Alexander travels around the United States, exploring how a nation founded on bold ideals has grown into one of the world's most powerful and complex countries. Beginning in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, he 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