McBurney Recommendation: Ken Burns to Make Documentary on American Revolution . . . with a Catch
The
current time could be described as a golden age for books on the
American Revolution. Nathaniel Philbrick did a three-part series of
books on the Revolutionary War and is doing another on travel. Rick
Atkinson finished this first of three books on the war. Dozens of books
on the topic are appearing each year, many very fine efforts. Now
legendary documentarian Ken Burns, who vaulted to fame with his
multi-part “Civil War” documentary, has announced he is doing a
five-part documentary series on the American Revolution.
Here is the summary on Burns’s website:
The
American Revolution, our five-part, ten-hour series on America’s
founding struggle, will present a true-to-life account of the men and
women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and
defeat, and the crisis that tried their souls. By weaving top-down
accounts of “Founding Fathers” and their loyalist and British
counterparts with the perspectives of the so-called ordinary people who
waged and witnessed war, The American Revolution will be an expansive,
unvarnished look at the unassailable virtues and unavoidable
contradictions of the fight for independence and the birth of the United
States.
Directed and executive produced by Ken Burns, written
by Geoffrey C. Ward, and produced by Sarah Botstein, David Schmidt, and
Ken Burns, The American Revolution is slated for broadcast on PBS in
2025.
Yes, that is the one catch—you can’t watch it until 2025.
That is planning ahead Ken, big time! Excellence takes time. But this is
an exciting development.
Burns appeared on the “Finding Your
Roots” genealogy show on PBS by Henry Louis Gates, whose team found that
Burns had descendants on both sides of the Revolutionary War. He had a
Massachusetts relative, Eldad Tupper, who was a Loyalist, served on a
British war ship, reached the rank of lieutenant, and moved to
British-held Canada (Nova Scotia) at war’s end. Ken claimed that as a
true Patriot, he was very embarrassed about that. In any event, he
remains an American jewel. (I recall Tupper in some of my research on
southeastern Massachusetts. He served as a “pilot” guiding Royal Navy
ships through treacherous shoals around Nantucket and may also have
pointed out the homes of Patriots for raids).
McBurney Jan 2021 Column: Yesterday’s Sacking of the U. S. Capitol and Revolutionary War Artifacts
Many words can be used to describe the assault and invasion of the U.S. Capitol yesterday. How about as a start: disgraceful, embarrassing, sad. This was the first time the U.S. Capitol has been invaded and sacked since British soldiers did it in 1814. This second time, it was by U.S. citizens.
A lot can be said of it, but since I am writing in my capacity as officer of the DC ARRT, I will keep my thoughts to the American Revolution.
I hope no American Revolution artifacts were destroyed or damaged yesterday. The rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, of course, has four amazing and large paintings by artist John Trumbull: The Declaration of Independence, the Surrender of General Burgoyne (at the Battle of Saratoga), the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis (at Saratoga), and General George Washington Resigning His Commission to Congress. They are true national treasures. I did not see any damage to them and hope that was the case.
The Capitol Dome has a spectacular painting by Constantino Brumidi called The Apotheosis of Washington. I had the privilege of once being on a tour with a Senator and walking at the top of the dome, inside where I could see this painting close up, and outside as well, with a 360-degree view of Washington, D.C. It would have been difficult for rioters to have damaged this painting, but I did see some nutcases climbing walls.
The rotunda also has statues of George Washington, by Antoine Houdon, and Thomas Jefferson, as well as a sculpture of Alexander Hamilton.
Of course, the National Statutory Hall collection has statues of American Revolution heroes spread throughout the capitol building. Many are in the crypt and could easily have been damaged. They includes statues of: Sam Adams, Charles Carroll, Nathanael Greene, Caesar Rodney, Roger Sherman, and Jonathan Trumbull (John’s father, governor of Connecticut, and a true Patriot).
The U.S. Senate has a George Washington Memorial Window and a sketch of the Signing of the First Treaty of Peace with Great Britain, in Paris, again by Brumidi.
Of course, there is so much more. Two of my favorite places are the Old Supreme Court Chamber, where John Marshall once held sway, and the Old Senate Chamber, where Webster, Clay and Calhoun made their speeches.
The rioters did not seem particularly interested in damaging historical artifacts. Hopefully, they were too awed to do any damage (except for Russian agents who likely used the opportunity to rummage through top security files). Time will tell if there was any damage or destruction to our country’s priceless artifacts.
I fear that a large iron fence will have to be built now around the U. S. Capitol, as there is around the White House. This had been avoided in the past, but now there may be a call for it.
Best,
- Christian McBurney
Christian.McBurney@arentfox.com
