Why You Should Drop Everything and Watch Ken Burns’  The American Revolution

I’ll admit it: I pressed play thinking I’d casually watch twenty minutes before bed.

Three hours later I was still on the couch, emotionally attached to men in powdered wigs, furious at British tax policies, and whispering “Give me liberty or give me sleep.”

Ken Burns. Every. Time.

PBS’s The American Revolution isn’t just a documentary — it’s a national memory jog, a war story, a heartbreak opera, and a reminder that this country was born out of chaos, desperation, strategy, luck…and a whole lot of personalities who would have absolutely torched each other on modern social media.

If you love American history even a little — or if you’re just tired of today’s insanity and want to remember how loud we’ve always been — this series deserves a front-row seat in your living room.

It’s Not Just Redcoats vs. Patriots

This isn’t your middle-school textbook version of the Revolution where “we dumped tea and suddenly won freedom.”

Burns shows the uncomfortable truth:

📌 The colonies weren’t united.

📌 Many Americans were loyal to the British Crown.

📌 Neighbors turned on neighbors.

📌 Families were divided.

📌 And the outcome wasn’t guaranteed until the bitter, freezing, unbelievable end.

This was a civil war tangled inside a revolution tangled inside a global conflict.

France, Spain, Indigenous nations, enslaved people, women, and immigrants played far bigger roles than most of us ever learned.

And Burns gives them their due without oversimplifying or sanitizing anything.

Things Most People Don’t Know About the American Revolution

Here are a few mind-blowing details the documentary brings to life — the kind of facts that make you lean forward and say, Wait… WHAT?

1. Most Colonists Did Not Support Independence at First

We love to think everyone was shouting “Down with the Crown!” from day one. They weren’t.

Only about one-third of colonists actively supported independence.

Another third opposed it.

And the rest were… trying to survive and avoid getting shot.

It wasn’t a united front. It was a messy, risky, deeply controversial gamble.

2. Washington Almost Lost Everything — A Lot

We celebrate George Washington now like he was destined to win.

Not even close.

The Continental Army was often:

• Undersupplied

• Underpaid

• Underfed

• Deserting

• Freezing

• On the edge of total collapse

At several points, Washington lost nearly all his trained soldiers — and had to rebuild from scratch.

The miracle wasn’t that he won…

The miracle is that he didn’t give up.

3. France Didn’t Help Because They Loved Freedom

France didn’t swoop in out of love for democracy.

They helped because they hated Britain and wanted revenge for past wars.

Without French money, ships, weapons, and troops — America would not exist as we know it.

Full stop.

Yorktown?

French navy.

Guns and gold?

French funding.

We like to call it destiny.

It was also international politics.

4. The Revolution Was Brutal at the Local Level

In many towns, this wasn’t polished battlefields with drums and flags.

It was neighbor vs. neighbor.

Homes were burned.

Property was seized.

People were forced to declare loyalty at gunpoint.

In some cases, loyalists were tarred, feathered, banished, and had everything taken away.

This wasn’t just a glamorous founding.

It was raw, terrifying, and deeply personal.

5. Thousands of Enslaved People Fought for Their Own Freedom

Both sides promised freedom to enslaved people if they fought for them.

Many fled plantations and joined British forces because Britain offered a clearer path to freedom early on.

The very nation founded on liberty was, at the same time, safeguarding slavery.

Burns does not dodge this contradiction — and thank God for that.

Why This Matters Right Now

Watching this series doesn’t just teach history.

It reminds us of something vital:

This country was born out of argument, protest, chaos, sacrifice, contradictions, and extremely opinionated people who disagreed passionately about what “freedom” even meant.

Sound familiar?

The American Revolution wasn’t neat.

It wasn’t polite.

And it sure wasn’t unanimous.

It was brave, flawed, complicated, contradictory, hopeful, and unfinished.

Just like us.

Final Verdict

If you’re watching already — keep going.

If you haven’t started — put the remote down and do it immediately.

If you binge it in one weekend and start arguing with Thomas Paine in your living room — you’re doing it right.

Ken Burns doesn’t just show us history.

He reminds us we’re still living inside it.

Julie Bolejack, MBA

JulieBolejack.com

mindfulactivist.etsy.com