THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a new six-part, 12-hour documentary directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt examines how America’s founding turned the world upside-down. Premiering Sunday, November 16, at 7pm on Prairie Public.
📅 Sunday, November 2
As part of the ND250 Kickoff Event, Prairie Public will host free preview screenings of the upcoming PBS documentary series The American Revolution at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.
📅 Monday, November 10
Test your knowledge about the Hamilton musical, its source material, and American history, all in one trivia event!
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 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.
An expansive look at the virtues and contradictions of the war and the birth of the United States of America, the film follows dozens of figures from a wide variety of backgrounds. Through their individual stories, viewers experience the war through the memories of the men and women who experienced it: the rank-and-file Continental soldiers and 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, and various civilians living in North America, Loyalist as well as Patriot, including many made refugees by the war.
The Revolution began a movement for people around the world to imagine new and better futures for themselves, their nations, and for humanity. It declared American independence with promises that we continue to strive.
TUNE IN
The six-part series airs Sunday, November 16 through Friday, November 21, from 7-9pm each night.
In advance of the premiere of THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, see PBS classroom resources drawing on content from the film.
The full collection will feature more than 35 resources examining how thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures.
(Grades 6-8, 9-12)