THE PATRIOT

                         LEE

          You all know why I am here.  I am

          not an orator and I will not try to

          convince you of the worthiness of

          our cause.  I am a soldier and we

          are at war and with the declaration

          of independence we all expect from

          Philadelphia, it will soon be a

          formal state of war.  In preparation

          for that, eight of the thirteen

          colonies have levied money in

          support of a Continental Army.  I

          ask South Carolina to be the ninth.

In the balcony, Gabriel nods in agreement.  Simms rises.

                         SIMMS

          Colonel Lee, Massachusetts may be at

          war, along with New Hampshire and

          Rhode Island and Virginia, but South

          Carolina is not at war.

                         LEE

          Massachusetts and New Hampshire are

          not as far from South Carolina as

          you might think and the war they're

          fighting is not for independence of

          one or two colonies.  It's for the

          independence of one nation.

                         WITHINGTON

          And what nation is that?

Robinson, one of the Patriots, stands up.

                         ROBINSON

          An American nation.  Colonel Lee,

          with your permission?

Lee nods.

                         ROBINSON

          Those of us who call ourselves

          Patriots are not seeking to give

          birth to an American nation, but to

          protect one that already exists.  It

          was born a hundred-and-seventy years

          ago at Jamestown and has grown

          stronger and more mature with every

          generation reared and with every

          crop sown and harvested.  We are one

          nation and our rights as citizens of

          that nation are threatened by a

          tyrant three thousand miles away.

                         LEE

          Were I an orator, those are the

          exact words I would have spoken.

Laughter.  Martin rises.

                         MARTIN

          Mister Robinson, tell me, why should

          I trade one tyrant, three thousand

          miles away, for three thousand

          tyrants, one mile away?

Laughter from the Loyalists.  Surprise from Lee and the

Patriots.  In the gallery, Gabriel winces.

                         ROBINSON

          Sir?

                         MARTIN

          An elected legislature can trample a

          man's rights just as easily as a

          King can.

                         LEE

          Captain Martin, I understood you to

          be a Patriot.

                         MARTIN

          If you mean by a Patriot, am I angry

          at the Townsend Acts and the Stamp

          Act?  Then I'm a Patriot.  And what

          of the Navigation Act?  Should I be

          permitted to sell my rice to the

          French traders on Martinique?  Yes,

          and it's an intrusion into my

          affairs that I can't... legally.

Laughter.

                         MARTIN

          And what of the greedy, self-serving

          bastards who sit as Magistrates on

          the Admiralty Court and have fined

          nearly every man in this room.

          Should they be boxed about the ears

          and thrown onto the first ship back

          to England?  I'll do it myself.

                  (beat)

          And do I believe that the American

          colonies should stand as a separate,

          independent nation, free from the

          reins of King and Parliament?  I do,

          and if that makes a Patriot, then

          I'm a Patriot.

Martin grows more serious.

                         MARTIN

          But if you're asking whether I'm

          willing to go to war with England,

          the answer is, no.  I've been to war

          and I have no desire to do so again.

The room is quiet, the Assemblymen having been thrown off-

balance.  Gabriel is disappointed by his father's speech.

                         ROBINSON

          This from the same Captain Benjamin

          Martin whose anger was so famous

          during the Wilderness Campaign?

Martin glares at Robinson, then smiles.

                         MARTIN

          I was intemperate in my youth.  My

          departed wife, God bless her soul,

          dampened that intemperance with the

          mantle of responsibility.

Robinson looks derisively at Martin.

                         ROBINSON

          Temperance can be a convenient

          disguise for fear.

Martin bristles but before he can answer, Lee steps in.

                         LEE

          Mister Robinson, I fought with

          Captain Martin in the French and

          Indian War, including the Wilderness

          Campaign.  We served as scouts under

          Washington.  There's not a man in

          this room, or anywhere, for that

          matter, to whom I would more

          willingly trust my life.

                         ROBINSON

          I stand corrected.

                         LEE

          But, damn it, Benjamin!  You live in

          a cave if you think we'll get

          independence without war...

                         MARTIN

          Wasn't it a Union Jack we fought

          under?

                         LEE

          A long time ago...

                         MARTIN

          Thirteen years...

                         LEE

          That's a damn long time...

The Speaker POUNDS HIS GAVEL again.

                         SPEAKER

          Gentlemen!  Please!  This is not a

          tavern!

Martin and Lee ignore the speaker.

