A Look at 1776's "Revolutionary Summer"

Our guest on this edition of StudioTulsa is Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis, who's written eight previous books on the events and persons concerning the founding of the United States. His most recent book, "Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence," details two seminal events in the summer of 1776 that are central to our nation's founding. Of course, the actions of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia (resulting in the signing of the Declaration of Independence) is one. But Ellis writes that the first encounter with the full imperial might of Great Britain, the disastrous New York military campaign --- where George Washington lost New York City and only barely extricated the ragtag Continental Army from complete annihilation --- was just as important. This resounding defeat solidified American opinion towards independence over negotiated settlement and remaining apart of the British Empire.