The American Revolution
The American Revolution
Now Showing

The American Revolution

5.5
Yr 2025
Rt 713m
Status Ended
Documentary War & Politics
Series Brief

Overview

The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.

Why fans love it

This documentary frames the conflict as a multifaceted struggle involving neighbors and global empires, rather than a singular march toward victory. The series adopts a detached and introspective tone, pulling away from standard patriotic tropes to examine the Revolutionary War as a war of conquest and a civil war. It sits comfortably in a space that feels more apologetic than celebratory, preferring to linger on the internal friction of the era.

With narration from Peter Coyote, the production navigates the complexities of a fledgling nation emerging through blood and rebellion. It highlights an often embarrassed look at the past, focusing on the humanity of the individuals navigating a systemic crisis. By grounding grand historical shifts in individual crises, the series provides a grounded perspective on how thirteen colonies fractured reality to establish a republic that remains standing today.

Featured Players

Cast 61

Paul Giamatti
as John Adams (voice)
5 episodes
Peter Coyote
as Narrator (voice)
Josh Brolin
as George Washington (voice)
6 episodes
Ethan Hawke
as Anthony Wayne / John Andrews (voice)
4 episodes
Maya Hawke
as Betsy Ambler (voice)
5 episodes
Carolyn McCormick
as Hannah Griffiths / Hannah Winthrop / Esther Reed (voice)
4 episodes
Matthew Rhys
as Thomas Paine (voice)
5 episodes
Meryl Streep
as Mercy Otis Warren (voice)
3 episodes
Kenneth Branagh
as (voice)
6 episodes
Joe Morton
as Elisha Bostwick / Elias Dayton (voice)
3 episodes
Bill Camp
as (voice)
1 episode
Tantoo Cardinal
as (voice)
2 episodes
Wendell Pierce
as (voice)
1 episode
Morgan Freeman
as (voice)
1 episode
Adam Arkin
as James Parker / Ashbel Green / Andrew Hunter / Enoch Anderson / Timothy Dwight / Robert Morris (voice)
6 episodes
Josh Charles
as Joseph Warren / John Peters / David Ramsey (voice)
5 episodes
Hugh Dancy
as Hugh Percy / John Burgoyne / Banastre Tarleton / Comte de Vergennes (voice)
6 episodes
Claire Danes
as Abigail Adams (voice)
6 episodes
Marcus Davis-Orrom
as John Barker / William Bamford (voice)
2 episodes
Alden Ehrenreich
as Joseph Plumb Martin (voice)
5 episodes
Show all 61 cast
Craig Ferguson
as John Murray / John Jones / John Purrier / Martin Hunter / William Harcourt (voice)
5 episodes
Amanda Gorman
as Phillis Wheatley (voice)
2 episodes
Charlotte Hacke
as Friederike Riedesel / Hannah Davis / Lucy Knox / Martha Reeves (voice)
4 episodes
Tom Hanks
as (voice)
6 episodes
Samuel L. Jackson
as Caesar Sarter / Lemuel Haynes / Boston King (voice)
4 episodes
Joe Keery
as John Greenwood (voice)
4 episodes
Joel Kinnaman
as Samuel Seabury / Nils Collin / Thomas Hutchinson (voice)
2 episodes
Damian Lewis
as King George III / Nicholas Cresswell / John Andre / Bartholomew James (voice)
6 episodes
Laura Linney
as Sarah Logan Fisher / Sarah Morris Mifflin / Eliza Wilkinson / Eliza Lucas Pickney (voice)
5 episodes
Lindsay Mendez
as Catharine Macaulay / Mary M. Campbell (voice)
3 episodes
Tobias Menzies
as Edmund Burke / Ambrose Serle / Cornwallis / William Pitt (voice)
6 episodes
Edward Norton
as Benjamin Rush / Philip Vickers Fithian / Philip Schuyler (voice)
5 episodes
Mandy Patinkin
as Benjamin Franklin (voice)
3 episodes
Jon Proudstar
as Canassatego / Chainbreaker / Old Smoke / Shawnee Delegate (voice)
4 episodes
Liev Schreiber
as Samuel Adams / Nathaniel Greene / Lewis Beebe (voice)
6 episodes
Chaske Spencer
as Tsiyu Gansini / Shingas (voice)
3 episodes
Corbin Bleu
as John Joseph Henry / Daniel McCurtin / Nathaniel Bacheller / Isaac Jefferson (voice)
4 episodes
Jeff Daniels
as Thomas Jefferson (voice)
4 episodes
Bruce Davison
as (voice)
2 episodes
Domhnall Gleeson
as Loftus Cliffe / Roger Lamb / John MacPherson / John Bowater / William Barton (voice)
4 episodes
Michael Greyeyes
as Joseph Brant / Uhhaunauwaunmut (voice)
3 episodes
Josh Hutcherson
as James Potter Collins / Thomas Mellen / Jabez Campfield (voice)
3 episodes
Gene Jones
as Landon Carter / Thomas Nelson / Moses Kirkland / Thomas Young (voice)
3 episodes
Michael Keaton
as Benedict Arnold (voice)
2 episodes
Josh Lucas
as George Rogers Clark / John Glover / Drury Mathias (voice)
4 episodes
David Oyelowo
as Olaudah Equiano / Sam (voice)
2 episodes
Yul Vazquez
as Henry Knox / José de Gálvez (voice)
3 episodes
Leon Dische Becker
as (voice)
2 episodes
Keith David
as (voice)
1 episode
Christian Friedel
as (voice)
4 episodes
Dan Stevens
as (voice)
3 episodes
Lucas Hedges
as (voice)
3 episodes
Michael Mando
as (voice)
3 episodes
Jeremiah Bitsui
as (voice)
2 episodes
Jonathan Groff
as (voice)
1 episode
Tracy Letts
as (voice)
1 episode
Tony Beck
as (voice)
1 episode
Martin Czembor
as (voice)
1 episode
LaTanya Richardson Jackson
as (voice)
1 episode
Reece Mccullagh
as (voice)
1 episode
Olivier Mercier
as (voice)
1 episode
Production Board

Crew

Creator
Executive Producer
Cinematography
Assistant Sound Editor
Sound Designer
Keyword Cloud

Keywords

american revolution revolutionary war detached america introspective documentary history american history apologetic embarrassed