In this episode, John discusses the many challenges the United States faced as it emerged victorious from the Revolutionary War and sought to solidify its standing as an independent republic. John talks about the infamous Newburgh Conspiracy among a number of Continental Army officers, why it emerged and how George Washington was narrowly able to stop it from happening. John lists a number of the very serious difficulties the United States encountered as it tried to gain its footing and why those challenges were made more difficult under the first form of government, the Articles of Confederation.

Finally, John explains the structure of the Articles of Confederation government. He gives a detailed description of how the government operated, why it was made to operate in this fashion and what became the glaring weaknesses of it that forced many of the founding fathers to call for major reforms very shortly after the the Revolutionary War had ended.

In this episode, John goes through the events of the Revolutionary War from the signing of the alliance with France in 1778 to the conclusion of the War with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. John explains the shifts in strategy and emphasis undertaken by the British after their defeat at Saratoga and how the Continental Army, George Washington and the United States' new French allies counter the British military and government. John breaks down what led to the British defeat, who participated in the peace negotiations and the complicated diplomatic interests Americans had to navigate as they sought to get the best they could from the peace process.

In this episode, John covers the period from the Declaration of Independence to the completion of the Treaty of Alliance with France. John explains the many challenges that the United States had to face as it fought for its independence against Great Britain and how it was that the new nation was able to overcome these challenges. John also discusses some of the most important military engagements that occurred in 1776 and 1777.

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.

In this episode, John explains the numerous ways in which the French and Indian War (or Seven Years War) contributed to a growing divide between Great Britain and the 13 colonies of British North America. John talks about how the experience of the war, which ended the period of Salutary Neglect, brought the British and the colonists into much greater contact with one another and how that did a lot to damage their views of each other. John also discusses the massive amount of debt the British government took on to fight the war, how that pushed the British government to pursue policies that alienated the colonists, and how conflict with Native Americans exacerbated already existing tensions between the two sides.

In this episode, John explains the factors that began to drive a wedge between the 13 British North American Colonies that would eventually become the United States and Great Britain. John details the economic, political and geographic elements of the relationship between Britain and the colonies that made it increasingly difficult for the two to coexist as they had up through the mid-18th century. Land disputes, arguments over trade and mercantilism and strained relations with Native Americans are all contributing factors to the deteriorating relationship that culminates in the French and Indian War, which John also discusses.