This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces Shays's Rebellion, which revealed the weakness of the federal government—which lacked the power to deploy troops.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the selection of the commanding general needed to lead the new Continental Army. John Adams convinced the Second Continental Congress to elect George Washington as the commander-in-chief.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Philadelphia meeting of the Second Continental Congress, shortly after the American Revolution began. Benjamin Franklin proposed independence from Britain, and George Washington was appointed to lead the Continental Army.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Battle of Bunker Hill, fought shortly after the battles of Lexington and Concord. After heavy losses, the British eventually captured the fort.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the continuation of the American Revolution for another two years following the defeat of the British at Yorktown in 1781.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Stamp Act, a British tax on all printed material, from marriage licenses to playing cards. It infuriated colonists.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces the Boston Tea Party, which followed Britain's attempts to compromise by taxing tea after several attempts to tax the American colonies failed. Colonial radicals led by Samuel Adams of Boston were incensed and dumped the British tea into Boston Harbor.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes Bostonian Samuel Adams's encouragement of Committees of Correspondence, which were letter-writing campaigns to monitor British activities in the colonies.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Battle of Concord. When American Minutemen were defeated at the town of Lexington by British soldiers, thousands of Americans rushed to fight the British at Concord. The British were outnumbered and forced to retreat to Boston.

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the events that occurred when British troops learned that American colonists had been storing weapons in the countryside and British soldiers were sent to retrieve them. The Minutemen met the British in the town of Lexington and the battle that ensued is generally considered the beginning of the American Revolution.

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