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2d ago

Ken Burns' The American Revolution Airs on PBS With an Inclusive, Myth-Busting Lens

The PBS series reframes the Revolution through underrepresented voices with meticulous, myth-correcting storytelling.

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Ken Burns' new documentary "The American Revolution" will premiere on Sunday, November 16 on PBS (photo courtesy of PBS).
“The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776,” painted by John Trumbull, 1818. The painting is one of more than 1,000 pieces of art, maps and other images seen in the new PBS documentary series “The American Revolution.” (Image courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery)
The new Ken Burns documentary, “The American Revolution,” features the famous 1851 painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze. It pays tribute to a turning point for the colonists as they battled Great Britain.

Overview

  • The six-part, 12-hour documentary premiered Nov. 16 on PBS and is running on consecutive nights with streaming on PBS platforms.
  • Burns and co-director Sarah Botstein foreground Native nations, women, and Black experiences alongside the familiar Founders to broaden the era’s narrative.
  • The production blends historian interviews, extensive reenactments, and first-person readings by actors such as Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Morgan Freeman, with music by Yo-Yo Ma.
  • The series spotlights nearly 200 lesser-known figures, including Philadelphia and South Jersey voices like James Forten, Hannah Griffitts, James Parker, and Nicholas Collin.
  • The filmmakers push past popular myths, noting for example that Paul Revere did not shout the famous line and omitting Betsy Ross, while some reviewers highlight present-day resonances such as debates over state and federal power.