Editing Liberty!

{{about|the miniseries|the soundtrack|Liberty! (album){{!}}''Liberty!'' (album)|the play|Liberty! The Saga of Sycamore Shoals{{!}}''Liberty! The Saga of Sycamore Shoals''}}
{{Unreferenced|date=August 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image          = 
| caption        = 
| director       = [[Ellen Hovde]]<br />[[Muffie Meyer]]
| producer       = Ellen Hovde<br />Muffie Meyer
| writer         = Ronald Blumer
| starring       = 
| music          = [[Mark O'Connor]]
| cinematography = James Brown<br />Robert Elfstrom<br />[[Boyd Estus]]<br />Tom Hurwitz<br />Joel Shapiro<br />Joe Vitagliano
| editor         = Eric Davies<br />Donna Marino<br />Sharon Sachs
| company        = Middlemarch Films 
| network        = [[PBS]]
| first_aired    = {{Start date|1997|11|23}}
| last_aired     = {{End date|1997|11|25}}
| runtime        = 360 minutes
| country        = 
| language       = English
| budget         = 
}}
'''''Liberty! The American Revolution''''' is a six-hour [[Documentary film|documentary]] [[miniseries]] about the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], and the instigating factors, that brought about the [[United States]]' independence from the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]. It was first broadcast on the [[Public Broadcasting Service]] in 1997.

The series consists of six hour-long episodes. Each episode is introduced by [[Forrest Sawyer]] and narrated by [[Edward Herrmann]]. Period photographs and location filming are intercut with stage and screen [[actor]]s in appropriate period costume reading as figures of the time, including [[Campbell Scott]] ([[Thomas Jefferson]]), [[Philip Bosco]] ([[Benjamin Franklin]]), [[Victor Garber]] ([[John Dickinson]]), [[Alex Jennings]] ([[King George III]]), [[Roger Rees]] ([[Thomas Paine]]), [[Philip Seymour Hoffman]] ([[Joseph Plumb Martin]]), [[Terrence Mann]] ([[John Burgoyne|Gen. John Burgoyne]]), [[Colm Feore]] ([[Alexander Hamilton]]), [[Sebastian Roché]] (The [[Marquis de Lafayette]]), [[Donna Murphy]] ([[Abigail Adams]]), [[Austin Pendleton]] ([[Benjamin Rush]]) and [[Peter Donaldson (actor)|Peter Donaldson]] ([[John Adams]]). [[Stephen Lang (actor)|Stephen Lang]] read the words of [[George Washington]], but is not seen on camera.

British and American historians and authors, including [[Carol Berkin]], [[Bernard Bailyn]], [[Ron Hoffman]], [[Claude-Anne Lopez]], [[Pauline Maier]], [[George C. Neumann]],  [[Richard Norton Smith]], [[Gordon S. Wood]] (U.S.) and [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]], [[Colin Bonwick]], [[John Keegan]], and [[Nicholas Rodger|N.A.M. Rodger]] (U.K.) add historical background, explaining life and society of the time while interpreting events from the perspectives of the two sides of the conflict. Historical perspectives also include the status of black slaves and freemen, the participation of American Indians, and the strivings of American women as events progress.

==Episodes==
# "'''The Reluctant Revolutionaries'''" (1763-1774): Introduction of the major players, life as British colonists, the [[Stamp Act]], The [[Declaratory Act]], the [[Boston Massacre]], [[No taxation without representation|taxation without representation]], [[The Boston Tea Party]]
# "'''Blows Must Decide'''" (1774-1776): [[The Intolerable Acts|The Coersive/Intolerable Acts]], military reinforcement of Boston, the first [[Continental Congress]], the [[battles of Lexington and Concord]] and the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]], loyalists and the [[Olive Branch Petition]], ''[[Common Sense (pamphlet)|Common Sense]]'', [[United States Declaration of Independence|The Declaration of Independence]]
# "'''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 (American Revolution)|patriot]] or [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|loyalist]], the defense of New York, fall of New Jersey, ''[[The American Crisis]]'', the [[George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River|crossing of the Delaware River]] and the [[Battle of Trenton]]
# "'''Oh Fatal Ambition!'''" (1777-1778):  Benjamin Franklin appeals for French assistance, [[John Burgoyne|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
# "'''The World Turned Upside Down'''" (1778-1783): The French alliance, [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Gen. Clinton]]'s campaign in the south, the [[siege of Charleston]], [[Cornwallis|Gen. Cornwallis]]'s strategy to conquer the south, [[Benedict Arnold]] joins the British, French troops under [[Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau|Gen. Rochambeau]] reinforce Washington's army, [[Nathanael Greene|Gen. Nathanael Greene]] reclaims the south, the [[Yorktown campaign|Battle of Yorktown]], the British surrender
#  "'''Are We to Be a Nation?'''" (1783-1788): Creating the new nation, [[George Washington's resignation as commander-in-chief|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 [[United States Constitution|Constitution]], [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]] and formation of a central government

American singer-songwriter [[James Taylor]] sings the traditional song "[[Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier]]" during the end credits. Original music was composed by violinist [[Mark O'Connor]], who accompanies Taylor; the score, which blends new and traditional music, was performed by O'Connor, Taylor, cellist [[Yo-Yo Ma]], trumpet player [[Wynton Marsalis]] and the [[Nashville Symphony]].  A collection of the music from the soundtrack was released as [[Liberty! (album)|a companion album]] in 1997.

''Liberty!'' was produced for [[Public Broadcasting Service]] (PBS) by [[Twin Cities Public Television]] (TPT), and won a [[George Foster Peabody Award]]. The directors were [[Ellen Hovde]] and Muffie Meyer, who also collaborated on the 2002 TPT production ''[[Benjamin Franklin (documentary)|Benjamin Franklin]]''.

==See also==
* [[List of television series and miniseries about the American Revolution]]
* [[List of films about the American Revolution]]

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0129692|title=Liberty!}}
*[https://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/ PBS: ''Liberty! The American Revolution'']

{{Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1997 films]]
[[Category:Peabody Award–winning television programs]]
[[Category:1990s American television miniseries]]
[[Category:Television series about the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Benjamin Franklin]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of George Washington]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of George III]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Thomas Paine]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Alexander Hamilton]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Benedict Arnold]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of James Madison]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:PBS original programming]]