Rebellion becomes resolve. In response to King George III’s declaration of rebellion, George Washington raises a new flag over Prospect Hill on January 1, 1776, unifying the identity of those in defiance. At the time, nothing about this future was assured.
America's first meme is born. When Thomas Paine arrives from England, he is encouraged by Benjamin Franklin to write what others hesitate to say. The resulting pamphlet sends ripples from the Colonies to the other side of the Atlantic. And what was once unthinkable, becomes irrefutable.
A bookseller makes history. To break the siege of Boston, Henry Knox leads a transport of captured British cannon from Fort Ticonderoga across more than 300 miles of snow and ice. And if Washington can get those guns up onto the heights undetected, the British will be at his mercy.
Beneath his public decorum, Washington was plagued by doubt. His army was undisciplined, poorly supplied, and outmatched by the professional soldiers across the harbor. And if he failed, the consequences would be absolute. For his country, for his family, and for his honor. On the eve of his forty-fourth birthday, these realities follow him into the night, and chase him through his dreams.
Six years to the day of the Boston Massacre - when protestors were shot down in the streets of occupied Boston - Washington undertakes a daring maneuver to drive the British from the city. Under the cover of darkness on March 5, Colonel Knox leads a mission to secure Dorchester Heights with his artillery. If General Howe detects them before the cannons are in place, the British army can march out and crush the rebellion in a single blow.