After King George’s proclamation branded the colonies as rebels, the spark of independence begins to catch fire. Across taverns, churches, and town squares, colonists debate their future. Writers like Mercy Otis Warren, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin wield their pens to shape public opinion, spreading bold ideas of liberty and unity.

In this episode of The American Legacy Podcast, host Jeff Robe explores how ordinary citizens, pamphleteers, and leaders helped transform a scattered rebellion into the beginnings of an American identity. From the printing press to local governments forming outside royal authority, the colonies start to act less like subjects and more like a nation-in-waiting.

Season 1 of The American Legacy follows the road to 1776, leading us toward the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.

Episode 5: The King’s Response Date: Week of August 1, 1775

The colonies’ final appeal for peace meets silence—and then condemnation. King George III refuses to read the Olive Branch Petition and instead declares the American colonies in “open and avowed rebellion.” Branded as traitors, the colonists realize reconciliation is no longer an option.

In this episode of The American Legacy Podcast, host Jeff Robe explores the King’s proclamation of August 23, 1775, and its shattering effect on colonial hopes for peace. We uncover how intercepted letters, British losses at Bunker Hill, and Parliament’s influence sealed the King’s decision—and how moderates like Benjamin Franklin finally accepted that independence might be the only path forward.

Season 1 of The American Legacy follows the road to 1776, leading us toward the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.

While Washington’s army entrenches outside Boston, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia faces a different kind of battle—one for unity. Some delegates push for reconciliation, others see war as inevitable. Within days, Congress sends two very different messages: the Olive Branch Petition, a final plea to King George III for peace, and the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, a defiant justification for resistance.

In this episode of The American Legacy Podcast, host Jeff Robe takes listeners inside the debates, personalities, and contradictions of a Congress not yet ready for independence but already acting like a government. Meet John Dickinson, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin as they wrestle with questions of loyalty, liberty, and survival.

Season 1 of The American Legacy follows the road to 1776, leading us toward the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Boston is locked down. British troops are trapped inside the city while Washington and his ragtag Continental Army struggle to hold the siege together. Supplies are scarce, soldiers are deserting, and discipline is hard-won. Meanwhile, inside British lines, fear and frustration grow after the shock of Bunker Hill.

In this episode of The American Legacy Podcast, host Jeff Robe takes you behind the barricades to explore Washington’s earliest test of leadership. From powder shortages and militia disorder to British desperation, the Siege of Boston shows just how fragile—and determined—the Revolution truly was.

Season 1 of The American Legacy follows the road to 1776, leading us toward the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

In this episode, we follow George Washington’s journey north from Philadelphia to Cambridge, where he takes command of a scattered group of colonial militias during the Siege of Boston. Under his leadership, the fledgling Continental Army begins to take shape—transforming from a patchwork of untrained volunteers into the seeds of a national force.

Explore how Washington’s presence, discipline, and vision begin forging an American identity long before the Declaration of Independence. From makeshift camps to secret supply missions and strict military reforms, this pivotal moment in July 1775 sets the stage for the revolution to come.

Before the fireworks, there was fire. In our debut episode, we go back to July 4, 1775—an often-overlooked but critical day in American history. The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia under sweltering summer heat and growing pressure. Just weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, colonial leaders take a bold step: they draft the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, explaining to the world why the colonies are preparing for war—not out of ambition, but out of necessity.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why July 4, 1775 matters as much as July 4, 1776
• What the Second Continental Congress was debating
• How early battles shaped the tone of rebellion
• The importance of the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
• The tremendous risk colonial leaders were taking—and why they did it anyway

🎧 Listen now and begin the journey to 1776.