It's May 10, 1775. American Independence is 421 days away.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sixty-five delegates have gathered to assemble into the political body known as the Second Continental Congress.

While many aspects of this body were unchanged from the congress that had met the previous fall, this Second Continental Congress had been thrust into the leadership of a divided continent already at war.

This time around every day was precious to the rebels across New England who had dared stand up to the might of the British. Hours spent in debate might be paid in blood, and delays could come at the price of lives.

If America was going to survive the coming storm of war without tearing itself to pieces in the process, the colonies needed leadership. The question was if the sixty-five men gathered in Philadelphia would be up to the task of turning 13 divided colonies into These United States.

This month's episode looks at the first choices made by the Continental Congress, as well as events and reactions spreading far outside of Philadelphia and begins to tackle the first monumental question born out of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord – namely how does a single battle of a few hundred soldiers can turn into an all-out war that holds the fate of empires in the balance.

Sources:

Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution by Woody Holton

American Insurgents, American Patriots by T.H. Breen

The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts

The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire by Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy

Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer

Lexington and Concord: The Battle Heard Round the World By George C. Daughan

Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution's Lost Hero by Christian Di Spigna

Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick