Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Philadelphia is no longer a colonial experiment. It is now the largest and most diverse city in British North America, where competing visions of freedom, power, and democracy collide.

In Episode 3, frontier violence and political unrest push Pennsylvania toward revolution. Armed frontiersmen known as the Paxton Boys march on Philadelphia with grievances against the government and are confronted by Benjamin Franklin. Pacifist Quakers struggle with whether to defend the city by force. Artisans, laborers, and merchants challenge British taxation. Women artisans including Betsy Ross demand a greater voice in public life. Philadelphia's large free Black community raises the stakes for liberty, and Thomas Paine provokes American colonists to unite.

As tensions with Britain escalate, revolutionaries choose Philadelphia as their capital, as the First and Second Continental Congresses led by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams push toward a Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. Now the Quaker City faces war and the threat of invasion. After British General William Howe sacks New York and occupies Philadelphia after the Battle of Brandywine, Franklin convinces King Louis XVI to save the Revolution. Soldiers revolt against Congress as the new U.S. government betrays Lenape leader White Eyes.

Leading to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, this episode explores how conflict, revolution, and competing ideas of freedom transformed Philadelphia and defined the future of the United States. Featuring the late bestselling author David McCullough, historian of democracy Sophia Rosenfeld, UCLA sociologist Marcus Anthony Hunter, poet Ursula Rucker, and Lincoln Prize winning author Allen Guelzo.

Director: Andrew Ferrett
Writer: Nathaniel Popkin
Executive Producer: Sam Katz
Producers: Wendy Cox, Andrew Ferrett, Jonathan Kohl, Nathaniel Popkin
Episode Teleplay: Nathaniel Popkin, Andrew Ferrett
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