Ken Burns’ Revolutionary War Series

Last night, the final episode of Ken Burns’ PBS series aired. I had the opportunity to watch each segment throughout the week.

I had posted about this a week ago, and was very hopeful this would turn out to be a good series that would arouse gratitude and patriotism. That turned out not to be the case.

The best aspects of the series are the descriptions of the various battles, troop movements and strategies. The story-telling in this regard was excellent; and Burns is proficient at his craft. It graphically described the enormous hardship and adversity faced by the men fighting this war.

The Battle of Guilford Courthouse was even described briefly during the final episode.

However, the propagandizing throughout the series was awful. Burns unfortunately adopted a Critical Theory/ DEI approach to story-telling. There was enormous over-emphasis on African-Americans, slavery and Native Americans, way beyond their contributions or significance to the story line. There were repeated, periodic attempts to invoke shame and guilt over slavery. It became a pervasive theme.

In fact, Burns early in the series attempted to float the premise that the Americans borrowed the system of government they adopted from the Native Americans!

George Washington was treated shabbily by Burns. He was represented to be a selfish man whose primary concern was maintaining slavery.

Burns also attempted to shine a spotlight on various violent acts taken by the colonists and rebels.

As result of all of these emphases, Burns almost seemed to suggest there was somehow moral equivalence between the rebels and the British.

We are therefore left with a dilemma. Portions of the documentary were excellent. But other portions were abysmal.

It makes me glad PBS was defunded by Congress. Ken Burns has been feeding at the taxpayers’ trough for many years. At least there will be no new taxpayer money.