Top Ten Videos on the Declaration For the Fourth

Movies that focus on the Declaration of Independence, the document that is the reason for the celebration.

National Treasure (2004)-Sure it’s cursed with a ridiculous plot involving the masons and a treasure, it is still a lot of fun and calls us back to the foundation document, the Declaration of Independence, that is the cornerstone of our Republic.

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)-John Ford’s celebration of young Mr. Lincoln and a young America.  The scene in the clip above where Lincoln and other men remove their hats when elderly veterans of the Revolution are passing by never fails to pull at my heart strings.  Lincoln’s entire purpose in American history was to remind people of the Declaration that started the nation and the power of its proclamation that all men are created equal.

Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)-An English butler shows Americans of one of the high points of their history.  The Gettysburg Address reminds us that for Lincoln the Declaration of Independence was the central document in American history.

Amistad (1997)-A good look at the Amistad case in which a ship of slaves aboard a Spanish slaver won their liberty pursuant to a US Supreme Court decision in 1841.  Anthony Hopkins is magnificent as John Quincy Adams who used the Declaration in arguing the case of the slaves.  The 72 year old Adams spoke for an astounding nine hours before the Court.  The film is marred by the loathsome Harry Blackmun in a cameo as Justice Story.

You Are There-Signing of the Declaration (1953)-A sign of our cultural implosion is how good television used to be, at least in comparison to our decadent times.

Declaration of Independence (1938).  This film won an Oscar in 1939 for best short subject.  Hard to believe that there was a time when Hollywood produced films that lauded American patriotism.  Fun seeing the passage of the Declaration of Independence given the Old Hollywood treatment!

Sons of Liberty (2015)-The miniseries rightly received criticism for its historical inaccuracies, but its passion helped explain why these men tossed down the gauntlet to the mightiest empire in the world.  (No, Washington did not read the Declaration to the troops, but he ordered the officers of each regiment to read the Declaration to their troops.)

Schoolhouse Rock:  Fireworks (1976)-Aired on July 3, 1976, a nice part of the Bicentennial celebrations.

John Adams– (2008) Paul Giamatti gives an astoundingly good performance as John Adams in this film which covers the span of Adam’s life from 1770, when he courageously risked his career by defending the British soldiers accused of murder in the Boston “Massacre”, to his death, along with Thomas Jefferson, on July 4, 1826.  Everything about this effort is superb:  the acting, the script, the musical score, the faithfulness to the historical record.  This is how history should be dramatized on film.  I hope the success of this miniseries will inspire similar efforts on other Founding Fathers.

1776 (1972)-Singing and dancing Founding Fathers, who could resist this!  This is an annual event at the McClarey household on the Fourth.  Although getting some of the history wrong (No, there was no mass signing of the Declaration.  No, John Dickenson was not a wealthy Tory.),  the film accurately depicts that the Declaration was very much a step into the unknown.  For all they knew, the Signers could have ended their lives executed as traitors, their cause lost and mocked at by their posterity.  Instead of taking counsel of their fears, however, they took counsel of their hopes and gave all Americans a new nation.  This film is a wonderful tribute to those extraordinary men who well deserve the title of Founding Fathers.