June and July 1775 - The Price of Freedom (Bunker Hill Part 2)

***SEASON FINALE***   It's June 17th, 1775. American Independence is 383 days away. After working through the night to build fortifications that can withstand the full weight of a British counterattack, a group of a few hundred patriot defenders atop the small rise known as Breed's Hill look out through the morning light down to the Charles River below.   From their makeshift fortification, the men watched as twenty-eight boats crossed the river carrying red coat troops to the beach at the far end of the Charlestown peninsula. As the day drew to midafternoon, the size of the British force gathered against the small group of defenders had grown to nearly 2,000 men strong.   It was a force sent for only one purpose, to crush the upstart Patriot movement in one ringing hammer blow. The full might of the British Army had finally mobilized against the minutemen of Boston. But the battle to come would not only shock the entire world, it would change the course of the colonies and their path towards independence forever.   This episode is the second half of a two-part season finale telling dramatic conclusion to the fighting atop Breed's Hill on June 17th and the reactions from both the British and American side over the following month that officially transitioned the small regional rebellion into a continent-wide revolution.   Sources: Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution by Woody Holton   American Insurgents, American Patriots by T.H. Breen   The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts   The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire by Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy   Lexington and Concord: The Battle Heard Round the World By George C. Daughan   Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution's Lost Hero by Christian Di Spigna   Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick   Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow   Our Lives, Our Fortune, and Our Sacred Honor by Richard Beeman   American Revolutions by Alan Taylor