The story of the Continental Congress from 1774, before the United States became a nation, to 1778, when, as a new nation fighting for independence, it secured an ally: France. Letters and documents reveal aggravations and triumphs of frazzled delegates to the Continental Congress as it evolved into an improvisational national government.

The story of the Continental Congress from 1778—just after it secured an alliance with France—to 1794, when the War of Independence ended. Letters and documents reveal how the new nation’s improvisational government struggled to hold the union and the alliance together and avert financial ruin amidst war, treachery, and troop mutinies.

Known as the Threshold to Valley Forge, the Gulph Mills Encampment, December 12–19, 1777 is often forgotten or minimized. Yet during those six days, General George Washington, the new nation, and its foreign allies made decisions that changed the entire course of the Revolutionary War.