1776 (1972)

Donald Madden: John Dickinson (PA)

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Quotes 

• John Dickinson : Mr. Jefferson, are you seriously suggesting that we publish a paper declaring to all the world that an illegal rebellion is, in reality, a legal one?

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : Oh, Mr. Dickinson, I'm surprised at you. You should know that rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as "our rebellion." It is only in the third person - "their rebellion" - that it is illegal.

• Dr. Benjamin Franklin : Please Mr. Dickinson, but must you start banging? How is a man to sleep?

  [laughter from Congress] 

  John Dickinson : Forgive me, Dr. Franklin, but must YOU start speaking? How is a man to stay awake?

  [More laughter] 

  John Dickinson : We'll promise to be quiet - I'm sure everyone prefers that you remained asleep.

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : If I'm to hear myself called an Englishman, sir, I assure you I prefer I'd remained asleep.

  John Dickinson : What's so terrible about being called an Englishman? The English don't seem to mind.

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : Nor would I, were I given the full rights of an Englishman. But to call me one without those rights is like calling an ox a bull. He's thankful for the honor, but he'd much rather have restored what's rightfully his.

  [laughter] 

  John Dickinson : When did you first notice they were missing, sir?

  [laughter] 

• John Dickinson : Fortunately, the people maintain a higher regard for their mother country.

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : Higher, certainly, than she feels for them. Never was such a valuable possession so stupidly and recklessly managed, than this entire continent by the British crown. Our industry discouraged, our resouces pillaged... worst of all our very character stifled. We've spawned a new race here, Mr. Dikinson. Rougher, simpler; more violent, more enterprising; less refined. We're a new nationality. We require a new nation.

• John Dickinson : Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Lee, Mr. Hopkins, Dr. Franklin, why have you joined this... incendiary little man, this BOSTON radical? This demagogue, this MADMAN?

  John Adams : Are you calling me a madman, you, you... you FRIBBLE!

  John Adams : You and your Pennsylvania proprietors. Oh, you cool, considerate men. You hang to the rear on every issue so that if we should go under, you'll still remain afloat!

  John Dickinson : Are you calling me a coward?

  John Adams : Yes... coward!

  John Dickinson : Madman!

  John Adams : Landlord!

  John Dickinson : LAWYER!

• John Dickinson : Mr. Jefferson, I have very little interest in your paper, as there's no doubt in my mind that we've all but heard the last of it, but I am curious about one thing. Why do you refer to King George as a... tyrant?

  Thomas Jefferson : Because he *is* a tyrant.

  John Dickinson : I remind you, Mr. Jefferson, that this "tyrant" is still your king.

  Thomas Jefferson : When a king becomes a tyrant, he thereby breaks the contract binding his subjects to him.

  John Dickinson : How so?

  Thomas Jefferson : By taking away their rights.

  John Dickinson : Rights that came from him in the first place.

  Thomas Jefferson : All except one. The right to be free comes from nature.

  John Dickinson : And are we not free, Mr. Jefferson?

  Thomas Jefferson : Homes entered without warrant, citizens arrested without charge, and in many places, free assembly itself denied.

  John Dickinson : No one approves of such things, but these are dangerous times.

• John Hancock : I'm concerned over the continued absence of 1/13th of this Congress. Where is New Jersey?

  John Dickinson : Somewhere between New York and Pennsylvania.

• John Dickinson : Well, now... you've got your way at last, Mr. Adams. The matter may now be discussed. I confess, I'm almost relieved. There's a question I've been fairly itching to ask you.

  [crosses the room and stands directly over Adams] 

  John Dickinson : Why?

  John Adams : Why what, Mr. Dickinson?

  John Dickinson : Well, why independence, Mr. Adams?

  John Adams : Well, for the obvious reason that our continued association with Great Britain has grown intolerable.

  John Dickinson : Well, to whom, Mr. Adams? To you? Well, then I suggest you sever your ties immediately. But please, be kind enough to leave the rest of us where we are. For myself, I have no objection of all to being part of the greatest empire on Earth, to enjoying its protections and sharing its benefits.

