Liberty! The American Revolution

Season

1997

USA

8.5

Six-hour documentary about the American Revolution, from the approval of the Stamp Act (1765) to the ratification of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights (1789).

Episode List

The Reluctant Revolutionaries: 1763-1774

S1 • E1

The Reluctant Revolutionaries: 1763-1774

Introduction of the major players, life as British colonists, the Stamp Act, The Declaratory Act, the Boston Massacre, taxation without representation, The Boston Tea Party.

S1 • E2

Blows Must Decide: 1774-1776

The Coersive/Intolerable Acts, military reinforcement of Boston, the first Continental Congress, the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, loyalists and the Olive Branch Petition, Common Sense, The Declaration of Independence

The Times That Try Men's Souls: 1776-1777

S1 • E3

The Times That Try Men's Souls: 1776-1777

The British army arrives under General Howe, Washington's formation of an American army, division of colonies as patriot or loyalist, the defense of New York, fall of New Jersey, The American Crisis, the crossing of the Delaware River and the Battle of Trenton.

S1 • E4

Oh, Fatal Ambition: 1777-1778

Benjamin Franklin appeals for French assistance, Gen. Burgoyne's incursion from the north and the fall of Fort Ticonderoga, the war in New England, the Battle of Brandywine Creek, the Battle of Saratoga and Burgoyne's surrender, America signs a treaty with the French.

S1 • E5

The World Turned Upside Down: 1778-1783

The French alliance, Gen. Clinton's campaign in the south, the siege of Charleston, Gen. Cornwallis's strategy to conquer the south, Benedict Arnold joins the British, French troops under Gen. Rochambeau reinforce Washington's army, Gen. Nathanael Greene reclaims the south, the Battle of Yorktown, the British surrender.

S1 • E6

Are We to Be a Nation? 1783-1788

Creating the new nation, Washington resigns his commission, Noah Webster standardizes American English, Shays' Rebellion, the Confederation Congress, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison envision a new system of government, the Constitution, Bill of Rights and formation of a central government.