Liberty! The American Revolution

"Liberty! The American Revolution" is about as good a series on the American Revolution as you can find and it not only is about what led to the war as well as the war but also the period AFTER the war when the Colonies were 13 independent nations in need of a stronger central government. How this led to the Constitution is discussed in the final episode. Exceptional production values, nice historical re-creations and an interesting script make this one to watch. As a retired history teacher, I found very little to complain about except in episode five--which made it sound as if the Colonies BEAT the British. This is a misconception. The British cut their losses and left the Colonies because they were involved in a world war with France, Spain AND Holland--so the Colonies ALONE were not victorious--it was clearly a group effort. Well worth seeing--and it's not too surprising since it's from PBS video--and those folks seem to make one amazing documentary after another.

Around 4/5ths of this documentary is great. It really goes into the roots of why things happen, and is presented very clearly.

However, the other fifth of the time are segments with actors dressing up as historical figures and reading out things they had written. The acting is so incredibly awful, and just comes across as corny. Thus, it really takes away from the seriousness of the rest of the documentary. It is so bad that I just have to fast forward all those sections.

An excellent series, absolutely riveting - bought it on DVD and saw it in two sittings. I could write miles of praise about this documentary-in-the-best-sense-of-the-word, basically based on contemporary documentation, but I will add one tiny speck of criticism; in the last-but-one episode, we almost get the impression that the British campaign in the South was supposed to lash out at the institution of slavery (there is some reference to the "All men are created equal" phrase in the Declaration of Independence being hypocritical), but of course the British could not have minded slavery in 1781 since they themselves would not abolish it for another fifty-two years. At the very end of the series, Dr. Pauline Meier puts forth a very interesting thought: that the world tends to forget its heritage from the American revolution simply because - unlike the French revolution and the Russian revolution - it succeeded. When all is said and done, this is the revolution that launched world democracy.

This is a six-hour program that starts out with such abrasive things like the stamp act of 1765. It covers well-known events and some not so well-known events. This presentation takes you beyond high school romantic history with heroes and heroic deeds that rival the Iliad. We can see some of the underlying motives and accidents that brought about our revolution. We are carried to the very edge of the creation of the Declaration of independents, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The film is presented by major historians (I have to admit I never saw one or two of them before) but I do have a copy of "The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States" with an Introduction by Pauline Maier and it was interesting to see her as a presenter in this series. There are great deals of actors that quote actual letters and statements from historical figures; it almost becomes a game on the side trying to guess where you saw the actor before.

We get maps and diagrams to help follow the action. But it is the actual view of the countryside that can be so beautiful that it can take your breath away.

There is a companion book to this presentation and it goes into more depth. However, I do not think the book could do the justice or hold the attention that this 6-part series can , The Reluctant Revolutionaries: 1763-1774 Blows Must Decide: 1774-1776 The Times That Try Men's Souls: 1776-1777 Oh, Fatal Ambition: 1777-1778 The World Turned Upside Down: 1778-1783 Are We to Be a Nation? 1783-1788

Some of the bonus items on the DVD is: "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier" Music Traditional Arranged by James Taylor and Mark O'Connor Produced by Mark O'Connor Performed by Mark O'Connor (violin), James Taylor (vocals, guitar), John Jarvis (keyboards), Russ Barenberg (guitar), John Mock (pennywhistle, low whistle), Glenn Worf (bass) and Eddie Bayers (percussion)

This documentary features actors speaking the words of long-dead people, from Abigail Adams to King George III to Hessian mercenaries. The result is a multi-faceted view of the American Revolution. I use part of this program to teach the Revolution in my college courses for this reason. Since this is a U.S. production, the bias is pro-Revolution. I do not mind this, since my side won that war. I appreciate, however, the honest discussion of the key contradiction of the Revolution--the maintenance of slavery as part of the struggle for independence. Our founders were people, not demigods.

I will correct another commenter on this website. King George III actually spoke flawless English, as the actor who portrays him does. The monarch's great-grandfather (George I) spoke German. George II, grandfather of George III, spoke English as a second language. George III, however, took pride in speaking excellent English.