This Patriots episode in the "Legends and Lies" series manages to inform the viewer of issues I never learned back in grammar school, high school or even college for that matter. For example, for the longest time as the Colonies began to voice their displeasure with the oppressive taxation of the British Government, Benjamin Franklin was spending ten years in England hob-nobbing with high society and the elites of government, science and the arts. During this period, roughly 1765 to 1775, Franklin's sentiments leaned toward allegiance to the Crown, reinforced by the fact that his son William was appointed Governor of New Jersey by King George.
A tipping point occurred with his making available to Sam Adams what came to be known as the Hutchinson Letters, a body of correspondence from Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson to England in which he offered ideas on abridging the liberties of the Colonies. Called on the carpet by the King's Privy Council, Franklin realized that he had been out of touch regarding both sides of the argument, the Colonies and England were each looking for War to settle their differences.
At first, Franklin was excoriated upon his return from England because he was still regarded as a British loyalist. However he was gradually able to convince men like Sam Adams and John Adams that he supported the Colonies in their quest for independence. The episode closes with the British victory against the Patriots at the Battle of Bunker Hill (fought at nearby Breed's Hill), though it was a costly one for the British. Close to a thousand Redcoats were killed or wounded in that battle while the Massachusetts colonists lost close to four hundred men. When news of the battle reached the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, it became apparent that a military leader would be required to put together a formal army to fight the British. George Washington was named Commander-in Chief, who now found himself in charge without the resources needed to wage war. He needed to find a way.
What's ironic in the timing of this episode's original air date on 6/27/16 is that only four days earlier on 6/23/16, the citizens of the United Kingdom went to the polls to vote on a referendum to exit the European Union. Given the name 'Brexit' by the media, the world was stunned by the decision, creating havoc in stock exchanges and global financial markets (still going on as I write this). There's no way the producers of this episode could have foreseen the result of the 'Brexit' vote, especially with the media's strong support of a 'Remain' outcome. In a calculated decision to oppose the government and media elite, British citizens voted to restore some of the freedoms and liberties they had surrendered over the years to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, while the British Government supported the European Union with citizen tax dollars. Imagine that, taxation without representation - what goes around comes around!
A tipping point occurred with his making available to Sam Adams what came to be known as the Hutchinson Letters, a body of correspondence from Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson to England in which he offered ideas on abridging the liberties of the Colonies. Called on the carpet by the King's Privy Council, Franklin realized that he had been out of touch regarding both sides of the argument, the Colonies and England were each looking for War to settle their differences.
At first, Franklin was excoriated upon his return from England because he was still regarded as a British loyalist. However he was gradually able to convince men like Sam Adams and John Adams that he supported the Colonies in their quest for independence. The episode closes with the British victory against the Patriots at the Battle of Bunker Hill (fought at nearby Breed's Hill), though it was a costly one for the British. Close to a thousand Redcoats were killed or wounded in that battle while the Massachusetts colonists lost close to four hundred men. When news of the battle reached the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, it became apparent that a military leader would be required to put together a formal army to fight the British. George Washington was named Commander-in Chief, who now found himself in charge without the resources needed to wage war. He needed to find a way.
What's ironic in the timing of this episode's original air date on 6/27/16 is that only four days earlier on 6/23/16, the citizens of the United Kingdom went to the polls to vote on a referendum to exit the European Union. Given the name 'Brexit' by the media, the world was stunned by the decision, creating havoc in stock exchanges and global financial markets (still going on as I write this). There's no way the producers of this episode could have foreseen the result of the 'Brexit' vote, especially with the media's strong support of a 'Remain' outcome. In a calculated decision to oppose the government and media elite, British citizens voted to restore some of the freedoms and liberties they had surrendered over the years to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, while the British Government supported the European Union with citizen tax dollars. Imagine that, taxation without representation - what goes around comes around!