Ken Burns

And there is a sense early on when after Lexington and Concord where we've driven the British back into Boston and they've got ways to get in but they can't get out besides by ship.

that we need a real army.

And the army is formed, and it is very obvious from the very start that there can be no other person than George Washington.

The New Englanders want a Virginian.

It's the most populous.

It's the richest state.

And they know this person has been around since he's a 22-year-old militia officer who probably fires the first shot in the French and Indian War.

That starts...

the global conflict that everyone else on Earth calls the Seven Years' War, that will set the stage for the American Revolution.

And then he acts bravely in many other situations, and he is denied a commission in the British Army, and he's like, F you, you know?

And then he's a speculator in Native American land that he doesn't own.

He wants to sell to new colonists.

And when the British put the line of demarcation in 1763 that separates, says you can't go over because we can't afford to protect you, he's now pissed again.

And then he's still this voice of reason that arrives in Philadelphia, just poised, and people look to him for leadership.

He's very good at picking out, you know, that guy.

He's got great executive function and great ability to pick subordinates without fear of being overshadowed.

One of his great generals, Nathaniel Green, another great general, Benedict Arnold.

And we introduced Benedict Arnold in the opening seconds of our second episode.

And it isn't until you're a third of the way through the sixth and last episode that you go, uh-oh.

But he's a hero at Quebec City.