Amid the nation’s upcoming semiquincentennial celebrations comes a new, 12-hour, six-part series from America’s master of documentary television.
Directed by Ken Burns, “The American Revolution” explores the emerging nation’s bid for freedom and the eight long years it took to achieve American independence.
“The American Revolution is one of the most important events in human history,” said Ken Burns in a recent press release. “We went from being subjects to inventing a new concept, citizens, and set in motion democratic revolutions around the globe.
“As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding, I’m hopeful that people throughout the country will come together to discuss the importance of this history and to appreciate even more what our ancestors did to secure our liberty and freedoms.”
Like the revolution, the series itself has been in production for eight years. Burns’ longtime collaborators Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt have been at the helm, co-directing the program.
Over the course of several years, the trio shot original footage of nearly 100 locations — in every season — within the original 13 colonies, as well as in London and the English countryside.
The footage also includes original 18th-century maps, as well as “over a thousand still images in the film, including paintings, letters, lithographs, and other archival materials, from museums, galleries, and libraries throughout the United States and abroad,” a release said.
The six-part series follows more than just the well-known characters of the American Revolution. It includes “ordinary” rank-and-file Continental soldiers and militiamen, American Loyalists, Native soldiers and civilians, enslaved and free African Americans, German soldiers in the British service, French and Spanish allies and various civilians living in North America.
“Our film tells the remarkable history of the people who lived through the American Revolution, their everyday concerns, and their hopes, fears and failings,” Botstein said. “It’s a surprising and deeply relevant story, one that is hugely important to understanding who we are as a country and a people. The Revolution changed how we think about government — creating new ideas about liberty, freedom and democracy.”
The documentary highlights a war that touched more than the lives within the 13 colonies, but engaged and inspired millions of people in North America and beyond.
The series was written by Geoffrey C. Ward, another longtime collaborator of Burns, and is narrated by a star-studded cast, including: Kenneth Branagh, Josh Brolin, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Domhnall Gleeson, Tom Hanks, Ethan Hawke, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Damian Lewis, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, David Oyelowo, Mandy Patinkin and Meryl Streep, among others.
“The United States that emerged from the war was a nation few could have imagined before the shooting began in April 1775,” Schmidt said.
The nation, after years of conflict and uncertainty, became a republic. Burns hopes to showcase how to keep it one.
“The American Revolution” premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, and will air for six consecutive nights through Friday, Nov. 21. It runs from 8 to 10 p.m. EST each night on PBS.
Claire Barrett is the Strategic Operations Editor for Sightline Media and a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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