TEXT:Washington's ragtag troops are about to face he best-equipped and most powerful fighting force in the world.June 29th. 45 British warships mass off Staten Island. Bearing down on New York City,the ultimate war machine of its day, the British ship -of -the-line. Each ship is made from over 2,000 century-old trees. Each carries hundreds more soldiers to the fight against the colonies.And each is armed with up to 64 heavy cannons capable of hurling a 24 -pound cannonball at the speed of sound, delivering it to targets over a mile away. One ship -of -the-line costs the equivalent of a modern aircraft carrier. Another 350 British ships are racing across the Atlantic to join them. The British want to terrify the Rebels into submission. Instead, they inspire them to resist. On July 2nd,there's a crisis meeting in Philadelphia. 50 delegates elected to the Continental Congress from the 13 colonies hold an emergency session. They include radicals like Ben Franklin,Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. What they're debating is nothing less than high treason -- total independence from Britain. The penalty is death. We are in the midst of a revolution, the most complete in the history of the world. It's the birth of American democracy. We have to expect a great expanse of blood to obtain it. Some don't believe the Rebels stand a chance. We are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper. But the doubters are outnumbered nearly five to one.

譯文:華盛頓所率領的烏合之眾要抗擊的是當時全世界裝備最精良，戰斗力最強的軍隊。6月29日，45艘英國戰艦向斯塔滕島進發，浩浩蕩蕩向紐約逼近。英國海軍艦隊，那個時代的終極武器。每艘戰艦都由2000余棵百年老樹造就，搭載著數百名士兵前去鎮壓殖民地反抗。每艘戰艦還配有64門重型火炮，能夠以聲速射出24磅的炮彈且射程可達1英里。建造一隊戰艦所花費的成本不亞于當今的航空母艦。另有350艘戰船正飛速穿越大西洋前來增援，英國本想以此嚇退起義軍，卻沒想到這反而激起了他們的斗志。7月2日在費城召開了一個緊急會議，50名代表13州參加大陸會議的代表進行了緊急磋商，會議成員中的激進分子如本·富蘭克林，托馬斯·杰斐遜和約翰·亞當斯，他們主張發動一場不亞于叛國的革命脫離英王統治取得獨立。不成功便成仁，我們正身處一場有史以來最為徹底的革命之中，這場革命促使了美國民主的誕生，這場革命需要我們為之拋頭顱灑熱血。然而保守派卻認為革命毫無希望，我們這無異于以卵擊石，持懷疑態度者最終以一比五被否決。