episode description
In Episode One we explore the origins of Britain’s thirteen American colonies and how they fell out with their motherland in the 1760s. As protest and discord turns to rebellion and war, we discover the ordinary humans at the forefront of these fateful events. Richard Montgomery, formerly a British officer and now an American general, becomes the Revolution’s first martyr when he’s killed outside Quebec City. Stephen Moylan becomes Washington’s secretary and early in 1776 he names a brand new nation – the United States of America. At just this time, Henry Knox masterminds a daring expedition to secure artillery for Washington’s army, enabling him to drive the British out of Boston. John Dunlap, a Presbyterian immigrant from the north of Ireland, becomes one of the Revolution’s most skilled propagandists and in July 1776 he prints the first copies of the Declaration of Independence. But the British are unimpressed. Mustering a huge army, they set out to crush the Rebellion.
