The American Experiment: 250 Years Later

PARTI of 8 Before It Was Inevitable 

We talk about the founding of our country like it was inevitable.

It wasn’t. The room was not quiet. It couldn't be. Too much was at stake. In a chamber in Philadelphia, in the summer of 1776, men argued. Not politely. Not cautiously. But intensely. Voices rose. Positions hardened. The consequences of failure hung over every word.

We tend to remember what cam…