The Opinions Ken Burns on America’s Next Story
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Sep 29, 2025 
Ken Burns, a celebrated documentary filmmaker known for his profound explorations of American history, discusses his new project on the American Revolution. He delves into the mixed motives behind the revolutionaries and how Enlightenment ideals fueled their movement. Burns examines the complexities of America’s founding, balancing inspiration with historical injustices. He warns that increasing executive power presents a significant threat to democracy today and emphasizes the need for a nuanced, nonpartisan origin story to foster unity.
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Practical Motives Met Enlightenment Ideas
- The Revolution combined self-interest (land, taxes) with Enlightenment ideas to justify rebellion.
- Liberty talk escalated a political dispute into a broad argument about natural rights that inspired many beyond elites.
Democracy As An Unintended Consequence
- Democracy was not the original intent of the Revolution but an unintended consequence of needing broad support.
- Non-property owners, immigrants, and others who stayed in hard times became central to making the new order possible.
Hold Ideals And Hypocrisy Together
- The Revolution's inspiring ideals coexisted with stark hypocrisies like slavery and mistreatment of Native peoples.
- Burns argues you must hold both truths: the ideals' power and the era's moral failures.