1776 (1972)

Ray Middleton: Col. Thomas McKean (DE)

Quotes 

• John Adams : Thomas, I want you to ride back down to Delaware and fetch back Caesar Rodney.

  Col. Thomas McKean : John, are ya mad? It's eighty miles, and he's a dyin' man...

  John Adams : No, he's a patriot!

  Col. Thomas McKean : John, what good will it do? The South's done us in...

  John Adams : And suppose they change their minds! Can we get Delaware without Rodney?

  Col. Thomas McKean : God, what a bastardly bunch we are.

• Samuel Chase : Face facts, Mr. Adams. A group of drunk and disorderly recruits against the entire British army, the finest musketmen on Earth. How can we win? How can we even hope to survive?

  John Adams : Answer me straight, Chase: if you thought we *could* beat the Redcoats, would Maryland say yea to independence?

  Samuel Chase : Well, I suppose...

  John Adams : No supposing. Would you or wouldn't you?

  Samuel Chase : Very well, Mr. Adams. Yes, we would.

  John Adams : Then come with me to New Brunswick and see for yourself.

  Col. Thomas McKean : John, are you mad?

  Dr. Josiah Bartlett : You heard what Washington said. It's a shambles.

  Stephen Hopkins : They're pushing you into it, Johnny!

  John Adams : [waving their concerns off]  What do you say, Chase?

  Dr. Josiah Bartlett : Go ahead, Sam. It sounds lively as hell up there.

  Samuel Chase : All right, why not? And maybe it'll be John Adams who comes to his senses.

• Edward Rutledge : Mr. Adams, perhaps you could clear up something for me. After we have achieved independence, who do you propose would govern in South Carolina?

  John Adams : The people, of course.

  Edward Rutledge : Which people, sir? The people of South Carolina, or the people of Massachusetts?

  Hopkins : Ah, why don't you admit it, Neddy? You're against independence now and you always will be.

  Col. Thomas McKean : [heavy sigh]  Aye.

  Edward Rutledge : Now, gentlemen, you refuse to understand us. We desire independence, yes. For South Carolina. That is our country. And as such, we don't wish to belong to anyone. Not to England, and not to you.

  John Adams : We intend to have one nation, Rutledge.

  Edward Rutledge : A nation of sovereign states, Mr. Adams. United for our mutual protection, but... separate for our individual pursuits. Now, that is what we have understood it to be. And that is what we will support.

  [Adams starts to speak] 

  Edward Rutledge : As soon as everyone supports it.

  James Wilson : [standing up]  Well, there you are, Mr. Adams. You must see that we need time. Time to make certain who we are and where we stand in regard to one another. For if we do not determine the nature of the beast before we set it free, it will end by consuming us all.

  John Adams : For once in your life, Wilson... take a chance. I say the time is now. It may never come again.

• 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.

• Col. Thomas McKean : [to Read]  Sit down ya scurvy louse or I'll knock ya down!

  Hancock : [to the Delaware delagates]  Sit down all three of you!

  [dog starts barking] 

  Hancock : McNair! Do something about that damn dog!

  Hopkins : McNair, fetch me a rum!

  Hancock : Get the dog first!

  Hopkins : No! A rum!

  [both start shouting at once] 

  McNair : I only got two hands!

  Hancock : [screaming]  Christ, it's hot!

  [silence] 

  Hancock : Do go on, gentlemen, you're making the only breeze in Philadelphia.

• George Read : No, no, no!

  Col. Thomas McKean : Damn your eyes, Read! You come into this world screamin' no, and yer determined to leave it the same way! Ya slimy worm!

• Edward Rutledge : Enter Delaware, tria juncti in uno.

  Col. Thomas McKean : Speak plain, Rutledge. Ya Know I can't follow a word of your damn French.

  Edward Rutledge : It's Latin, Colonel McKean, a tribute to the eternal peace and harmony of the Delaware delegation.

  Col. Thomas McKean : What're ya sayin', man? Ya know perfectly well neither Rodney nor I can stand the sight of this louse!

