Through interviews with historians and dramatic reenactments of eyewitness accounts, this documentary series chronicles the pivotal events that took place between 1763 and 1789 as the United States came into being. In 1763, America's capital city is London, Benjamin Franklin is considering retirement in England and no one connects Boston Harbor to tea parties. But British efforts to enforce the Stamp Act in 1765 bring protests in America, and attempts to impose sanctions on the colonies are met with increasing resistance. Dumping tea in Boston Harbor is the final straw. The British send troops to Massachusetts to quell the storm and install a military governor in the Spring of 1774. John Adams is called from Massachusetts to Philadelphia to become part of the first Continental Congress which included representatives from the thirteen colonies including George Washington, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson. This ad hoc committee later finds itself forming a government.

Note: This is part 1 of a series of 6 parts.