                         MARTIN

          You were an Englishman then...

                         LEE

          I was an American, I just didn't

          know it yet...

The Assemblymen and even the Speaker turn their heads in

simultaneous anticipation of each rejoinder.

                         MARTIN

          We don't have to go to war to gain

          independence...

                         LEE

          Balderdash!

                         MARTIN

          There are a thousand avenues, other

          than war, at our disposal...

Martin speaks slowly and firmly.

                         MARTIN

          We do not have to go to war to gain

          independence.

Lee says nothing for a moment, then he speaks more

seriously, quietly, grimly.

                         LEE

          Benjamin, I was at Bunker Hill.  It

          was as bad as anything you and I saw

          on the frontier.  Worse than the

          slaughter at the Ashuelot River.

          The British advanced three times and

          we killed over seven hundred of them

          at point blank range.  If your

          principles dictate independence,

          then war is the only way.  It has

          come to that.

Martin is silent for a long moment.  He softens and grows

unsteady, speaking far more honestly than he ever wanted

to.

                         MARTIN

          I have seven children.  My wife is

          dead.  Who's to care for them if I

          go to war?

Lee is stunned by Martin's honesty and his show of

weakness.  At first Lee has no answer, then:

                         LEE

          Wars are not fought only by

          childless men.  A man must weigh his

          personal responsibilities against

          his principles.

                         MARTIN

          That's what I'm doing.  I will not

          fight and because I won't, I will

          not cast a vote that will send

          others to fight in my stead.

                         LEE

          And your principles?

                         MARTIN

          I'm a parent, I don't have the

          luxury of principles.

The other Assemblymen, both Patriots and Loyalists, stare

at him, appalled.  Martin, feeling weak, sits down.  Lee

looks at his friend with more sympathy than

disappointment.  In the gallery Gabriel turns and walks

out.

EXT.  ASSEMBLY HALL - DAY

The crowd waits.  The doors open and a PAGE BOY dashes out

and runs to the Continental Captain at the recruiting

table.

                         PAGE BOY

          Twenty-eight to twelve, the levy

          passed!

The Continental Captain motions to an assembled squadron.

They raise their muskets and FIRE A VOLLEY into the air.

Other soldiers, STRIKE UP A MARTIAL AIR ON FIFES AND

DRUMS.  Volunteers crowd around the recruiting table,

YELLING and jostling for position.

The delegates walk out.  Both Patriots and Loyalists give

Martin a wide berth.

Martin sees Gabriel, standing near the crowd at the

recruiting table.  Martin walks up to him.

                         GABRIEL

          Father, I've lost respect for you.

          I thought you were a man of

          principle.

                         MARTIN

          When you have children, I hope

          you'll understand.

                         GABRIEL

          When I have children, I hope I don't

          hide behind them.

Martin looks closely at Gabriel.

                         MARTIN

          Do you intend to enlist without my

          permission?

                         GABRIEL

          Yes.

They lock eyes for a moment, then Gabriel turns from his

father and walks away, joining the crush around the

recruiting table.  Martin stands alone in the middle of

the chaos.  The FIFES AND DRUMS continue to play.  Martin

doesn't hear them.

                         LEE (O.S.)

          Is he as imprudent as his father was

          at his age.

Martin turns and sees Lee standing next to him, looking at

Gabriel.

                         MARTIN

          Unfortunately, so.  In other

          measures he is his mother's son, but

          in prudence, or lack thereof, he is

          his father's.

                         LEE

          I'll see to it that he serves under

          me.  I'll make him clerk or a

          quartermaster, something of that

          sort.

                         MARTIN

          Good luck.

They shake hands.  Then Lee walks over to the soldiers.

CAMERA CRANES UP as Martin takes a last look at Gabriel,

then heads off through the crowded square, moving against

the tide of men headed toward the recruiting table.

CRANE UP ENDS ON TABLEAU of the sunlit city of Charleston.

Bustling streets filled with civilians, Patriots streaming

into the Assembly Square and fluttering flags -- the South

Carolina state flag and numerous "Don't Tread On Me"

flags.

                                            DISSOLVE TO:

EXT.  CHARLESTON - DAY

The same view of the city which has radically changed:

SUPERIMPOSITION:

                      TWO YEARS LATER

The sky is cloud-filled and dark.  The flags have all been

replaced by Union Jacks.  Redcoats march in lock-step

unison where excited Patriots and civilians ran.  A fleet

of British ships is visible in the harbor.  Defensive

emplacements, bristling with cannons, surround the city.

