William Hogeland recalls the nine weeks leading up to the American Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. He focuses on the debate between the “reconciliationists” led by Pennsylvanian John Dickinson, who wished to remain part of the British Empire, and those who sought independence and were roused into action by Samuel Adams and John Adams of Massachusetts. Mr. Hogeland reports on how the Adams-led independents overturned Pennsylvania’s reconiliationist government and how this turn of events progressed to the Continental Congress. William Hogeland discussed his book at a Noontime Lecture Series at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. He also sang a folk song, using a banjo.