John Adams - The Miniseries (Ben Franklin's Introduction)

[NorwegianGodofRock69]

Ben Franklin was a pimp.

[sfafasfasfsa]

today's protesters on either side can not touch any of these men. we need more men like him. we need to learn more from the Constitutional Convention and stop with the tea party and workers of the world unite.

[VirgiliaCoriolanus]

Tom Wilkinson is THE MAN!

[joerouleau54]

Have you STOLEN these gentlemen from Massachusetts?!

[KnightOwl2006]

Wilkinson is simply mesmerizing as Ben Franklin.

[NYhistorian]

@KnightOwl2006 I totally agree!!

[DaftSwank]

This was inspiring . . . Ben Franklin is my favorite figure from U.S. history . . .

[Mrosen7542]

Franklin is my favorite founding father.

[elgostine]

@Mrosen7542 i like him primarily because of his reknown as a scientist, as opposed to him as a political figure., 

[Mrosen7542]

@elgostine Don't forget ladies man.

[LeLimeLine]

Tom Wilkinson is the fucking man, he's such a fantastic Benjamin Franklin.

[poopingeneral]

I love you Ben Franklin, I aspire to be like you one day :D

[a55kiker]

"...ungentlemanly haste..."

[brisco42]

Didn't the Minute Men know this at Concord? They were suppose to lose the battle under the Regulars. LOL!!! This is a great moment in the movie John Adams.

[bRizzle2009100]

Most people dont know alot about Benjamin Franklin. He was dirt poor when he was growing up in America. He slept in stables, churches, whatever he can find. He had no money whatsoever. Yet when he died, he was one of the wealthiest men in America. Some say he was the wealthiest man in America. He was one of the leading voices for the abolition of slavery. He & Benjamin Rush founded America's first anti-slavery society. He was one of the smartest men of that time. He was also very religious.

[Mrdavid839]

@bRizzle2009100 Wow. But then why did he think that Jefferson's wording smacked of the pulpit? or was that just inserted into the show?

[bRizzle2009100]

@Mrdavid839 Read Franklin's appeal for prayer at the Constitutional Convention. Franklin believed in the God of the Bible but didnt believe in the divinity of Jesus bc he, along with Jefferson, thought that there were mistranslations in the Bible and that Jesus never really claimed to be the Son of God. This is apparent in Jefferson and Franklin's letters and private writings. Both Franklin & Jefferson were prob some of the least religious founding fathers but werent Deists or Agnostics.

[Fitzcard]

@bRizzle2009100 I wouldn't call franklin religious, complicated sure. Also remember what they were doing though. In the day the King of England was head of state and church (as today, only less enforced). To revolt against the king was to revolt against religion itself. Same as in the Salem trials 100 years before, to revolt against the church of england was to committe treason to the crown and to hang (unless you admitted, in which case you went free as the King had no beef with you)

[bRizzle2009100]

@Fitzcard Well he was one of the least religious of the founders but he definitely wasnt a modern day deist. He held unorthodox views compared to the rest of the founders but he definitely did believe in divine intervention from God and the God of the Bible. Just read his appeal for prayer at the convention and youll see what he believed.

[ivlfounder]

@bRizzle2009100

At the convention Franklin said of the American Revolution "-Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered."

A deist would say no such thing.

Franklin may very well have been a Christian to humble to claim the title.

[bRizzle2009100]

@ivlfounder I agree with u. He did say that. He was not a deist at all. His God was the God of the Bible. However, he was not a Christian. He did not believe in the Divinity of Jesus. He, as well as Jefferson, believed that the Bible was "corrupted" overtime time to change things that Jesus never said. They both considered themselves Christians but did not hold orthodox Christian beliefs. Jefferson and Franklin both were some of the least religious of the founders.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

I know this is a long time in reply I suppose... but wouldn't you agree that if someone endeavored to follow what Christ spoke of in the four gospels, that is, put Christ in the position of teacher and guide, would not that person be able to properly consider himself a Christian?

Or is being a Christian mean a person who only follows what other people have taught second hand, rejecting source material but embracing tenets never spoken of by Christ in the Bible?

Your reply?

[bRizzle2009100]

@mollesjohn My original comment was that Franklin was religious, not necessarily christian. He did have many christian influences in his beliefs but he wasn't a full-blown christian.

