John Hart, Portrait of a Patriot

“John Hart: Portrait of a Patriot,” a 70 minute documentary that examines the life of one of the five New Jersey Signers of the Declaration of Independence and the state's first elected Speaker of the General Assembly.

Farmer, judge, legislator and family man John Hart played an essential role during the early days of the American Revolution in leading the political charge against the Crown and in shaping New Jersey's transition from colony to statehood.  

Cast upon the world stage in the fight for our country’s freedom and working alongside the likes of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington the obscure John Hart is the embodiment of the everyman, who along with his family, is forced to endure the hardships and deprivations of the tumultuous times.

So how is it that this unsung hero, who escaped capture from the marauding enemy in the winter of 1776 -77 by hiding out alone in the formidable wilderness of the Sourland  Mountains, and who was so instrumental in the struggle to secure our country's independence, is virtually forgotten and ignored by mainstream history books?