As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, a five-part historical documentary, released on June 24, reexamines the improbable achievement that was the nation’s founding, and the radical question at the center of the American Revolution: Can a people govern themselves? The American Experiment, now streaming, features a wide range of voices, including former vice presidents and cabinet officials, current and former members of Congress, a former Supreme Court justice, leading historians, tribal chiefs, military experts, and thought leaders across the political spectrum to present uniquely bipartisan and deeply informed conversations about the origins and future of American democracy.

Take a first look at the documentary series in the trailer at the top of the page, and read on for additional information. 

What is The American Experiment about?

Directed by Brian Knappenberger (Turning Point), The American Experiment explores how a nation built on an untested idea has continued to wrestle with the foundational contradictions of slavery and liberty, as well as individual power and minority representation — and how American democracy has been built, challenged, and reimagined over the course of two and a half centuries. The series covers the American Revolution through the drafting of the Constitution and the first American presidency, and features a diverse array of voices in reenactments, including Martin Sheen as George Washington. Cinematic in scope and urgently relevant, the documentary series reveals how the debates that defined the country’s founding era still shape the United States, posing a pivotal question at a moment of profound division: Can this extraordinary experiment endure?

“I’ve always been fascinated with this period of history, and people often call back to it in our modern debate. With the 250-year anniversary approaching, it seemed like an incredible time to discover that process and go back to the basics of who we are as a country,” Knappenberger tells Netflix. “What were these figures worried about when they forged these documents? What compromises did they have to make? They really believed it was an experiment. There had never been a country formed out of reflection and choice, and not accident and force, as Hamilton put it.”

Read our breakdown of the series’ unexpected moments, featuring more reflections from Kappenberger. 

From Luminant and Playtone, The American Experiment is executive produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Knappenberger, and Sarah Huisenga.

What is The American Experiment release date?

The American Experiment premiered on June 24. Stream all five parts now. 

Who’s in The American Experiment?

• Adrienne Whaley — director of education, Museum of the American Revolution
• Al Gore — former US vice president (D)
• Alexis Coe — American history columnist, The New York Times
• Andrew M. Davenport — historian, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello; vice president for research and Saunders director, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies
• Antoine Watts — historical interpreter, 1st Rhode Island Regiment.
• Benjamin L. Carp — professor of history, Brooklyn College; author of Defiance of the Patriots
• Carol Berkin — professor emerita of history, City University of New York; author of A Brilliant Solution
• Cassandra Good — author of First Family, Founding Friendships; professor, Marymount University
• Chuck Hoskin Jr. — principal chief, Cherokee Nation
• Daina Ramey Berry — professor of history, University of California, Santa Barbara; author of The Price for Their Pound of Flesh
• Danielle Allen — professor of government, Harvard University; author of Our Declaration
• Dennis Rasmussen — professor of political science, Syracuse University, author of The Constitution’s Penman
• Don N. Hagist — editor, Journal of the American Revolution
• Doug Bradburn — president and CEO, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
• Eric Burns — author of Infamous Scribblers
• Fergus M. Bordewich — author of The First Congress
• Gordon S. Wood — professor of history emeritus, Brown University; author of The Creation of the American Republic, Radicalism of the American Revolution
• Hillary Rodham Clinton — former US secretary of state (D)
• H.R. McMaster — lieutenant general (ret.), former US national security advisor
• Jameel Jaffer — executive director, Knight First Amendment Institute
• James Taub — associate curator, Museum of the American Revolution
• Jamie Raskin — US representative, Maryland (D)
• Jane Kamensky — president and CEO, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
• Jeff Flake — former US senator, Arizona (R)
• Jeffrey Rosen — CEO emeritus, National Constitution Center
• Jelani Cobb — dean, Columbia Journalism School
• Jill Lepore — author of We the People
• Joanne Freeman — professor of history, Yale University; author of Affairs of Honor
• John Yoo — professor, UC Berkeley School of Law
• Joseph J. Ellis — author of Founding Brothers, The Quartet, His Excellency: George Washington, American Creation, Revolutionary Summer, American Dialogue, The Cause
• Kamala Harris — former US vice president (D)
• Kathleen DuVal — author of Native Nations; professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Kevin Chapman — historical interpreter, 1st Rhode Island Regiment
• Lawrence Lessig — professor, Harvard Law School
• Lindsay M. Chervinsky — executive director, George Washington Presidential Library
• Lisa Blunt Rochester — US senator, Delaware (D)
• Lonnie G. Bunch III — secretary, Smithsonian Institution
• Margaret Washington — professor emerita of history, Cornell University; author of Sojourner Truth’s America, A Peculiar People
• Mary Sarah Bilder — professor, Boston College Law School; author of Madison’s Hand
• Matthew Keagle — curator, Fort Ticonderoga
• Maya Jasanoff — author of Liberty’s Exiles; professor of history, Harvard University
• Michael Klarman — professor, Harvard Law School; author of The Framers’ Coup
• Mike Pence — former US vice president (R)
• Nancy Pelosi — speaker emerita, US House of Representatives, California (D)
• Nathaniel Philbrick — author of The American Revolution Series, Bunker Hill, Valiant Ambition, In the Hurricane’s Eye
• Noah Feldman — professor, Harvard Law School; author of The Three Lives of James Madison
• Rand Paul — US senator, Kentucky (R)
• Robert M.S. McDonald — professor of history, US Military Academy; author of Confounding Father
• Robert Miller — chief justice, Pascua Yaqui Tribe; professor, Arizona State University College of Law
• Ron Chernow — author of Washington: A Life, Alexander Hamilton
• Ron Wyden — US senator, Oregon (D)
• Roy Blunt — former US senator, Missouri (R)
• Sara Georgini — series editor, The Papers of John Adams
• Saul Cornell — professor of history, Fordham University; author of The Other Founders
• Sergio J. Campos — professor, Boston College Law School
• Stephen Breyer — former associate justice, Supreme Court
• Ted Cruz — US senator, Texas (R)
• Tom Nichols — professor emeritus of national security affairs, US Naval War College
• William Hogeland — author of Inventing American History, The Hamilton Scheme, Founding Finance
• William Treanor — dean emeritus, Georgetown University Law Center
• Woody Holton — professor of history, University of South Carolina; author of Liberty Is Sweet
• Yuval Levin — senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute; author of American Covenant, The Great Debate, The Fractured Republic
• Zoe Lofgren — US representative, California (D)

What’s this doc like? 

Across five episodes, The American Experiment takes a sweeping and sincere look at the origins of American democracy and the enduring relevance of the nation’s founding ideals. Equal parts inspiring and sobering, the series paints a portrait of a country still grappling with all its founders set in motion 250 years ago. 

• Watch out for sensitive topics including war reenactments and archival footage depicting political violence. 
• Could be described as the timely reexamination of constitutional ideals found in13th meets the all-star assembly of interviewees of Greatest Night in Pop — but the stars here are the ones who create, study, and fight for American democracy.