If u are asking me if Franklin was one of the two definitions up there, he would be the second one u posted. Franklin, like Jefferson, believed in the Bible but did not believe many parts of the Bible. They believed that much of the Bible was re-written by man along the way to distort the truth.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

I studied Franklin just as a hobby for a while... I have my own belief on the subject concerning Franklin: he simply didn't speak to religion at all throughout his life for diplomatic reasons. If you can find me some material where he did speak on religion before he was a very old man, I'd like to see the reference!

[bRizzle2009100]

@mollesjohn Read Ben Franklin's appeal for prayer at the Constitutional Convention. Read his final letter to Ezra Stiles. It doesn't matter when it was. Franklin considered himself a Deist, but not a deist in the traditional sense. He did believe in a Creator that Divinely intervened in human affairs. He wasn't a christian because he did not believe in the Divinity of Jesus nor the Trinity. However, he did believe that religion should be an essential part of society and of someone's life.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Okay... so you confirmed EXACTLY my point, that you were making it all up and had NOTHING.

If Franklin was the very person who made the appeal for prayer, one could argue he was the MOST, not the LEAST religious person in the Continental Congress, since why would Franklin take it upon himself to do that if so many others could have. Franklin never talked about religion all his life until very old.

See now why there are no religious comparisons between Franklin and Jefferson?

[bRizzle2009100]

@mollesjohn "If Franklin was the very person who made the appeal for prayer, one could argue he was the MOST, not the LEAST religious person in the Continental Congress"

Franklin did make the appeal for prayer. According to Madison's notes at the Constitutional Convention, he did. You're trying to create the impression that Franklin did not concern himself with religion and that he was a secular person. Franklin was not a christian, but was religious in his own way.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Benjamin Franklin delivered this famous speech, asking that the Convention begin each day's session with prayers, at a particularly contentious period, when it appeared that the Convention might break up over its failure to resolve the dispute between the large and small states over representation in the new government. The eighty one year old Franklin asserted that "the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth--that God governs in the Affairs of Men."

[bRizzle2009100]

@mollesjohn Yes. That was taken from the online exhibit at the Library of Congress "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic". Its a very educational exhibit and I recommend you read thru the entire thing if you haven't. If you read the entire speech by Franklin, he even references the Bible multiple times.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Thank you for finally concluding that the person who said: "Jefferson and Franklin both were some of the least religious of the founders" was talking out his ass.

[Robertz1986]

@bRizzle2009100

What do you mean "secular"?? A person isn't "secular" institutions are... Franklin was probably not an Atheist, though likely a deist, but he advocated secularism always. To demonstrate the difference, a religious action would be for a government to put "Under God" on money, while an Atheistic action would be to put "Under No God" on money, while secular (which means neutrality in regard to religious matters) would mean not mentioning the word "God" in either light..

[bRizzle2009100]

@Robertz1986 Franklin was religious in his own way. He might have not been evangelical Christian like Benjamin Rush, Roger Sherman, Samuel Adams, or Patrick Henry. Franklin did pray when he felt there was a need for it. When he did, he quoted Bible verses mostly bc the culture in Colonial America at the time was very Biblical & Christian. He was not a Christian though. He did describe himself as a deist but one that believes "God governs in the affairs of men."

[BaldGrace]

@Fitzcard Your point about Revolution and Anglicanism is correct, but the Salem Trials were in fact conducted by the anti-Anglican Puritan theocracy of Massachusetts, with the blessing of the royally appointed governor. But, you're quite right that witchcraft was defined as treason against the crown. I know it's annoying to have people commenting on your statements on Youtube two months after the fact, but I study English witchcraft, so I felt the point should be clarified.

[mollesjohn]

@bRizzle2009100

Where did you get that Franklin had no money whatsoever while he was growing up and slept in stables and churches etc?

"They lived lovingly together in wedlock fifty-five years. Without an estate, or any gainful employment, By constant labor and industry, with God's blessing, They maintained a large family comfortably, and brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren reputably." -- Ben Franklin's own words about his parents.

[emeraldweaponjobe]

Where are these Gentlemen from Massachusetts?...what have you done with these Gentlemen from Massachusetts?...Have you stolen these Gentlemen from Massachusetts??

[melissarose8585]

@emeraldweaponjobe It's a great line, isn't it? The writers did an excellent job on the adaptation.

[emeraldweaponjobe]

@melissarose8585 They've done a lot of research on how they spoke those days. They've done an excellent job, indeed!

[boredlikehell2008]

LMFAO! BEST.TV.SERIES.EVER!