  John Adams : Benefits? What benefits? Crippling taxes? Cruel repressions? Abolished rights?

  John Dickinson : Is that all England means to you, sir? Is that all the pride and affection you can muster for the nation that bore you? For the noblest, most civilized nation on the face of this planet? Well, would you have us forsake Hastings and Magna Carta, Strongbow and Lionheart, Drake and Marlborough, Tudors, Stuarts and Plantagenets? For what, sir? Well, tell me. For what? For you? Some men are patriots, like General Washington, and some are anarchists, like Mr. Paine. Some even are internationalists, like Dr. Franklin. But you, sir... you are merely an agitator, disturbing the peace, endangering the public welfare. And for what? Your petty little personal complaints. Your taxes are too high. Well, sir, so are mine. Come, come, Mr. Adams, if you have grievances - and I'm sure you have - our present system must provide a gentler means of redressing them short of revolution. Yes, that's what he wants. Nothing less will satisfy him. Violence. Rebellion. *Treason*. Now, Mr. Adams, are these the acts of Englishmen?

  John Adams : Not Englishmen, Dickinson. Americans.

• Caesar Rodney : [a brawl has broken out]  Stop it! Stop it! This is the Congress! Stop it I say! The enemy's out there!

  John Dickinson : No, Mr Rodney, the enemy is here!

  Caesar Rodney : No! I say he's out there! England! England closing in, cutting off our air! There's no time!

  [suddenly very weak] 

  Caesar Rodney : No air...

• John Dickinson : I trust, Caesar, when you're through converting the poor fellow to independency, you'll give the opposition a fair crack at him.

  Caesar Rodney : [chuckling]  You're too late, John. Once I get 'em, they're got.

• Rev. John Witherspoon : Our, uh... New Jersey legislature has recalled the old delegation to this Congress and has sent a new one.

  John Adams : Quickly, man: where do you stand on independence?

  Rev. John Witherspoon : Why, haven't I made that clear?

  John Adams : No.

  Rev. John Witherspoon : Well, I suppose I hadn't, but that's the reason for the change. See, we've been instructed to vote for independence.

  John Adams : Mr. President, Massachusetts is now ready to vote for the vote on independence, and reminds the chair of its privilege to decide all votes that are deadlocked.

  John Hancock (MA) : [wearily]  I won't forget, Mr. Adams.

  John Hancock (MA) : The chair takes this opportunity to welcome the New Jersey delegation, and appoints the Reverend Witherspoon to Congressional chaplain, if he will accept the post.

  Rev. John Witherspoon : With much pleasure, sir.

  [Hancock bangs the desk with his gavel] 

  John Hancock (MA) : Very well. Mr, Thompson, you er, uh... may now proceed with the vote on independence.

  Charles Thomson : All in favor of the resolution on independence, as proposed by the colony of Virginia, signify by...

  John Dickinson : [stands up]  Mr. President, Pennsylvania moves that any votes in favor of independence... must be unanimous.

  John Adams : [rises]  What?

  James Wilson : [stands up]  I second the motion.

  John Hancock (MA) : Judge Wilson!

  James Wilson : [chagrined]  Oh, my God...

  [Wilson sits back down] 

  George Read : Delaware seconds, Mr. President.

• John Dickinson : Mr. Hancock, you're a man of property, one of us. Why don't you join us in our minuet? Why do you persist on dancing with John Adams? Good Lord, sir, you don't even like him!

  Hancock : [singing]  That is true, he annoys me quite a lot. But still I'd rather trot to Mr. Adams' new gavotte.

  John Dickinson : Why? For personal glory? For a place in history? Be careful, sir. History will brand him and his followers as traitors.

  Hancock : Traitors, Mr. Dickinson? To what? The British crown or the British half-crown? Fortunately, there are not enough men of property in America to dictate policy.

