We’re on the path to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and Arkansas PBS is bringing you so many ways to learn about our shared history with multiple events, programs and resources. Be a part of #ARVoicesAt250 as we kick off a year-long celebration! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook and sign up for our weekly e-newsletter.
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. The 13 colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence and established a republic that still endures.
Calling all National History Day students!
Inspired by the PBS documentary “The American Revolution,” Arkansas PBS invites students to create projects that connect the past to their own communities, ideas and creativity. In addition to sparking creativity, these projects highlight the careful historical research and analysis that form the foundation of every National History Day entry, to connect students with original scholarship with storytelling. Three special prizes will be awarded at the National History Day Arkansas State Contest in Spring 2026. Selected projects will also be featured by Arkansas PBS using #ARVoicesAt250.
Special prizes are sponsored by the Arkansas PBS Foundation and the Stella Boyle Smith Trust.
Attend A Screening Event
Join Arkansas PBS for a screening event where we'll watch a preview of Ken Burns’s "The American Revolution" and hear from a panel of experts who will connect Arkansas's history to America's story. To find a screening event near you, visit myarpbs.org/events.
Join a Transcribe-a-Thon and preview screening
Join us for a hands-on Transcribe-a-Thon at Baxter County Library (Mountain Home), Saturday, Nov. 8 at 10:30 a.m., featuring Arkansas PBS, the Arkansas State Library, and the Library of Congress. Celebrate history by helping transcribe primary-source documents from the Revolutionary era.
The program will open with an exclusive preview of the upcoming documentary, “The American Revolution,” directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. Afterward, participants will help transcribe Revolutionary-era documents through the Library of Congress’s "By the People" project, preserving stories of the past and ensuring they remain accessible for generations to come.
No prior experience is required! Volunteers will receive guidance on how to create and review transcriptions and make rare historical records searchable and widely available. This is a special opportunity to step into America’s founding era, strengthen civic understanding and play a direct role in a nationwide effort. Keep an eye out as more transcribe-a-thons are added to a library near you! Visit myarpbs.org/events.
Watch “The American Revolution”
"The American Revolution," a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, is a new six-part, 12-hour documentary series on America's founding struggle that 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. By weaving together accounts of American political leaders and their British counterparts with the perspectives of the so-called ordinary people who waged and witnessed war, "The American Revolution" will be an expansive, evenhanded look at the virtues and the contradictions in the fight for independence and the birth of the United States. “The American Revolution” premieres Sunday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m.
GET INVOLVED
Be a part of the conversation using #ARVoicesAt250.
Find a screening event near you at myarpbs.org/events.
Join a Transcribe-a-Thon Saturday, Nov. 8, at 10:30 a.m. at Baxter County Library.
Watch live “The American Revolution” Sunday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. or on the PBS app.