Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In Episode 1 of In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America, we travel to the forests and inlets of the mid-Atlantic coast, where the Lenape, the “Original People,” have lived at liberty for 18,000 years. After more than half a century of devastating disease and colonial encroachment led by the Dutch West India Company and Peter Stuyvesant, their world is forever changed. In 1632, Lenape revolt at Swanandael (Lewes, Delaware).
Into this fragile landscape comes English Quaker visionary William Penn, disciple of George Fox, pursuing a bold experiment in religious freedom and coexistence. His colony, late among the original North American colonies of King Charles II, promises tolerance and peace and institutes American concepts of individual rights and trial by jury. Yet even as Pennsylvania is founded on ideals of liberty negotiated with Lenape sachem Tamanend, slavery is already taking root. German Quaker settlers led by Frances Daniel Pastorius organize a formal protest against slavery for the first time on American soil.
Can freedom truly flourish in a society built on contradiction? Featuring Lenape elder Michael Pace, cultural leader Jeremy Johnson, the poet Ursula Rucker, historian Allen Guelzo.
This powerful 10-part historical documentary explores the complex origins of Philadelphia and the United States, and the enduring tensions around liberty, equality, and democracy that continue to shape the nation today.
Director: Andrew Ferrett
Writer: Nathaniel Popkin
Executive Producer: Sam Katz
Producers: Wendy Cox, Andrew Ferrett, Jonathan Kohl, Nathaniel Popkin, Eva Roben
Editor: Rachel Sophia Stewart
Director of Photography: Paul Van Haute
Narrator: Michael Boatman
Composer: Daniel Slatkin
SERIES TRAILER: youtu.be/Bm3qtfVpR0I?si=r6t3Q8CdTHz0moKU
ALL EPISODES AVAILABLE HERE: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwEWxvgiPVsVD_g6JsElVoPT_HfsMvuSe&si=TKHuegmLvS5uw_vz
In Episode 1 of In Pursuit: Philadelphia and the Making of America, we travel to the forests and inlets of the mid-Atlantic coast, where the Lenape, the “Original People,” have lived at liberty for 18,000 years. After more than half a century of devastating disease and colonial encroachment led by the Dutch West India Company and Peter Stuyvesant, their world is forever changed. In 1632, Lenape revolt at Swanandael (Lewes, Delaware).
Into this fragile landscape comes English Quaker visionary William Penn, disciple of George Fox, pursuing a bold experiment in religious freedom and coexistence. His colony, late among the original North American colonies of King Charles II, promises tolerance and peace and institutes American concepts of individual rights and trial by jury. Yet even as Pennsylvania is founded on ideals of liberty negotiated with Lenape sachem Tamanend, slavery is already taking root. German Quaker settlers led by Frances Daniel Pastorius organize a formal protest against slavery for the first time on American soil.
Can freedom truly flourish in a society built on contradiction? Featuring Lenape elder Michael Pace, cultural leader Jeremy Johnson, the poet Ursula Rucker, historian Allen Guelzo.
This powerful 10-part historical documentary explores the complex origins of Philadelphia and the United States, and the enduring tensions around liberty, equality, and democracy that continue to shape the nation today.
Director: Andrew Ferrett
Writer: Nathaniel Popkin
Executive Producer: Sam Katz
Producers: Wendy Cox, Andrew Ferrett, Jonathan Kohl, Nathaniel Popkin, Eva Roben
Editor: Rachel Sophia Stewart
Director of Photography: Paul Van Haute
Narrator: Michael Boatman
Composer: Daniel Slatkin
SERIES TRAILER: youtu.be/Bm3qtfVpR0I?si=r6t3Q8CdTHz0moKU
ALL EPISODES AVAILABLE HERE: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwEWxvgiPVsVD_g6JsElVoPT_HfsMvuSe&si=TKHuegmLvS5uw_vz
