This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories and more of our Christmas storytelling,

which we're doing all month long.

It's called the first American Christmas because the Declaration of Independence was created

for the previous summer, essentially divorcing America from England and declaring our country

as an independent nation. Here is the story of Christmas, 1776.

My name is Brian Benjamin.

I recently wrote a children's book entitled Christmas 1776 that I'll be reading for you today.

It covers the Revolutionary War and follows George Washington and the Continental Army in the late months of 1776 as they were fighting and mostly losing to the British for American independence.

It of course culminates in the famous crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776.

This book I was actually reading a biography of George Washington, and I got to the part where

the Continental Army is in Pennsylvania. Christmas is approaching and the war is looking really

bleak and they planned the crossing of

the Delaware River. The two things that struck me were one, I didn't realize how bleak the picture was

for the Americans at this point during the war. We were really getting kicked around by the British

and heading into that winter of 1776.

The cause of American independence did not look well.

And the other thing that struck me was how history really turned on a dime with this attack,

but this really saved America's cause.

And so I tried to put that in the book.

You know, it is a children's books, but tried to get across both the America was an underdog and it was not looking good. And also that contingency of things could have gone different

in their cases where America doesn't come through this. But with the brave actions of these men led by George Washington,

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