The American Revolution - Season 1

Unsung patriots strike Pivotal blows for American liberty as unrest between Britain and the Colonies explodes into a war for independence. This three-part examination of the American colonies' break from England highlights contributions by lesser-known individuals to pivotal events, and begins with Joseph Warren, a Boston doctor who sent Paul Revere on his famous ride in April 1775; Samuel Whittemore, a septuagenarian combatant in Massachusetts; and Salem Poor, a former slave who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Time after time, American independence seems like a lost cause as George Washington's Continental Army teeters on the brink of annihilation. These patriots help the colonies live to fight another day: John Glover, a Massachusetts mariner who saved George Washington's army after the Battle of Long Island in August 1776; John Honeyman, a spy whose intelligence gathering helped tip the scales at the Battle of Trenton in December 1776; and Sybil Ludington, a teen girl who rode 40 miles to warn colonial forces about British movements in New York in April 1777.

The American Revolution seems doomed as the British army launches a bold new campaign in the South, but unsung patriots help reverse the course of the war and shock the world: Elizabeth Burgin helps POWs escape from British prison ships in New York in 1778; Peter Francisco is known for his size and strength on battlefields in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and South Carolina; and James Armistead, a slave, serves as a spy who gathers intelligence before the Battle of Yorktown in the fall of 1781.