
Beginning in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, Alexander Armstrong sets out to discover how those founding ideals play out in modern America, before diving into local life with a lesson in the art of the Philly cheesesteak. In rural Pennsylvania, he discovers the state's crucial role in the fight against slavery, rides America's oldest steam railroad and learns about the devastating opioid crisis.
Alexander heads into the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia, meeting a homesteader who has rejected modern life and now lives off-grid, while sharing his lifestyle with thousands of followers online. Alexander then uncovers the industries and traditions that helped shape the state, from the coal mines that powered America's industrial rise to the moonshiners whose illicit trade became part of Appalachian folklore and identity