The outcome of the American Revolution was never a sure thing. The ideas, resources, individuals, colonial governments, enemies, and allies were all perched on the shaky ground of uncertain times. But in the midst the shifting sands, a band of revolutionaries persevered.
Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter who brought the TV show "West Wing" to life, wrote this line for the fictional president, Josiah Bartlett (played by Martin Sheen), “'We hold these truths to be self-evident,' they said. 'That all men are created equal.' Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up."
The American Revolution was a full contact process for those who decided to show up. The heart, mind and body of a continent was engaged in working out an idea. They were asking, "What does it mean, practically, to be free and equal?" So minute-by-minute was this process that even the people closest to the action had to check in and assess the status of this experiment.
My favorite story highlighting this "moment-by-moment" reality is found in Jame McHenry's journal. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention from Maryland and he documented a small moment between Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Powell, an influential woman in Philadelphia. McHenry's journal recounts this interaction between them as Franklin was leaving the meeting, "A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what have we got a republic or a monarchy - A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it."
That the question was still up for debate shows how precarious the outcome was. That Franklin hedged his answer shows how hard he thought it would be to follow through on their decision.
I just finished watching Ken Burn's new documentary on the American Revolution. It is six episodes and twelve hours. While that isn't near long enough to cover almost a decade of revolution, it is still a huge amount of content. If you've watched Burn's other work, this is on par with his best. The cinematography is powerful; even though he had no footage of the events to work with! The music is both haunting, beautiful and inspiring. Yo-Yo Ma lends his skills to the effort and there are many other wonderful artists that I'm just getting to know. Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson both participated by voicing different parts of the storytelling. The twelve hours go quickly as you get wrapped up in the story behind the story.
And that is what Ken Burns excels at. In his interview with Russell Moore, he mentions a sign in his studio that says, "It's Complicated." Burns leans into the complex and isn't scared by it. His telling is honest, well-researched, and generous. He lets you meet and get to know these idealistic, persistent, complicated, flawed, and courageous characters that participate in this piece of history. If you are looking for a version of the story without controversy, that simply glorifies our past, this won't meet those expectations. Instead, Burn's tackles a few different complexities of my country's origin story that are essential to understanding its history, present and future. But he doesn't approach the complexities with an agenda to impose. Instead, he uncovers the complexities, lets you sit with them, and challenges you to think about what happened then and what that means for us today.
Let me highlight four of these important topics:
- Astonishing Perseverance: Over and over, we see how Washington and the patriots persevered against all odds. They had little money, food, equipment, and clothing. But they kept engaging the British with great bravery, losing most of the time, and escaping to fight another day. Burns highlights what they realized early on: that the British had to win but the colonists simply had to push through and stay alive. The level of sacrifice is hard to comprehend. They lost property, family, community, years of their lives, and some their very lives. Each colony was so different and saw themselves as separate entities with their own values, priorities, and prejudices. Beyond all expectation, they set aside those differences to collaborate and compromise. The compromise of a republic with both central and local authority preserved is a gigantic feet of social imagination.
- Who Lost the Most: Throughout the documentary, Burns intentionally weaves in the thinking, actions, and alliances of America's original settlers: the Native American tribes. We hear from them directly, get a glimpse into their decisions to fight with the British or Americans. We see that they were left out of the final deliberations and decisions about the future of the continent. It is a hard reality to sit with. Many of them fought with the Americans and, in the end, got no reward for their sacrifice. My country has to live with this great injustice and ask ourselves how we should live today as a result of all that has happened.
- A Civil War: While most Americans know that some colonists supported the British as loyalists, the level of divisions within the colonies is not well understood. Burns brings out the reality that, in many ways, we have suffered through two civil wars instead of one. The Revolutionary War pitted neighbor against neighbor in vicious fighting, reprisals, looting, and loss of life. It is impossible after watching Burn's telling to walk away without a realization that the new nation that was birthed was a hurting and divided place from the very first day of independence.
- America's Original Sin: Slavery did not begin in the colonies, but it found fertile ground there. In a letter to Lafayette, James Madison described the reality of slavery in America as, "the dreadful fruitfulness of the original sin of the African trade." Burns invests significant time in exploring how slaves felt about the revolution, their response to British offers of freedom, and the patriot's approach to both free and enslaved people. Through their own words, we hear about the suffering they endured, the way the British used them as pawns to create instability by offering freedom to those who would escape, and their desire to have the very freedoms that the new country was being built upon. While much of it is sobering, the bravery of the Black soldiers who fought for the cause of freedom was inspiring. America's inability to set aside financial gain for the principles it espoused on paper has to be one of its great failings.
Whatever your greatest takeaways are, the entire project brings home the reality that America's revolution was a world-wide turning point. It was the moment for something new; a new way for people to live, work and govern together. That momentous realization helps the viewer to take seriously the implications of what happened in that fateful decade. It also helps foster in us a deep sense of gratefulness to those who sacrificed so much for this great experiment. While complicated, it is a worthy pursuit.
And that pursuit had real costs that propel forward our continued efforts at liberty and equality. As Washington said to his frustrated soldiers towards the end of the war, "Gentlemen, You will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown grey, but almost blind in the service of my country."
Comments