[londonmarc1]

ironicaly the actor who played Franklin played General Cornwallis(British Commander) in the Patriot - great acting in both though....

[Mrdavid839]

@londonmarc1 Yeah, I never thought about that!

[TaeKwonDoGirly94]

STONES!!!!! HEHE

[ThomasAnime]

I kept wondering on why Benjamin Franklin's words to Edward Rutledge made Rutledge bow to Ben and walk off, or, in Ben's words "scared him off."

I now seem to figure this out:

When Ben said that "I believe anybody not in favor of moderation and compromise ought to be castrated," he was actually criticizing those "in favor of moderation and compromise," Rutledge in particular, as men who are castrated, or, in other words, sissies.

Is my guess correct?

[hellspawn3000]

@ThomasAnime

No. Did you see the series? Rutledge is portrayed as somebody a stubborn individual unwilling to compromise for the common good. It was Ben's form of expressing his dislike for people like Rutledge without directly mentioning him. Rutledge bowed down because it was the polite thing to do.

[mattysullard]

Have you STOLEN these gentlemen from Massachusetts? ha I think he must be a long lost uncle or something

[TOHOFIEND54]

"Have you STOLEN these gentlemen from Massachusetts?

[eeClaytonification]

lol

[ThomasAnime]

I don't get it. Benjamin Franklin was criticizing the delegates from Massachusetts at the beginning of the clip but he bowed to them with respect at the end of the clip. Why is that?

[PRADBA]

Ben's wit and familiarity with New England attitudes. Remember Ben was born and raised in Boston. Ben's unique wit to tell a story exposing both sides while subtlely disclosing his preference in how he concludes the story. Also, Ben was at this time legendary - worldwide, for his Newton-like work on electricity. Worldwide called Doctor, though possessing only a few years of formal education, Ben was worldwide assumed to be a genius.

[Crazydog7]

I think he was being sarcastic.

[Chokula99]

still he was a Genius,worth mention every time.

[dcn8933]

It could have been a cover up IDK

[BrokenSword2]

He was being sarcastic.

"They violated the fundamental rule of warfare which is always to let the British win." - referring to lexington and concord

[Albukhshi]

"just showing my patriotism"

*facepalm*

look, I'm no Obama supporter, but patriotism does not involve equating politicians you do not like with terrorists, even in lack of evidence. there is a reason I didn't vote for Palin...

and what I meant regarding mentioning Obama here is that you were spamming, and spamming itself is rude, as it is off topic. this has no bearing on my views of the Founding fathers. though its true that almost no living politician compares with them...

[Albukhshi]

wut?

I know what it is, and I know I wasn't infringing it. I was pointing out you were spamming, and it is rude. I never said "get off", nor did I claim that I have the power to inhibit your speech/posting, which I do not. where did you get the idea that I was denying your 1st amendment rights from? a ganja session?

besides, haven't you read the youtube guidelines? they said not to post offtopic, i.e not to spam. thus, you need to insult someone else (i.e the admins), not me.

[websuspect]

I think even though the characters were portrayed weak, the times men were weaker, Franklin very conniving. Were opportunistic. 8 of the 12 owned slaves. I think this is an Accurate portrayal. The founding fathers were very flawed Just like Bush, Obama, they had agendas.

[rgefd0210]

I thought this movies was wonderfully cast. Paul Giamanti finally helped tell the story of John Adams so that he may one day get the credit he deserves as one of out elite founding fathers. Hurray!

[progressiverebel]

@rgefd0210 . If you in a room with Adams, Jefferson Washington and Franklin, you would talk to Jefferson and Franklin. Adams was non very endearing. Washington was auster and scared others. Franklin was a rogue, and Jefferson was ok. If you want to gibe credit, Sam Adams needs some. I'm too visual and Giamanti does not look like Adams and I could not see the passion.

Franklin and Cotton Mather knocked heads, Franklin and the Penns were adversaies at time. People forget..its 200 plus years now.

[lettersfromaboy]

In that sam light, if you had MLK, Malcolm X, Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois, in a room, which two would you talk too about freedom, and why?

[chufuss]

@lettersfromaboy What a great questions

[lettersfromaboy]

@chufuss Thanks, and I think that I would talk to WEB Dubois first. I think that he is the lesser known of the four, and dare I say it, the smartest one of the four.(not saying that they all are not smart) What say you?

