721
Lexington, at Bunker's Hill....

36:00.719 --> 36:03.059
Where, indeed,
did we not blunder except

36:03.056 --> 36:06.226
Saratoga and Yorktown,
where our Tryumphs redeemed all

36:06.231 --> 36:07.851
former disgraces?"

36:07.849 --> 36:11.519
So Adams is insisting,
much of the time:

36:11.521 --> 36:14.161
we weren't all that great.

36:14.159 --> 36:15.849
We made mistakes back then.

36:15.849 --> 36:18.909
We didn't always entirely
believe what we were doing.

36:18.909 --> 36:22.429
It wasn't that different from
how it is now.

36:22.429 --> 36:25.659
The Revolution was not some
golden age of perfection.

36:25.659 --> 36:29.099
And Adams summed all of this up
in a letter that I like,

36:29.099 --> 36:30.669
because in some way -- I don't
know --

36:30.670 --> 36:32.640
it seems a little more direct
than some of these other

36:32.639 --> 36:34.039
letters,
and I suppose -- well,

36:34.038 --> 36:35.608
you'll hear the way he phrases
it.

36:35.610 --> 36:38.570
He wrote this letter in 1811,
and he said to this one

36:38.568 --> 36:41.468
correspondent -- who said,
'I revere the Fathers.

36:41.469 --> 36:43.729
I want to be like them.

36:43.730 --> 36:44.540
Ahhh.'

36:44.539 --> 36:46.429
-- all the things he's getting
in all of these letters.

36:46.429 --> 36:48.259
And he says,
"I ought not to object to

36:48.257 --> 36:49.867
your reverence for your
fathers....

36:49.869 --> 36:52.479
But, to tell you a very great
secret,

36:52.480 --> 36:55.830
as far as I am capable of
comparing the merit of different

36:55.831 --> 36:57.801
periods,
I have no reason to believe we

36:57.800 --> 36:59.210
were better than you are."

36:59.210 --> 37:01.920
He was being really
straightforward about this.

37:01.920 --> 37:05.220
Now, all of those quotes of
course are from the sort of

37:05.215 --> 37:08.385
lofty Adams, the far-seeing
Adams, the sage Adams.

37:08.389 --> 37:10.789
They're not from the Adams I
was just referring to a few

37:10.793 --> 37:13.113
minutes ago, which is the
I-don't-get-any-respect John

37:13.108 --> 37:14.418
Adams, and he's there too.

37:14.420 --> 37:16.410
Both of those things are there
at the same time,

37:16.411 --> 37:17.811
which also tells you something.

37:17.809 --> 37:19.769
When you read the
correspondence of his old age,

37:19.771 --> 37:21.571
he's sort of veering back and
forth between:

37:21.565 --> 37:22.605
I am a lofty Founder.

37:22.610 --> 37:25.020
Why won't anyone recognize me
as a lofty Founder?

37:25.019 --> 37:26.199
I am a lofty Founder.

37:26.199 --> 37:27.729
Please, someone recognize me.

37:27.730 --> 37:30.840
He has all these letters where
he's like: 'no one will ever

37:30.838 --> 37:33.198
make a monument to me,
John Adams' [laughter]

37:33.195 --> 37:34.585
-- like: so,
so sorry.

37:34.590 --> 37:40.640
But my point here is that,
to Adams and to many others,

37:40.639 --> 37:44.499
you're not supposed to look at
history at this sort of golden,

37:44.500 --> 37:47.320
perfect moment that's
drastically different,

37:47.320 --> 37:51.130
in that sense,
from everything since.

37:51.130 --> 37:54.190
In a sense, to these people,
worshipping the founding era,

37:54.186 --> 37:57.086
or worshipping the American
Revolution, as a golden age

37:57.085 --> 37:59.065
actually did more harm than
good.

37:59.070 --> 38:02.510
The Revolution had been all
about beginnings,

38:02.510 --> 38:06.080
about beginning traditions and
patterns of governance,

38:06.079 --> 38:08.569
about beginning new
constitutions,

38:08.567 --> 38:12.177
but these beginnings were
actually supposed to go

38:12.184 --> 38:13.244
someplace.

38:13.239 --> 38:17.179
They were supposed to lead to
something that actually would

38:17.177 --> 38:20.297
survive and be shaped by future
generations.

38:20.300 --> 38:22.470
So I think to this whole
generation,

38:22.469 --> 38:26.089
this idea of sort of
worshipping the Founding era as

38:26.090 --> 38:30.350
a golden age made it seem as
though the time for that kind of

38:30.349 --> 38:33.149
work had ended --
as though there was a glorious,

38:33.146 --> 38:35.716
wonderful creative moment when
things could really be done,

38:35.719 --> 38:37.709
and now that time is gone.

38:37.710 --> 38:39.820
And you could see that in
Adams' letters too --

38:39.820 --> 38:42.260
that he says often about the
future: 'Well,

38:42.260 --> 38:44.960
maybe it'll be a brighter page
or maybe it'll be a darker page.

