PROVIDENCE –
Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns joined state officials on Smith Hill Thursday as part of a national tour to promote his upcoming PBS documentary, “The American Revolution.”
Joined by Gov. Daniel J. McKee and Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore, Burns presented a 15-minute preview of the 12-hour PBS series. The series was directed and produced by Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, with writing contributions from longtime collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward.
McKee, who said he met Burns in January and discussed a potential visit, said it was important to "share Rhode Island's story."
"Rhode Island was central to the founding," McKee said.
Providence is one of only 30 markets that the documentary team selected to visit.
As a state known for many firsts, Rhode Island was among the first and most fervent colonies to resist British rule, calling for a Continental Congress in 1774, and in 1776 became the first colony to eliminate an oath of allegiance to the British crown.
Taking place before the Boston Tea Party, the attack on the British Royal Navy's HMS Gaspee is still celebrated in Rhode Island as the defining act of rebellion responsible for leading American colonies to call for the establishment of a Continental Congress.
Comparing it to the local debate between residents of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, Burns said it's always a matter of addition and subtraction.
"We've tried to be diplomatic and to understand that a lot of different things contributed to the beginning of our revolution," he said. "You could go back to the Indian War, the Quebec Act, the burning of the Gaspee, the Boston Tea Party or the Boston Massacre. But let's just say that together, we share a passionate love of liberty and freedom and created the first government of earth dedicated to those principals."
But those who argue that Rhode Island – which Burns said played "an outsized role" in the creation of the republic – hasn't gotten its due in the historical debate, should not be disappointed.
"It's in there," Burns said of the Gaspee and Rhode Island's prominent role in the nation's birth.
Reflecting on the 250 years since the revolution began, Burns said the aim of his latest project, which will premier on Nov. 16, was to move beyond much of the nostalgia and mythology surrounding the conflict.
Before a screening of excerpts from the 10-part series in front of portraits of Nathanial Greene and George Washington, Amore said that sometimes it takes films and other art forms to find common ground when politics fails.
"This film has the potential to be a unifying force in this divisive time," he said.
Burns said the team spent more than a decade compiling extensive material and filming reenactment scenes across nearly 100 locations, incorporating first-person accounts from nearly 200 historical figures and insights from an advisory board of about two dozen historians.
Asked if he uncovered any undiscovered historical documents during the 10 years of research, interviewing and filming, Burns said the project was more about connecting the dots.
"Ninety-nine percent of colonists didn't have their portrait painted," he said. "But that does not mean they didn't exist. So we have to find other ways. And sometimes, sadly, it's just a gravestone."
(SUBS 11th paragraph to note Gaspee's inclusion in documentary.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com. Veer Mudambi is the PBN special sections editor. You may contact him at Mudambi@PBN.com.
