- Master documentarian Ken Burns is releasing a new 10-year-in-the-making series, The American Revolution, featuring a star-studded voice cast including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, and Samuel L. Jackson.
- Burns challenges sanitized historical narratives, arguing the war was actually won by society’s outcasts: “ne’er-do-wells, felons, and recent immigrants.”
- The series exposes the brutal, often-ignored realities of the era, moving beyond sentimentality to reveal the true violence and complexity of America’s founding.
- Burns also sounds the alarm on the recent defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, calling the decision “shortsighted” and a grave threat to local news coverage.
A Revolution Devoid of Romance
After the emotionally draining experience of creating The Civil War, legendary filmmaker Ken Burns vowed he was done with war documentaries. “It hurt too much,” he confessed. Fortunately for audiences, it was a promise he couldn’t keep. Now, after a decade of work, Burns is premiering The American Revolution on PBS, a sprawling documentary that seeks to strip away the “barnacles of sentimentality and nostalgia” from America’s origin story.
Burns argues that the true victors of the war have been forgotten by mainstream history. “At the end, we say the Continental Army is just filled with teenagers and ne’er-do-wells, second and third sons who aren’t due an inheritance, felons, and recent immigrants,” Burns stated. “That’s who wins the war.”
An All-Star Cast for an Epic Story
To bring these complex histories to life, Burns has assembled what he calls one of the finest casts ever. The series features voice performances from Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Claire Danes, Maya Hawke, Samuel L. Jackson, and Laura Linney, among many others. Despite the A-list talent, the actors work for SAG minimum, a testament to their dedication to the project. Giamatti, for instance, reprises his role as John Adams, a character he famously portrayed in the 2008 HBO series.
Uncovering Uncomfortable Truths
The documentary doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of the period. It highlights the stories of forgotten figures like John Greenwood, a teenage fife player who survived the Battle of Trenton, and James Forten, a free Black teenager who survived a British prison ship to become a wealthy abolitionist. The series also confronts the hypocrisy of founders like Thomas Jefferson, who wrote of “natural rights” while enslaving people. “He knew slavery was wrong,” Burns says. “He cannot let it go. And rather than address this, he just orders more French wine and Italian statuary.”
Burns emphasizes that the story feels urgently relevant today, quoting Mark Twain: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” The film touches on themes of pandemics, a total eclipse, and the government policing its own citizens, all of which echo contemporary anxieties.
A Dire Warning for Public Broadcasting
Beyond the historical narrative, Burns delivered a stark warning about the future of the platform that has been his home for decades. With the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) now defunded, he called the move “one of the most shortsighted decisions that’s ever been made by our government.” He warned that the loss of funding will create “news deserts” as rural stations, which depend on that support, are forced to close, eliminating local coverage of school boards and city council meetings. “Those rural stations—they’re cooked,” he lamented.
From debates over historical figures to the funding of public media, Burns’s latest work serves as a powerful reminder that the past is never truly past.
Image Referance: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/ken-burns-american-revolution-documentary-interview