• George Read : Among your charges against the King, Mr. Jefferson, you accuse him of depriving us of the benefits of trial by jury. This is untrue, sir. In Delaware, we've always had trial by jury.

  John Adams : In Massachusetts, we have not.

  George Read : Well, then I suggest that the words "in many cases" be added.

  Charles Thomson : Mr. Jefferson?

  [Jefferson indicates his approval] 

  Col. Thomas McKean : "In many cases"? Ach, brilliant! I suppose every time you see those three words, your puny chest will swell with pride over your great historical contribution.

  George Read : It's more memorable than your unprincipled whitewash of that race of barbarians!

  Col. Thomas McKean : [insulted]  Race of barbarians? Why, I'll have you...

  John Hancock : [pounding his gavel]  Colonel McKean, Mr. Read, that's enough!

• Col. Thomas McKean : [after hearing another gloomy letter from George Washington]  That man would depress a hyena.

• John Adams : Thomas, how did you leave Caesar? Is he still alive?

  Col. Thomas McKean : Aye, but the journey to Dover was fearful hard on him. He never complained, but I could see the poor man was sufferin' terrbile.

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : But you got him safely home.

  Col. Thomas McKean : I did, but I doubt he'll ever set foot out of it again.

  John Adams : That leaves you and Read split down the middle. Will he come over?

  Col. Thomas McKean : I don't know. He's a stubborn ignoramus.

  John Adams : Work on him. Keep after him 'til you wear him down.

  Col. Thomas McKean : Look, John, face facts, will ya? If it were just Read standing in our way, it wouldn't be so bad, but look for yourself, man. Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the entire South. It's impossible!

  John Adams : Well, it's impossible if we all stand around complaining about it. To work, McKean! One foot in front of the other!

  Dr. Benjamin Franklin : I believe I put it a better way: never leave off until tomorrow that which...

  John Adams : Shut up, Franklin.

• 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 Hancock : [the courier enters Independence Hall with a report from Washington; Thomson rings a bell to call the delegates to order]  From the Commander, Army of the United Colonies, New York, dispatch number 1,137...

  McNair : Aw, sweet Jesus!

  John Hancock : [Hancock resumes reading]  The honorable Congress, John Hancock president. "Dear Sirs: It is with great apprehension that I have learned this day of the sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, of a considerable force of British troops in the company of foreign mercenaries and under the command of General Sir William Howe. There can be no doubt that their destination is New York; for to take and hold this city and the Hudson Valley beyond would seriously separate New England from the rest of the colonies, permitting both sections to be crushed in turn. Sadly, I see no way of stopping them at the present time, as my army's absolutely falling apart. My military chest is totally exhausted. My commissary general has strained his credit to the last. My quartermaster has no food, no arms, no ammunition, and my troops are in a state of near mutiny. I pray God some relief arrives before the Armada but fear it will not. Your obedient..."

  John Hancock : [drumroll]  "G. Washington."

  McNair : [bangs his desk and stands up]  Mister President!

  John Hancock : Colonel McKean.

  Col. Thomas McKean : Sure, we have managed to promote the gloomiest man on this continent to the head of our troops. Those dispatches are the most depr-ressing accumulation of disaster, doom, and despair in the entire annals of human history!

  John Hancock : [Hancock hits his desk with the gavel]  Colonel McKean, please!

  Col. Thomas McKean : What?

  John Hancock : It's too hot.

  Col. Thomas McKean : Okay, I suppose so.

  John Hancock : [McKean sits down]  General Washington will continue wording his dispatches as he sees fit; and I'm sure we he finds happier thoughts to convey in the near... future.

• Col. Thomas McKean (DE) : Well, in my case hangin' won't be so bad.

  [patting his stomach] 

  Col. Thomas McKean (DE) : One snap, and it'll be done with.

  [points at George Read who is half his size] 

  Col. Thomas McKean (DE) : But look at Read here - he'll be dancin' a jig long after I'm gone!