Ken Burns Says His New Documentary Forced Him to Revisit Everything He Thought He Knew About the American Revolution

Smithsonian Magazine ^ | November 13, 2025 | Vanessa Armstrong

[ProgressingAmerica]

The American Revolution is shrouded in myth. But the war that created the United States was much more than the oft-told tales of the founding fathers. It was a bloody, gritty affair, a tragic civil war and a global conflict as much as it was a war for independence.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: americanhistory; pbs

[FLT-bird]

I’m guessing this will be just as one sided a propaganda piece as his civil war documentary.

[DPMD]

So will we learn from Burns that it was all about racism? Again?

[ProgressingAmerica]

"I’m guessing this will be just as one sided a propaganda piece as his civil war documentary."

Correct. This is reasonable.

Other than our reliable Larry Schweikart, American historians are not to be trusted. This is why I have embarked on a long-term effort to revive the works of dead historians as free open source audio books. It will essentially pit old truth telling historians against the new historians, but the old historians will surely win. They use all of the original sources, not just the selected convenient documents.

Old historians such as Richard Frothingham Jr., Joel T. Headley, Benson Lossing, Mercy Otis Warren, and many others did some amazing(even if at times flawed) work that does not lead us astray into the realm of being hateful and vengeance-seeking against our own country for the ultimate mistake of founding the United States.

Where we are currently is a dozen and more like dozens of biographies and historical works revived as easy to consume audio that can be freely(unlimited) given away again and again to help people understand the America that has been stolen from us. It wasn't mistakenly (whoopsie!) forgotten like I forgot my car keys in the other room. It was viciously, maliciously stolen.

See keyword "freeperbookclub" for all of the works thus completed so far.

https://freerepublic.com/tag/freeperbookclub/index?tab=articles

The roster of works I have partially completed is a very strong one, I'm looking forward to announcing their final in the future.

[sauropod]

I’m sure.

[Pontiac]

Ken will explain to us that the real driving force of the American Revolution was strong noble black men.

and Betsy Ross was a Black woman.

[1Old Pro]

Ken will explain to us that the real driving force of the American Revolution was strong noble black men.

And a deep hatred for the founding Fathers

[Fledermaus]

What a brutal takedown of Burns style.

NASSA...funny

[dfwgator]

“It was a different time, you understand...1957 or 1958.”

RIP “Buffalo Butt”

[Antoninus]

Honestly, based on the article, it sounds pretty damned interesting to me. I’ll watch it.

[Antoninus]

There was a little girl, Betsy Ambler, who was a character that we added in as we were making the film, because we thought, “Oh, we need a child’s voice.” ...

She's not a made up character. Include the note that followed to put this in perspective:

"[Editor’s note: Born in Yorktown, Virginia, in 1765, Elizabeth Jaquelin Ambler, better known as “Betsy,” moved to Richmond with her family during the Revolution. She left behind a trove of letters detailing the hardships posed by the war.] We had one quote from her, and then we were like, “Oh, she’s terrific. Can we really pepper her in through the whole show?”

[rlmorel]

I have never appreciated anything about Ken Burns. He is a Leftist, and views everything through a Leftist prism.

[Antoninus]

That's a worthy endeavor. Thanks for providing the link!

You should add some Francis Parkman as well.

[rlmorel]

My wife brought me home a video from the local library, a PBS NOVA video on “Weapons of The Revolutionary War”.

So I watched it. It was mildly interesting, nothing I didn’t know, and then at some point into it they pivoted onto slavery.

People like Ken Burns cannot help themselves.

[bert]

In which colony were the most battles of the American Revolution fought?

[Karliner]

Will this be a Hoawrd Zinn view?

[Twotone]

I’m reading “American Insurgents/American Patriots” by T.H. Breen. The story is about the people of the time & how they were ginning up for rebellion, actually getting ahead of our Founders to break ties with England. A very interesting read. I won’t bother to watch anything from Burns.

[ProgressingAmerica]

Luckily there already is some!

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4352373/posts

Thank you for the recommendation, is there a specific Parkman book you would look for?

[Albion Wilde]

“...Narrated by prominent actors, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Samuel L. Jackson...’

Nixed any idea of watching this mess at that point in the article.

[Pontiac]

Other than our reliable Larry Schweikart, American historians are not to be trusted.

You might check out Dr. Kevin Gutzman

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Ken Burns has always been a baby faced twink with a bowl haircut. Lindsey Graham and he
are cut from the same cloth: aging out twinks, who look old, sad, and pathetic. Burns no longer looks
"boyish". He looks like Chester the Molester, always picking scabs and chancres off his penis.
Yep, a coal burner too.