By 1776, the rebels would finally make their fateful, final break with Britain. One of those advocating this extreme step was a young Virginia planter named Thomas Jefferson. A misogynist who suffered debilitating migraines, the man who penned the Declaration of Independence wrestled all his life with the contradiction of being a slave-owner himself. On the battlefield, the war did not get off to a promising start. George Washington failed miserably in his first campaigns, while Ben Franklin's own son was arrested for plotting to aid the enemy. But as the revolutionary army gained in experience and confidence -- and the French threw their considerable financial support into the fray -- the tide slowly but surely began to turn in the rebels' direction.