Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns reflects on John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence as a complicated but essential image of America’s founding. He considers the contradictions behind the promise that “all men are created equal,” while examining how that idea opened the door to generations of struggle, progress, and possibility.
Part of Art of America: Iconic Works Defining and Shaping the United States, a digital storytelling series from the Aspen Institute Arts Program.
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns reflects on John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence as a complicated but essential image of America’s founding. He considers the contradictions behind the promise that “all men are created equal,” while examining how that idea opened the door to generations of struggle, progress, and possibility.
Part of Art of America: Iconic Works Defining and Shaping the United States, a digital storytelling series from the Aspen Institute Arts Program.