  John Dickinson : Perhaps not. But don't forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor.

• John Dickinson : Tell me, Doctor, where do you stand on the question of...

  Dr. Lyman Hall : Independence?

  John Dickinson : Treason.

  Dr. Lyman Hall : I've no stomach for it.

  John Dickinson : Ahh, then be careful not to dine with John Adams. Between the fish and the soufflé, you'll find yourself hanging from an English rope. Your servant, sir.

• Thomson : [reading Washington's letter]  The situation is most desperate at the New Jersey training ground in New Brunswick, where every able bodied whore in the co... "WHORE?"... in the colonies has assembled. There are constant reports of drunkenness, desertion, foul language, naked bathing in the Raritan river, and an epidemic of the "French disease." I have placed this town off limits to all military personnel with the exception of officers. I beseech the congress to dispatch the War Committee to this place, in the hope of restoring some of the order and discipline we need to survive. Your obedient...

  [drumroll] 

  Thomson : G. Washington.

  Col. Thomas McKean : That man would depress a hyena.

  Hancock : Well, Mr. Adams, you're chairman of the war committee. Do you feel up to whoring, drinking, deserting, and New Brunswick?

  Rev. John Witherspoon : There must be some mistake, I have an aunt who lives in New Brunswick.

  John Dickinson : You must tell her to keep up the good work.

• John Dickinson : Mr. President, Pennsylvania moves, as always, that the question of independence be postponed. Indefinitely.

  James Wilson : [standing up]  I second the motion.

  John Hancock : Judge Wilson, in your eagerness to be loved, you seem to have forgotten that Pennsylvania cannot second its own motion!

• John Dickinson : [James Wilson is about to vote for independence in defiance of John Dickinson]  And is that how new nations are formed? By a nonentity seeking to preserve the anonymity he so richly deserves?

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : Revolutions, Mr. Dickinson, come into this world like bastard children... half improvised and half compromised. Our side has provided the compromise. Judge Wilson is now supplying the rest.

• Hancock : Mr. Thomson, is the Declaration ready to be signed?

  Charles Thomson : It is.

  Hancock : Then I suggest we do so. And the chair further proposes, for our mutual security and protection, that no man be allowed to sit in this Congress without attaching his name to it.

  John Dickinson : I'm sorry, Mr. President. I cannot, in good conscience, sign such a document. I will never stop hoping for our eventual reconciliation with England, but... because, in my own way, I regard America no less than does Mr. Adams, I will join the army and fight in her defense, even though I believe that fight to be hopeless.

• John Adams : Now, what do you know about the people, Dickinson? You don't speak for the people; you represent only yourself. And that precious status quo you keep imploring the people to preserve for their own good is nothing more than the eternal preservation of your own property.

  John Dickinson : Mr. Adams, you have an annoying talent for making such delightful words as "property" sound quite distasteful. In heaven's name, what's wrong with property? Perhaps you've forgotten that many of us first came to these shores in order to security rights to property, and that we hold these rights no less dear than the rights you speak of.

  John Adams : Yes. So safe, so fat, so comfortable in Pennsylvania.

  John Dickinson : And what is this independence of yours except the private grievance of Massachusetts? Why is always Boston that breaks the King's peace? My dear Congress, you must not adopt this evil measure. It is the work of the devil. Leave it where it belongs: in New England.

• John Dickinson : [after one of Washington's dispatches]  Come, come, Mr. Adams. You must see that it's hopeless. Let us recall General Washington and disband the Continental Army before we're overwhelmed.

  John Adams : [dryly]  Oh, yes, indeed. The English would like that, now, wouldn't they?

  John Dickinson : Why not ask them yourself? They ought to be here any minute.

  Edward Rutledge : And when they hang you, Mr. Adams, I hope you will put in a good word for the rest of us.

• John Adams : No vote has ever had to be unanimous, Dickinson, and you know it.

  John Dickinson : Yes, but this one must be.

  John Adams : On what grounds?

