But, Mr. Adams

[HANCOCK, spoken]
McNair! Some room? Up to my office!

[FRANKLIN, spoken]
Ah, don't worry, Tom. I'll get Adams to write it.

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
I don't know, he had a funny look on his face...

[FRANKLIN, spoken]
He always does.

[ADAMS, spoken]
All right, gentlemen, let's get on with it. Which of us will write our Declaration of Independence?

[FRANKLIN]
Mr. Adams, I say you should write it
To your legal mind and brilliance, we defer

[ADAMS]
Is that so?
Well, if I'm the one to do it
They'll run their quill pens through it
I'm obnoxious and disliked, you know that, sir

[FRANKLIN, spoken]
Yes, I know.

[ADAMS]
But I say you should write it, Franklin
Yes, you

Yes, you, Dr. Franklin
You!

You!

You!

[FRANKLIN]
Hell, no!

But—

But—

But...
[FRANKLIN]
Mr. Adams
But, Mr. Adams
The things I write are only light extemporania
I won't put politics on paper, it's a mania!
So I refuse to use the pen in Pennsylvania

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania
Refuse to use the pen!

[ADAMS]
Mr. Sherman, I say you should write it
You are never controversial, as it were

[SHERMAN, spoken]
That is true.

[ADAMS]
Whereas if I'm the one to do it
They'll run their quill pens through it
I'm obnoxious and disliked
You know that, sir

[SHERMAN, spoken]
Yes, I do.

[ADAMS]
So I say you should write it, Roger
Yes, you

Yes, you, Roger Sherman
You!

You!

You!

[SHERMAN, spoken]
Good heavens, no!

(sung)
But—

But—

But...
[SHERMAN]
Mr. Adams
But, Mr. Adams
I cannot write with any style or proper etiquette
I don't know a participle from a predicate!
I am just a simple cobbler from Connecticut

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
Connecticut, Connecticut
A simple cobbler, he!

[ADAMS]
Ah...
Mr. Livingston, maybe you should write it
You have many friends and you're a diplomat

[FRANKLIN, spoken]
Oh, that word!

[ADAMS]
Whereas if I'm the one to do it
They'll run their quill pens through it

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
He's obnoxious and disliked
Did you know that?

[LIVINGSTON, spoken]
I hadn't heard.

[ADAMS]
So I say you should write it, Robert
Yes, you!

Yes, you, Robert Livingston
You!

You!

You!

[LIVINGSTON, spoken]
Not me, Johnny.

(sung)
But—

But—

But...
[LIVINGSTON]
Mr. Adams
Dear Mr. Adams
I've been presented with a new son by the noble stork
So I am going home to celebrate and pop the cork
With all the Livingstons together back in old New York

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
New York, New York
Livingston's going to pop a cork!

[JEFFERSON]
Mr. Adams, leave me alone!

[ADAMS, spoken]
Mr. Jefferson—

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
Mr. Adams, I beg of you. I have not seen my wife these past six months!

[ADAMS, spoken]
"And we solemnly declare that we will preserve our liberties being with one mind resolve to die free men rather than to live slaves." Thomas Jefferson, on the Necessity of Taking Up Arms, 1775. Magnificent. Why, you write ten times better than any man in Congress, including me. For a man of only thirty-three years, you possess a happy talent for composition and a remarkable felicity of expression. Now, then, sir. Will you a patriot or a lover?

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
A lover.

[ADAMS, spoken]
No!

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
But, I burn, Mr. A!

[ADAMS, spoken]
So do I, Mr. J!

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
You?

[SHERMAN, spoken]
You do?

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
John!

[LIVINGSTON, spoken]
Who'd have thought it?

[ADAMS]
Mr. Jefferson
Dear Mr. Jefferson
I'm only forty-one
I still have my virility
And I can romp through Cupid's grove with great agility
But life is more than sexual combustibility!

(spoken)
Jefferson, stop right there!

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
'Bustibility!
'Bustibility!
Combustabili-

[ADAMS, spoken]
QUIET! Now, you'll write it, Mr. J!

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
Who will make me, Mr. A?

[ADAMS, spoken]
I!

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
You?

[ADAMS, spoken]
Yes!

[JEFFERSON, spoken]
How?

[ADAMS, spoken]
By physical force, if necessary. It's your duty, damn it! Your DUTY!

[JEFFERSON]
Mr. Adams
Damn you, Mr. Adams!
You're obnoxious and disliked
That cannot be denied

Once again you stand between me
And my lovely bride

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
Lovely bride!

[JEFFERSON]
Oh, Mr. Adams
You are driving me
To homicide!

[ADAMS, spoken]
Jefferson, stop right there!

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
Homicide!
Homicide!

[ADAMS, spoken]
QUIET!!! The decision is yours, Jefferson. Do as you like with it!

[COMMITTEE OF FIVE]
We may see murder yet!