A Great Awakening

Order!

Yes! But at what cost?

I refuse that you--

I would rather submit to a monarch

than to such a fate.

You cannot admit to the doctrine, Mr. Martin,

that when these colonies became independent from Britain,

that they became independent from each other.

And when this country declared independence,

we did so not individually, but unitedly!

I agree.

And I would hope to appease

the interests of the small states

by assuring them

they would be safer within the union

than they would to be separated from it.

Is it to be thought,

Mr. Hamilton, that the people of America,

so watchful over their interests,

so jealous of their liberties,

would surrender both their sword and their purse

to one body of government?

They never will.

They never ought.

So, Mason moves for anarchy.

Better than your federal tyranny, Hamilton.

Hear, hear.

Order.

The survival of this country

- must be our chief concern. - Yes!

Yes.

If the British were to attack again,

and I remind you, they have six armed forts

west and north of us,

we have no authority to raise an army to fight.

And even if we did,

we don't have money to pay the soldiers.

The paper money commissioned by Congress

and printed by Dr. Franklin and others

is essentially worthless.

Its best function is accomplished in the privy.

And why does the convention's patriarch

remain so tight-lipped?

Hmm?

Ah, yes. Well...

I believe, Mr. Hamilton, that...

he that speaks much

is much mistaken.

Order.

Order.

Benjamin, wait for me!

Benjamin, wait for me!

Papa is gonna be angry.

Papa doesn't need to know.

So don't tell him.

Thank you, my little friend.

Late again.

Wet again.

Sorry, Father.

So, did you make it across the lake?

Who told you?

One tiny candle illuminates a thousand.

Janey!

I realize candle making

does not stir your imagination, Benjamin,

but its service brings light to darkened households

and warmth to cold souls.

5, 10, 15,

16, 17 candles,

one for each of my children.

You are my tenth son.

Do you know why that makes you special?

You are my tithe,

separated from your brothers and sisters

as an offering to the Lord.

This is why I nearly went broke

- sending you to that school. - I hated it.

Yet you were first in your class.

God's hand is upon you, and...

I believe he has called you,

Benjamin Franklin, to be a preacher.

I don't wanna be a preacher, Pa.

- Preachers are boring. - Preachers are not boring.

Then why do you fall asleep at every Sunday meeting?

They give conclusions with no evidence.

No evidence?

They're halfwits.

Benjamin!

I just don't want to be stuck behind a pulpit

reading what other people wrote.

I know.

You want to be the one who does the writing.

Yes.

Your brother James paid me a visit this morning.

He said he could use your help at his print shop.

He did?

I'd miss you.

But you have my blessing.

I'm gonna do good things, Pa. Great things.

I know you will, son.

But in all of your doing good,

don't allow the sun to set on your faith.

Oh, and you're still my tithe.

My offering to God.

Can't change that.

Order.

Order.

- If I may. - The chair recognizes

Mr. James Madison as today's final remarks.

I affirm the sentiments made earlier,

that if we do not soon find stability

within this convention,

all our efforts will be disgraced,

and the liberty we fought so hard to gain

lost among ourselves and posterity forever.

Now, I've scoured ancient governments to exhaustion,

and I find it probable that we right now are erecting a plan

which will forever decide the fate

of democratic government for mankind.

Hear, hear. Hear, hear.

This convention cannot fail, gentlemen.

Although we have not been agreeable on much,

I think we can at least agree on that.

Hear, hear. Hear, hear.

I motion to adjourn.

Second.

Adjourned.

General, I'm curious of something.

That sun at the top of your chair,

is it rising or setting?

When my uncle Peyton presided over

the First Continental Congress,

he used to tell stories of how they'd gather to pray

as an assembly.

But that was a different time.

Hey, hey, your money's no good here.

I can't buy bread. Fix it.

Grandfather.

Thank you for your kind service, gentlemen.

Have I told you who this young man is?

This is Benjamin Franklin Bache, Lightning Rod Junior.

- Junior. - Ah.

Lightning Rod Junior.

Come now, father.

You can be proud of Benny.

He hasn't stopped all day, even to eat.

Well, I'd rather go to bed without dinner...

Than to rise in debt.

Says the man who claims a home is not a home

unless it has food.

Come, Eliza.

I was hoping you'd see my progress before going home.

Benny,

the print shop is my home.

Well, you made more progress in one week

than we have in five.

Another fruitful day?

Ah, if one judges a tree by its fruit,

the convention is a thorn bush and more painful than my gout.

Your press and typesets arrived this morning.

Oh.

Well...

I think I've told every story I could possibly tell with them.

They're yours.

You've already given me so much.

Uh, y-you built me a print shop

in front of your house.

I needed a first line of defense against unwanted visitors.

Guests, like fish, begin to smell after a few days.

How long will this convention last?

However long it takes 13 architects

to build a structure that stands.

Rhode Island,

whom I shall forever now refer to as Rogue Island,

is not even present,

but I suppose they're at liberty not to be.

Everyone seems to be at liberty to do whatever they want.

A word that once bound us together

is now being used to divide us.

What happens if it fails?

Then we have failed them.

Another storm rolling in.

Ever since the Great Boston Fire,

every thunderclap and distant flash

ignites an inferno of fear.

Soothe or stoke?

I'm sorry?

Well, you sound like a printer

who's just found his first headline.

Really?

Now, you can soothe them with something like,

"A supernatural providence shall rain down from heaven,

quenching the flames and saving the City of Brotherly Love."

- Or? - Or...

you can strike fear into them.

"Judgment has come.

Philadelphia is one lightning strike away

from a pile of ash."

With those letters, you can do either one.

Both sell papers, Benny.