Patriot Acts

Ken Burns’s The American Revolution—a six-part, 12-hour, $30 million film now airing on PBS—is sure to shape the way much of the public views our nation’s founding for years and even decades to come. The task is mammoth: to document the bloody and complicated six-year war that birthed the United States. Coming on the eve of the 250th anniversary of that founding, this is clearly a unique opportunity to set aside stale legends for a richer and more compelling tale of how our nation was made, drawing on new scholarship that has unearthed fresh tales and chipped away at old assumptions. Burns should get credit for including the voices of many women, African Americans, and Indigenous peoples, so long ignored. In many instances, however, the filmmaker and his team have failed to get their facts straight, while clinging to outdated narratives that betray a partisan favoritism. This may be good storytelling, but it’s bad history.