About this item
This is the rambunctious story of how America came to declare independence in Philadelphia in 1776. As late as that May, the Continental Congress had no plans to break away from England. Troops under General George Washington had been fighting the British for nearly a year - yet in Philadelphia a mighty bloc known as "reconciliationists," led by the influential Pennsylvanian John Dickinson, strove to keep America part of the British Empire. But a cadre of activists - led by the mysterious Samuel Adams of Massachusetts and assisted by his nervous cousin John - plotted to bring about American independence. Their audacious secret plan proposed overturning the reconciliationist government of Pennsylvania and replacing it with pro-independence leaders.
About the Author
William Hogeland's forthcoming book is "Autumn of the Black Snake," to be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on May 17 , 2017.
Born in Virginia and raised in Brooklyn, New York, William Hogeland is the author of four books on founding U.S. history, "Autumn of the Black Snake" (FSG) "The Whiskey Rebellion" (Simon and Schuster) , "Declaration" (S&S) , and "Founding Finance" (University of Texas Press) , as well as a collection of essays, "Inventing American History" (Boston Review Books/MIT Press) . Hogeland's work in history represents an unusual blend of dramatic narrative and critical interpretation. He has also written about history, music, and politics for "The Atlantic Monthly," "AlterNet," "Salon," "The New York Times," "Boston Review," and "The Huffington Post." His essay "American Dreamers" appears in Da Capo's "Best Music Writing 2009," edited by Greil Marcus. Hogeland also contributed the chapter on insurrections to "A Blackwell Companion to American Military History."
Hogeland's blog is at http://www.williamhogeland.com. He has an online self-publishing venture at http://www.hogelandpublishing.com. He posts at http://twitter/WilliamHogeland, and his Facebook author page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/William-Hogeland/108281879206433.