  John Dickinson : That no colony be torn from its mother country without its own consent.

  Edward Rutledge : Hear, hear!

  John Adams : It will never be unanimous, damn it.

  John Dickinson : If you say so, Mr. Adams.

• Roger Sherman : [Sherman stands up]  Brother Dickinson, New England has been fighting the Devil for more than 100 years.

  John Dickinson : And as of now, *Brother Sherman*, the Devil has been winning hands down.

  John Dickinson : [the delegates murmur]  Why, at this very moment, he's sitting right here, in this Congress. Don't let him deceive you, this proposal is entirely his doing! Oh, it may bear Virginia's name, but it reeks of Adams, Adams, and more Adams. Look at him, ready to lead this continent down the fiery path of total destruction!

  John Adams : [Adams stands up]  Oh, good God! Why can't you acknowledge what already exists? It has been more than a year since Concord and Lexington! Damn it, man, we're at war! Right now...

  John Dickinson : *You* may be at war - you, Boston and John Adams, but you will never speak for Pennsylvania!

  George Read : [Read stands up]  Nor for Delaware!

  Caesar Rodney : [Caesar Rodney stands]  Mr. Read, you represent only one third of Delaware!

  George Read : The sensible third, Mr. Rodney!

  Col. Thomas McKean : Sit down, you scurvy dog, or I'll knock you down!

  John Hancock : [Hancock bangs his gavel on the desk]  Sit down, all three of you!

• John Dickinson , Edward Rutledge , John Hancock : [Dickinson and theconservative anti-independence candidates dance a minuet and sing "Cool, Cool, Considerate Men"]  What we do, we do rationally,

  John Dickinson : We never, ever go off half-cocked, not we,

  John Dickinson , Edward Rutledge , John Hancock : Why begin, till we know that we can win,

  John Dickinson : And if we cannot win, why bother to begin?

  Edward Rutledge : We say this game's not of our choosing, why should we risk losing?

  John Dickinson , Edward Rutledge , John Hancock : We are cool men...

  John Dickinson : [the song pauses]  Mr. Hancock, you're a man of property, one of us, why don't you join us in our minuet? Why do you persist in dancing with John Adams? Good Lord, sir, you don't even like him!

  John Hancock : [Hancock stands up and sings]  That is true, he annoys me quite a lot, / But still, I'd rather trot to Adams' new gavotte

  John Dickinson : [spoken]  Why? For personal glory? For a place in history? Be careful, sir, history will brand him and his followers as traitors.

  Edward Rutledge : Traitors, Mr. Dickinson, to what: The British Crown, or the British half-crown? Fortunately, there's not enough men with property in America to dictate policy.

  John Dickinson : Perhaps not, but don't forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor. And that is why they will follow us...

  John Dickinson , Edward Rutledge , Chorus : [singing resumes]  To the right, ever to the right, never to the left, forever to the right, / We have gold, a market that will hold, tradition that is old, reluctance to be bold...

  John Dickinson : [Dickinson leads the conservatives as they leave]  I sing Hosanna, Ho-san-na,

  John Dickinson : [angrily raises his voice]  In a sane and lucid manner, we are cool!

  John Dickinson , Edward Rutledge , Chorus : [Dickinson and the conservatives walk out to their carriages]  Come ye cool, cool, considerate men, whose likes may never, ever be seen again, / With our land, cash in hand, self-command, future planned, / And we'll hold to our gold, tradition that is old, reluctant to be bold, / We say this game's not of our choosing, why should we risk losing? / We cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool men!

  McNair : [McNair and his companions are watching the conservatives' carriages pass by as the song ends]  How'd you like to try and borrow a dollar from one of them? You want some more rum, general?

• John Adams : Mr. President, I move for a postponement.

  John Dickinson : Postponement? Ha! I wish you the same luck I had with it.

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : Mr. Adams is right. We need a postponement.

  John Dickinson : On what grounds?

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : [to Adams]  On what grounds?