[chufuss]

@lettersfromaboy : I don't know enough about these men to formulate an educated response. All that I know about Dubois is that he disagreed with B. T Washington's idea that people of African and European descent should be seperated in society and that he was one of the founders of the NAACP. I would speak with Dr. King because so much of what I consider freedom and democracy to be came from the Cival Rights movement, in the 1960's eventhough I am White.

[snowjohn75]

Well not today the forces are all around you and a standing army should be working hard to fights states who want to hurts us!!!

[AmericanPrinciples]

This entire show was cast terribly wrong. It ruined everything.

[maureenOWW]

Most people think the opposite.

What exactly was wrong with it?

[brabon1]

are you kidding? the cast was brilliant

the only problem i had were the accents

there are historical writings that show colonists making fun of foreigners with accents....so i highly doubt that there would have been so many colonists with such strong european accents

[northmeister]

Agreed! It was terribly cast - such men of prescence as the Fathers, would require likewise men of prescence - ie. Gibson, Ford, Hanks and so forth - who have stage prescence...especially Washington, Hamilton, and Franklin - Jefferson was rather shy but still impressive - anyway, I do wonder as to accents what our Fathers sounded like - give anything to hear them and how they spoke - like the Boston accent, the Philadelphia one, or Southern, which was theirs I wonder?

[AmericanPrinciples]

Thank you. Many men could have represented the founding fathers with justice. These men just couldn't pull it off. They were weak, lacked presence and didn't even look the part.

[Nelsonhojax15]

why is the south carolina dude so gay? oh and my favorite quote ever "anyone not in favor of moderation should be castrated."

[eysblog1fan]

i think they missportrayed the poor guy alot! in real life he was described as "tender and mild" and he had a wife who he loved alot, i was reading it online he was so sweet with her!

[TheSchoolWorld]

i agree. this series contained probably the most negative rendition I've seen of him. it wasn't downright bad, but just less settling.

[eysblog1fan]

I feel so sorry for him, it sounds like he was a really really sweet guy! to bad the british took him prisoner :(

[YNot1989]

I never asserted that they were marxists, I was simply stating what that their definition of free market was not based around large companies, but wrather the individual's ability to keep and maintain his own property without dependancy on anyone. And as far as Adams being the capitalist, he was the moderate of the bunch, Hamilton was the super capitalist of the group. As far as "fight over there and not here;" Washington in his farewell address was pretty clear on not starting wars.

[snowjohn75]

Ben Franklin was keeping American Great!!!

Free Market! and Free Army!

[YNot1989]

Actually the founding fathers were largely opposed to any kind of standing army, as they believed that it was the defining characteristic of a tyranny. As for free market, we must understand that they were not talking about capitalism. Jefferson's ideal citizen was the Yeoman farmer, someone who was capable of harvesting his own food, and was dependent on neither government nor large company. Someone who was a slave to no man, elected or not.

[Spalg]

Not that you are wrong or I am an expert, but there are some things to add. First of all, though they were against a standing army a thoughtful solution (said by Adams most of all) was a gigantic navy (or what would today probably be a navy AND air force) to fight over there and not here. Jefferson was fairly left for the time, but Adams was certainly the capitalist. Jefferson had a few left ideas within capitalism, as did others. They were all capitalists--to be fair, there was no Marx/etc.

[Wraith23]

"Jefferson was fairly left for the time"

You are wrong.

Jefferson strongly believed in the respect for private property, individual rights and liberty.

Jefferson was a true libertarian.

[northmeister]

Not so...he would reject libertarianisms cultish following of European thinkers, who've never built a land to prosperity, their over reliance of Adam Smith and all schools of economics deriving therefrom, their anti-constitution sentiments and union sentiments since he Jefferson approved of the Constitution and Union, and their attack on historic figures such as Lincoln who reprsented Jefferson and Hamilton - Jeffersonianism gave us Protectionism - thus it was Patriotic not libertarian foolery.

[NJRocks281]

sounds like capitalism

Don't forget these men were students of Adam Smith, the father of capitalism.

[zbt518]

I recently impersonated Franklin as part of a project--and based on my very limited research into his politics and character I can definitely say that his portrayal here seemed quite accurate.

A clever, sharp-tongued old man who speaks wisely, yet almost like someone half his age! Also, he is conciliatory and humble, a pragmatist and a good diplomat.

"An extreme moderate," as he quips here.

[eysblog1fan]

i myself was about to say Franklin is waaay to harsh haha! hes a good actor lol!

[cmn1108]

Thanks for putting this up. Wilkinson definitely pulled off Franklin's character very well, as is thoroughly demonstrated here.