Focuses on the framing of the Declaration of Independence and the meaning of the document, describing the circumstances leading to the Revolutionary War and some of the challenges faced by the men who wrote the document.

Looks at the history of the United States during the period before, during, and after the Revolutionary War, especially focusing on the circumstances in colonial life that led Americans to fight for their independence from Britain.

What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? George Washington in the 1770s stood at the apex of Virginia society. Benjamin Franklin was more successful still, having risen from humble origins to world fame. John Adams revered the law. Yet all three men became rebels against the British Empire that fostered their success. Others in the same circle of family and friends chose differently-- and soon heard themselves denounced...

"From a Pulitzer Prize winner, a powerful history that reveals how the twin strands of liberty and slavery were joined in the nation's founding. New attention from historians and journalists is raising pointed questions about the founding period: was the American revolution waged to preserve slavery, and was the Constitution a pact with slavery or a landmark in the antislavery movement? Leaders of the founding who called for American liberty are scrutinized...