                         GABRIEL (V.O.)

          ... and I apologize for not having

          written in such a long time.

EXT.  CHARLESTON STREET - DAY

A detachment of Redcoats marches past coldly staring

American civilians.

                         GABRIEL (V.O.)

          As you must know, the fall of

          Charleston has been a severe blow to

          our cause...

EXT.  CHARLESTON SQUARE - DAY

LORD GENERAL CORNWALLIS haughtily turns from American

General Lincoln, forcing Lincoln to present his sword of

surrender to one of Cornwallis' subordinates.

                         GABRIEL (V.O.)

          With the sting of that loss made all

          the worse by Cornwallis' humiliation

          of our General Lincoln at the

          surrender ceremony...

EXT.  CHARLOTTE'S HOUSE - CHARLESTON - DAY

Charlotte supervises her slaves as they pack a line of

wagons.

                         GABRIEL (V.O.)

          A letter from Aunt Charlotte

          informed me that she closed her home

          in Charleston before the city

          fell...

EXT.  CHARLOTTE'S PLANTATION - DAY

A backcountry plantation.  More substantial than Martin's

but not opulent.  Charlotte, her hands dirty, tends a

vegetable garden with a pair of female slaves, while

several male slaves harvest rice in the paddies beyond.

                         GABRIEL (V.O.)

          ... and moved to her plantation near

          you on the Santee.

EXT.  SLIGHT RISE - FRESH WATER PLANTATION - LATER

Martin stands at his wife's grave, finishing reading the

letter.

                         GABRIEL (V.O.)

          What little news we get from the

          North is disheartening, offering us

          little solace in these dark times.

          I pray for a turn of fortune for our

          cause.  Then, as now, your loving

          son, Gabriel.

A soft wind blows.  Martin turns his head, listening for a

faint voice, but hears nothing.  He folds the letter,

takes off his glasses, boxes them, and heads down the hill

toward the lights and laughter coming from the house

below.

INT.  MARTIN'S BEDROOM - DUSK

A trunk lid opens.  CAMERA PULLS BACK to reveal Thomas in

Martin's closet.  He lifts out some blankets, uncovering a

trove of Martin's old military gear -- a worn battle coat,

a box of medals, a military sword, rusted into its

scabbard, and the tomahawk seen in the opening sequence.

Thomas puts on the coat which hangs off his narrow

shoulders.  He stands in front of a mirror, appraising

himself.  He picks up the tomahawk and hefts it.

FOOTSTEPS.

Martin steps into the room and stops.  Thomas grimaces,

expecting him to be angry but Martin simply shakes his

head, takes the tomahawk, and gently removes the battle

coat.

                         MARTIN

          Not yet, Thomas.

                         THOMAS

          When?

Martin looks closely at his son, giving him the courtesy

of really thinking about the answer.

                         MARTIN

          Seventeen.

                         THOMAS

          But it's already been two years and

          that's two more years.  The war

          could be over by then.

                         MARTIN

          God willing.

                         THOMAS

          Alright.  Seventeen.

Martin offers his hand.  They shake.  Martin puts the coat

and the tomahawk back in the trunk and closes the lid.

INT.  FRESH WATER PLANTATION - DAWN

All is quiet.  A dawn mist hovers close over the ground.

Some sparrows feed at the base of the oak tree near the

gravesite.  DISTANT THUNDER.  Low and rolling.  The birds

fly away.

INT.  MARTIN'S BEDROOM - DAWN

Another roll of the DISTANT THUNDER.  Martin awakes.  He

gets out of bed and pulls on his clothes.

EXT.  FRONT PORCH - MARTIN'S HOUSE - DAWN

Martin steps out to his front porch and listens.  He knows

the sound, the DISTANT STACCATO BOOMS OF CANNON and the

PATTERING WAVE OF THOUSANDS OF MUSKETS FIRING.

One by one he is joined by his children.  Thomas, Nathan

and Samuel listen analytically.  Margaret and Susan press

close against their father.

Abigale and Abner join the family on the porch.  Abigale

gathers Susan and William to her skirts.  Joshua, Jonah

and Mica step out of the slave quarters and listen.

William looks curiously at the cloudless sky.

                         WILLIAM

          Is it going to rain?

                         THOMAS

          That's not thunder.

The SOUND BECOMES DEEPER, MORE OMINOUS.  They all notice.