In this episode, John explains what led to the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776. John starts by going through the colonial reaction to the Intolerable/Coercive Acts, including the Suffolk Resolves and the meeting of the First Continental Congress. He then details the actions taken by the Continental Congress as it attempted to bring the colonies together for collective action and tried to, at first, reconcile with the British Government.

Finally, John explains how the violence began at Lexington and Concord, what the colonists did in response to it, and how everything that happened between that first battle and the summer of 1776 ultimately led to the birth of the United States of America.

In this episode, John discusses the events that led to the Tea Act and how the colonists reacted to this new British policy. John explains the connection between the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party and how the British government freaked out at the colonists' protest.

Most importantly, John breaks down the British reaction to the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts, and explains how these measures led to a "point of no return" in the American Revolution that would soon result in the outbreak of war between Britain and the colonies.

In this episode, John discusses the first measures taken by the British government in the aftermath of the French and Indian War and how they created a rift between Britain and the colonies. John goes over the Proclamation of 1763 first and explains what it was and why it upset those in the colonies. He then talks about the Sugar Act and the Currency Act and how those were perceived as over-stepping British authority.

John then spends a while talking about the Stamp Act and why it created such an uproar and how it fundamentally and irreparably harmed the relationship between Britain and the colonies. Finally, John covers the Townshend Acts and how they led pretty directly to the first major violence of the American Revolution: the Boston Massacre.