Ken Burns Finds Hope in America's Divided Past

Trust Article June 30, 2026

Three people appear on video, speaking to each other from separate locations. — The speakers—from the left, Sarah Botstein, Ken Burns, and Susan K. Urahn—on livestream from their home offices.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns wants to assure Americans that deep divisions in our country are nothing new.

In fact, according to Burns, the United States was more divided during the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Great Depression, throughout the Vietnam War period, and particularly during the American Revolution, the subject of Burns’s latest documentary that debuted last fall. “Being able to have the perspective of history gives you a little bit of reassurance,” he said, and “introduces a little bit of optimism.”

Understanding the present in the context of the past was the subject of a conversation that kicked off The Pew Charitable Trusts’ “America at 250 Speaker Series” for staff. In April, Pew’s CEO Susan K. Urahn spoke with Burns and his long-time co-director Sarah Botstein to explore what lessons from the country’s founding and what’s been called the world’s most consequential revolution can offer citizens today.

“You can look at our revolution and understand that it can teach us in so many ways,” Burns told Urahn. For example, the founders were hardly perfect—and they were far from united. “They [were] at each other’s throats, all the time.” The country’s architects represented 13 colonies that were as different as separate countries. “Nobody trusted each other,” Burns said.

None of the colonies wanted to give up their autonomy, Burns explained. “Democracy at that time was a bad word. It meant the rule of the mob,” he said. But the founders realized that they could not win a war without extending to “so-called ‘regular people’ certain rights,” Burns said. When Pennsylvania extended the right to vote to any male over 21, it troubled John Adams and the planters of the South. “You begin to see that democracy is the unintended consequence rather than the intention of the revolution.”

"You can look at our revolution and understand that it can teach us in so many ways."

—Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker

Botstein said the concept that all men are created equal set up this “brilliant, totally new idea of what a government should be.” And it changed the world forever.

The founders debated heatedly over voting rights, states versus federal rights, and how the three branches of government should function, said Botstein. “And those debates are … the best guide to understanding today.”

Urahn said that exploring the nuanced narratives of America’s birth may also help guide us through an era where the media tends to emphasize deep and partisan divides. She explained that Pew’s efforts to bridge divides and help people find common ground is something the earliest Americans also struggled with. “Without their determination to overcome their divisions, we would not have a United States of America.”

As Burns said, “[We live in] this dialectic where we have red state, blue state, young, old, gay, straight, rich, poor, North, South, East, West.” And it’s not accurate. “The past and the present are too complex,” he said, but people love complicated narratives and teaching these rich stories is key to understanding the bigger picture and a roadmap to engaging with the world today.

Wrestling with America’s past is key, Burns said, because when we think “the sky is falling,” we subsequently abdicate everything—our reason, perspective, and civic responsibility to be engaged. But he said the opposite is necessary.

"You begin to see that democracy is the unintended consequence rather than the intention of the revolution."

—Ken Burns

Botstein explained that civil debates are at the very heart of America’s birth. So is the obligation to vote, be involved, and to know who your local elected officials are and how government works. Citizenship today involves caring about your neighbor, listening to one another, and “trying to understand what’s important to each of us.”

The founders also wanted, and expected, an informed citizenry. Botstein said that we need to educate people, especially students, on how to discern the information they receive, and to think twice before they believe something.

Burns stressed that democracy is an active verb. “You don’t have to agree,” he said. “You just have to be involved.”

As we approach our nation’s 250th anniversary, reflecting on moments from our country’s past—like the ones Urahn explored with Burns and Botstein to launch Pew’s speaker series—can help us to celebrate our rich history and maybe, also, become more involved in modern-day civil debates.