683. Washington: Hero of the Revolution (Part 1)

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The Focus: George Washington and Valley Forge

At 10:02 · chapter starts 6:42

With the series framing in place, Dominic sets out the four Founding Fathers the show will cover and quickly homes in on the episode's singular focus: George Washington and the winter at Valley Forge. He sketches the context: after almost two years of fighting, the rebel cause looks grim. Philadelphia — the provisional rebel capital — has been occupied by the British. The French, despite Franklin's best efforts, have not yet officially entered the war. Washington and his Continental Army of around 12,000 men are holed up at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, desperately short of food, clothing, and hope. Dominic notes that Valley Forge is one of the most mythologised moments in American patriotic history — the episode that transforms Washington into a national father figure — and that most British listeners will never have heard of it, while almost every American will immediately recognise it.