Ken Burns: Rethinking About the American Revolution (UPPER DUBLIN LIBRARY)
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Did you watch the new Ken Burns PBS documentary, “The American Revolution”? We will discuss some of its ideas and perspectives at this Meetup and try to relate them to the current state of American democracy.
If you missed some or all of the episodes (there are six two-hour programs), they are now available for free streaming on demand. Go to http://pbs.org/show/the-american-revolution/. They will be available free until December 14, 2025.
(A $40 donation to WHYY let’s you stream unlimited programs from PBS passport for a year. These episodes also may be streamed from YouTube, Amazon Prime, and other platforms as part of a subscription or for a fee.)
According to PBS, The American Revolution provides “an expansive look at the virtues and contradictions of the war and the birth of the United States of America. It examines how America’s founding turned the world upside-down. Thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe.”
Burns presents diverse perspectives through the memories of the men and women who experienced it:
- Continental soldiers
- American militiamen (some of them teenagers)
- Patriot political and military leaders
- British Army officers
- American Loyalists
- Native soldiers and civilians
- Enslaved and free African Americans
- German soldiers in the British service
- French and Spanish allies
- Loyalist and Patriot civilians, including many made refugees by the war
Burns said that he hopes you will rethink what you know about the American Revolution. Watch an interview of Burns by Walter Isaacson on PBS Amanpour at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M4JDRhdXWM. It runs 19 minutes.
Come even if you have not watched all the episodes but try to watch at least the first hour of the first episode, “In Order to Be Free.”