38:44.960 --> 38:45.660
I don't know.

38:45.659 --> 38:47.139
It's up to you.'

38:47.139 --> 38:50.209
But he assumes -- obviously --
that what they've been doing

38:50.213 --> 38:53.343
isn't some dead-end moment at
which who knows what'll happen

38:53.342 --> 38:53.822
next.

38:53.820 --> 38:56.580
He actually assumes they
started something that in one

38:56.577 --> 38:59.177
way or another they assume is
going to continue.

38:59.179 --> 39:02.969
So clearly, the time for that
kind of creative political work

39:02.965 --> 39:06.615
hadn't ended whenever the random
date is that we decide the

39:06.623 --> 39:11.233
American Revolution ended,
and in a sense it hasn't ended.

39:11.230 --> 39:14.340
As the Founding generation well
knew, American citizens are

39:14.344 --> 39:16.604
always responsible for their
government.

39:16.599 --> 39:17.709
They control its destiny.

39:17.710 --> 39:18.060
Right?

39:18.059 --> 39:20.159
They decide when revolutions
start.

39:20.159 --> 39:22.299
They decide when revolutions
stop.

39:22.300 --> 39:26.740
They control the destiny of the
aftereffect of revolutions.

39:26.739 --> 39:30.069
So I guess in a sense -- And
this is where I was really

39:30.067 --> 39:31.667
struggling this morning.

39:31.670 --> 39:35.500
I was like: what would be the
ultimate message I give to you?

39:35.500 --> 39:38.610
It's so hard when you teach
courses on the Founding period

39:38.614 --> 39:41.894
because everything you say has
weird resonance in the present

39:41.891 --> 39:43.421
--
as I'm kind of saying here --

39:43.422 --> 39:45.662
and I don't want to have weird
resonance in the present

39:45.661 --> 39:46.161
[laughs].

39:46.159 --> 39:48.159
I just want to sort of give
something to you guys.

39:48.159 --> 39:50.849
So related to what I'm saying
here,

39:50.849 --> 39:54.109
maybe the ultimate message,
the sort of ground-level

39:54.106 --> 39:57.616
message of this course is:
your opinions matter and your

39:57.619 --> 40:01.389
actions out there in the world
politically and otherwise are

40:01.389 --> 40:03.049
going to matter too.

40:03.050 --> 40:04.990
That's in essence what these
Founders are saying,

40:04.989 --> 40:07.619
when they're saying,
'Don't treat us like demigods,

40:07.619 --> 40:11.029
like we're some lofty
population that will never come

40:11.025 --> 40:11.545
again.

40:11.550 --> 40:14.860
We set something in motion and
the whole point of the thing

40:14.858 --> 40:18.508
that we set in motion is that
you're supposed to make it run.'

40:18.510 --> 40:19.700
Right? It's actually about you.

40:19.699 --> 40:21.529
We may be memorable guys.

40:21.530 --> 40:24.570
I might want to be a more
memorable guy than I am,

40:24.574 --> 40:27.124
but it's all about you;
it's all about you.'

40:27.119 --> 40:29.339
That's what's supposed to keep
it running in the end.

40:29.340 --> 40:29.750
Okay.

40:29.746 --> 40:34.636
I want to first of all thank
you for laughing at my jokes all

40:34.641 --> 40:35.621
semester.

40:35.619 --> 40:37.709
[laughter]
Obviously, one of my favorite

40:37.706 --> 40:41.196
things to do is to tell stories,
and lecture courses are moments

40:41.204 --> 40:43.884
where you're completely my
hostage and I get to --

40:43.880 --> 40:45.240
Sometimes as I'm writing a
lecture,

40:45.239 --> 40:47.269
as today, I'm like:
oh, this isn't related but I'll

40:47.268 --> 40:49.818
find a way to rope it in to the
lecture so then I can give it to

40:49.824 --> 40:50.154
you.

40:50.150 --> 40:53.020
So, I have greatly enjoyed
myself this semester.

40:53.018 --> 40:55.648
You've been wonderfully
receptive.

40:55.650 --> 40:58.140
You asked -- When I went to
sections you asked wonderful

40:58.137 --> 40:58.677
questions.

40:58.679 --> 41:00.749
You engaged with the material.

41:00.750 --> 41:03.610
After lectures you guys kept
coming up to me and asking good

41:03.614 --> 41:06.584
questions, which was impressive
and doesn't always happen in a

41:06.577 --> 41:07.497
lecture course.

41:07.500 --> 41:10.510
So I want to thank you because
it makes me really happy if you

41:10.509 --> 41:13.419
guys are really engaged with
what I'm talking about here.

41:13.420 --> 41:15.120
So, thank you very much.

41:15.119 --> 41:18.199
[applause]

41:18.199 --> 41:23.999