Much as it may seem that the American Revolution erupted suddenly, the groundwork had already been laid. Mary Beth Norton looks at the 16 months leading up to the clashes at Lexington and Concord in mid-April 1775, a period when even colonists loyal to King George III slowly recognized the inevitability of war against the British Empire. Through pamphlets, newspapers, and personal correspondence, Norton charts how Americans had already declared themselves free, two years before Jefferson penned his immortal declaration.