Independence: the struggle to set America free

"In the very midst of a revolution" : the proposal to declare independence

"A spirit of riot and rebellion" : Lord North, Benjamin Franklin, and the American crisis

"Defenders of American liberty" : Samuel Adams, Joseph Galloway, and the First Continental Congress

"It is a bill of war. It draws the sword" : Lord Dartmouth, George Washington, hostilities

"A rescript written in blood" : John Dickinson and the appeal of reconciliation

"Progress must be slow" : John Adams and the politics of a divided Congress

"The king will produce the grandest revolution" : George III and the American rebellion

"The folly and madness of the ministry" : Charles James Fox, Thomas Paine, and the war

"We might get ourselves upon dangerous ground" : James Wilson, Robert Morris, Lord Howe, and the search for peace

"The fatal stab" : Abigail Adams and the realities of the struggle for independence

"Not choice, but necessity that calls for independence" : the dilemma and strategy of Robert Livingston

"The character of a fine writer" : Thomas Jefferson and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence

"May Heaven prosper the new born republic" : Setting America free

"This will cement the Union" : America is set free.