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.