In this episode, John gives a broad strokes rundown of both how the Constitution was created and the process by which it was ratified. John discusses the major controversies at the convention that needed to be resolved and explains very generally what the interests and motivations of the delegates at the convention were. John then breaks down the ratification process in the various states, briefly discussing how difficult or not it was from one state to the next.

In this episode, John explains how the Constitutional Convention was actually created and put into motion in 1787. John discusses the dire situation in which the young United States found itself, with threats from foreign adversaries and all sorts of domestic disputes and disorder, and how the government created by the Articles of Confederation was unable to resolve any of these major problems. John talks about the push by the "nationalists", as they came to be called, like James Madison, Robert Morris and Alexander Hamilton, to form a much stronger central government than the one that existed under the Articles of Confederation.

There is, of course, opposition to these kinds of reforms and John covers who opposed the push for big, bold changes to the national government and why they felt the way they did. Finally, John talks about the Annapolis Convention, how it led directly to the Constitutional Convention and how Madison led the delegates from Virginia and Pennsylvania in meetings in the days before the full Constitutional Convention met so that the nationalists could set the agenda when the full body began its sessions.

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.