What Ken Burns learned by making 'The American Revolution'

"After a decade in development, legendary documentarian Ken Burns is set to release his long-awaited series, The American Revolution. In the lead up to the premiere, Burns shares key lessons he gleaned from the founding of the United States-and the parallels between the revolutionary era and today. He also reflects on his admiration for Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton, and the obstacles he faces in his ongoing quest for truth."

"I've been working on this for almost 10 years. I started this, and I said yes to this project in December of 2015. Barack Obama still had 13 months to go in his presidency. What drew me to the Civil War was organic and interior to my choices. I was looking at a map, a kind of 3D map, where I suddenly saw an arrow of British moving west through Long Island towards Brooklyn. This little, tiny town of Brooklyn, which is the largest battle in the entire revolution."

Ken Burns produced a six-part series titled The American Revolution after nearly ten years of work, beginning in December 2015. The project emphasizes spatial and tactical details, including a renewed focus on the Battle of Brooklyn as a pivotal engagement. The series uses reenactments to convey weather, heat, cold, locations, and interiors to create visceral context for viewers. Production timing aimed to align with the 250th anniversary of Lexington and Concord in 2025. The project surfaces lessons from the founding era, highlights parallels with contemporary dynamics, and confronts challenges in accurately presenting historical truth.

Read at Fast Company