• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 18, 2025

A brief clip and newly posted photos provide a tantalizing glimpse at Ken Burns’ sprawling documentary series on the Revolutionary War coming this fall.

The big question about this series was how Burns would depict a period in history long before the advent of photography and motion pictures.

The materials released this week give the answer. They serve as a reminder that every age has its own form of visual media, and the Revolutionary War period was no exception.

Judging from the clip and photos from the series, Burns and his team took a very deep dive into multiple repositories of documents, maps, engravings and paintings that will be seen throughout the series. 

Titled “The American Revolution,” the series is a 12-hour series with two episodes airing for each of six consecutive nights starting Sunday, November 16, on PBS. It is directed by Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt.

The materials released this week -- both on PBS.org and the PBS press site set up for journalists -- show a variety of imagery, some contemporary to the Revolution and some created years later.

For example, one of the paintings used in the series is “Battle of Bunker Hill,” painted by Alonzo Chappel in 1859. The famed Boston battle took place in June 1775. 

Another Chappel painting, “Battle of Long Island,” dates to 1860. The battle was fought in August 1777.

Paintings made closer to the Revolutionary War period include “The Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga” painted by John Trumbull in 1821, and the famed “Declaration of Independence” painting, depicting the signing of the Declaration in July 1776 that Trumbull painted in 1818.

While these were created some years after the events they depict, Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre (photo above) was created in 1770 not long after the incident in March of that year.

The Boston Massacre is the subject of the 44-second clip of “The American Revolution” now available to view on PBS.org.  

The clip reveals that at least some of the documentary will depict some events with the use of filmed re-creations. In addition, there are several images in the clips that are paintings of the incident. 

It is no coincidence that PBS released and posted the first promo for “The American Revolution” just days before the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the start of the war on Saturday. The war started on April 19, 1775, in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts.

In a prepared statement, Ken Burns said: “The American Revolution is one of the most important events in human history.” 

“We went from being subjects to inventing a new concept, citizens, and set in motion democratic revolutions around the globe. As we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding, I’m hopeful that people throughout the country will come together to discuss the importance of this history and to appreciate even more what our ancestors did to secure our liberty and freedoms.”