In Order to Be Free (May 1754 – May 1775)

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Ep1 | Political protest escalates into violence. War gives thirteen colonies a common ca

An Asylum for Mankind (May 1775 – July 1776)

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Ep2 | Washington takes command of the Continental Army. Congress declares American independence. (2h 4m 18s)

The Times That Try Men's Souls (July 1776 – January 1777)

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Ep3 | Washington abandons New York City and flees across New Jersey, before attacking

Conquer by a Drawn Game (January 1777 – February 1778)

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Ep4 | Philadelphia falls, but the American victory at Saratoga allows France to enter the war. (1h 55m 38s)

The Soul of All America (December 1777 – May 1780)

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Ep5 | The war drags on and moves to new theaters: at sea, in Indian Country, and in t

The Most Sacred Thing (May 1780 – Onward)

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Ep6 | Victory at Yorktown secures independence. Americans aspire for a more perfect union. (2h 10m 41s)

The American Revolution documentary may be streamed for free (links provided below)

Commentary by G. Edward Griffin:

The recent PBS broadcast of Ken Burns' documentary on the American Revolution surprised me in several ways. I have long been impressed by the panning and zooming techniques pioneered by Burns for historic photographs, and also for his poignant narratives. However, since this documentary was funded by establishment enterprises, I expected the story line might be tilted and scrubbed so as to present the Founding Fathers as money-grubbing scoundrels and racists, a theme the establishment currently favors.

I was relieved to find that, although there definitely was a bit of that in the narrative, overall, it appeared to me to be essentially accurate – the only serious exceptions being:

(1) Failure to include the fact that slaves in the colonies were, first, slaves in Africa – enslaved and sold to white European slave traders by black African slave traders. In other words, slavery, as pernicious as it was in the colonies – and in many other parts of the world – is based on industrial and agricultural profit margins and the quest for cheap labor but has little to do with race or racism. This, of course in no way erases the inhumanity of slavery, but it does cast light on the erroneous belief that slavery and racism were synonymous.

(2) Perpetuation of the myth that America was established as a Democracy when, in fact, the Founders made it clear that it was a Republic and, furthermore, that a Democracy was a repugnant and dangerous form of government. Early in the program Burns did mention that the Founders were critical of Democracies because they inevitably become dictatorships but, nevertheless, from that point forward, he referred to the new nation as a Democracy.