The Revolution that changed the world was born right here in the Delaware Valley, in the muddy crossroads of Chester County, the meeting houses of Germantown, and the narrow streets of Philadelphia.

This month, PBS premieres The American Revolution, a sweeping six-part, 12-hour documentary directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, and written by Geoffrey Ward.

Over six consecutive evenings, the series traces how Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley became the beating heart of a new idea: that people could govern themselves.

It’s a story that still echoes from Valley Forge to Independence Hall, from the Brandywine to the Schuylkill to the Delaware.

A New Lens on America’s Founding

Burns and his longtime collaborators, the team behind The Civil War and Vietnam, revisit the familiar touchstones, including Lexington, Trenton, Saratoga, and Yorktown, but through a deeply local lens.

Philadelphia, then the largest and most cosmopolitan city in North America, emerges in Burns’ docuseries as both the American Revolution’s nerve center and its moral testing ground.

Backed by The Better Angels Society, Bank of America, and The Pew Charitable Trusts, The American Revolution restores context to a war that was global in scope but profoundly rooted in places we know.

The Delaware Valley’s Role Across Six Episodes

Across all six episodes, The American Revolution unfolds through the very landscapes and landmarks of the Delaware Valley, reminding us that the fight for independence wasn’t fought in some distant land, but in our streets, fields, and meeting halls we still walk today.

Here’s how the docuseries traces that journey across six powerful episodes, each revealing how our region helped turn rebellion into a nation.

Episode One (Sunday, November 16^th) – “In Order to Be Free” (1754–1775)

Before shots were fired, ideas took root in Philadelphia’s taverns and print shops. From Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette to gatherings at the City Tavern, dissent brewed here long before the Tea Party in Boston.

Episode Two (Monday, November 17^th) – “An Asylum for Mankind” (1775–1776)

As the Continental Congress met inside Independence Hall, the air in Philadelphia crackled with risk. George Washington left his Virginia estate to lead the new army, but Philadelphia’s delegates gave the cause its voice through the Declaration of Independence.

Episode Three (Tuesday, November 18^th)  – “The Times That Try Men’s Souls” (1776–1777)

While Washington’s troops marched through New Jersey to surprise the Hessians at Trenton, Philadelphia citizens watched anxiously, knowing the fate of the Revolution and their city hung in the balance.

Episode Four (Wednesday, November 19^th)  – “Conquer by a Drawn Game” (1777–1778)

British troops swept through the Brandywine Valley and occupied Philadelphia. Congress fled west to Lancaster and York, while the Delaware Valley endured the war’s chaos firsthand.

Episode Five (Thursday, November 20^th)  – “The Soul of All America” (1777–1780)

Out at Valley Forge, just twenty miles from Independence Hall, Washington’s starving, barefoot army endured a winter that forged something stronger than muskets: resolve. When spring came, they marched toward Monmouth as a nation reborn.

Episode Six (Friday, November 21^st)  – “The Most Sacred Thing” (1780–Onward)

Even after victory at Yorktown, Philadelphia remained the Revolution’s conscience, the city where the ideals of independence were tested, debated, and eventually enshrined in a Constitution.

Set Aside Time to Watch Ken Burns Bring America’s Revolution Home

As the story of our nation’s birth returns to the screen, The American Revolution offers more than history. The docuseries reminds us that freedom was argued, fought for, and ultimately secured right here, in the heart of the Delaware Valley.

So mark your calendars now. Clear time each evening from Sunday, November 16^th, through Friday, the 21^st to watch this extraordinary docuseries on PBS.

Because the story of America didn’t just begin here it endures here still, in the spirit, grit, and promise of the place we call home.