The revolting Americans, by the time of this episode, have decided they’ve had it right up to here with the Brits. It’s time to part company. So they adopt a Declaration of Independence, basically serving divorce papers on the Mother Country. Which refuses to sign them, of course, ensuring that the ugly dispute lasts another few years.

As for that dispute, it goes on with the advantage swinging from one side to the other. William Howe wins a couple of victories over the still inexperienced Washington, but fails to follow them up. Washington gets good at dodging destructive defeats and keeping the cause alive. But then, to everyone’s surprise, he even wins a couple of impressive victories.

Then the Brits launch a cunning scheme to win a decisive victory, which goes colossally wrong, leading to their worst defeat of the war, at Saratoga.

Meanwhile, back in England Pitt is still trying to persuade his countrymen to take a more sensible stance. “Conquering America is impossible,” he tells them, but they aren’t listening. Then, when a voice is raised in Parliament for the recognition of American Independence, he pretty much dies opposing it – it actually takes him nearly five weeks to die, but the attack from which he failed to recover hit him in the House of Lords, while he was struggling to speak out.

A nasty divorce. With plenty of fighting. And a lot of bad blood on the way.

Illustration: Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1796. National Portrait Gallery 2001.13.

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License