The American Revelation

Listener advisory The producers asked that younger children listen with a parent, citing the intensity of a few scenes of Revolutionary War combat.

Marvin Washington has to give a school speech about the American Revolution, and he wants nothing to do with it - the paintings of the patriots don't show anyone who looks like him. Then Whit unveils his rebuilt Imagination Station, and Marvin lands in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775, where a young drummer named William Diamond mistakes him for a fellow soldier. Marvin assumes Caesar Bason, a Black man among the Minutemen, must be a slave... but Caesar sets him straight: he is a soldier, defending his home like any other man. When seventy Minutemen face seven hundred British regulars on Lexington Green, a shot rings out from nowhere, eight colonists fall, and a war begins. Marvin marches on with William and Caesar to Bunker Hill, where the soldiers must build a fort in the dark before the British attack at dawn. Handed a shovel and told to dig, Marvin discovers the Revolution has more to do with his own people than he ever imagined - and another battle is only hours away.

Found on Friends, Family, and Countrymen Album 39 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0502 Live at the 25! Connie's live anniversary broadcast at Whit's End doesn't go quite as planned - but a Western-style parable and a glimpse of the future reveal what really makes the shop worth celebrating.

0503 Between You and Me Reunited after a long crisis, Connie and Mitch dive headfirst into inseparable togetherness - until unexpected news forces Connie to face what their romance has been crowding out.

0504 Aubrey's Bathrobe When a confident new friend arrives in Odyssey with a grand plan for serving God, Aubrey begins to wonder if her own ordinary life is a waste of the gifts she's been given.

0505 The Toy Man When a toy-company executive's push for family-friendly toys puts him at odds with his corporate colleagues, an unlikely job offer from Whit forces him to weigh security and status against a calling he thought he'd left behind.

0506 For Trying Out Loud When repeated tryouts leave Liz Horton convinced she has no talent, an eccentric mailman's disastrous stage debut helps them both discover that real gifts aren't always found where you're looking.

0507 The Benefit of the Doubt With Novacom in ruins, the people of Odyssey must decide whether its ordinary employees deserve suspicion or trust.

1 of 2 0508 The American Revelation When Marvin dismisses the American Revolution as history that has nothing to do with him, Whit's rebuilt Imagination Station drops him into 1775 to see for himself.

2 of 2 0509 The American Revelation When Marvin joins the exhausted defenders of Bunker Hill, he must find his own courage while discovering the forgotten Black patriots who fought for a freedom not yet their own.

0510 For the Fun of It A wealthy teenager, forced to spend a week with her eccentric mailman uncle to escape etiquette school, sets out to prove her father can't control her - and finds far more than a way to rebel.

1 of 2 0511 The Pact At Hillingdale Haven, an elderly woman with a failing memory becomes convinced she made a long-forgotten promise that must be kept on a fast-approaching date - if only she can remember what it was.

2 of 2 0512 The Pact When Agnes vanishes on the anniversary of a secret childhood promise, Tom and his friends race to decode her journals and paintings before six o'clock.

0513 Do or Diet When Connie's shot at a personal training scholarship depends on coaching Whit, Bernard, and Wooton to each lose ten pounds in five weeks, her biggest obstacle isn't the diet plan - it's her clients.

0514 Room Enough for Two When Liz's beloved older brother returns from the Army with a surprise fiancée in tow, she sets out to protect her place in his life - until a crisis forces the two women who love him most to face what they have in common.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 9 more roles

9 supporting roles

Imagination Station Actor Unknown Major John Pitcairn Pete Reneday Colonial Soldier #1 Marshal Younger Caesar Bason Corey Williams William Diamond Theo Greenly British Lieutenant Christopher Snell Captain Jonas Parker William Holmes Captain Smith David Richards Colonial Soldier #2 Actor Unknown

Made by

Chris Anthony Host John Fornof Writer · Director Todd Busteed Sound Designer · Producer Bob Hoose Producer Marshal Younger Producer Paul McCusker Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Marvin Washington comes to Whit for help with a school speech about the American Revolution and discovers the rebuilt Imagination Station. Whit’s new model can carry as many as ten people and includes stronger physical effects, along with a scanning chamber that can turn a book, painting, movie, or other source into an adventure. He hopes to unveil it during the school’s American Revolution Week, but Marvin is one of the first children allowed to see it.

Marvin has little interest in the assignment. Paintings of Washington crossing the Delaware and the Battle of Bunker Hill appear to show only white people, while the history of Black Americans he has learned has centered on slavery. He does not believe the Revolution’s heroes and patriots have anything to do with his own people. Whit invites him to test the new machine and look more closely.

The Imagination Station places Marvin in Lexington, Massachusetts, early on April 19, 1775. He meets William Diamond, a young drummer among the Minutemen. William mistakes Marvin for another drummer and welcomes him as a soldier. He also introduces Caesar Bason, a Black man whom Marvin immediately assumes must be enslaved. William does not think so, but Marvin remains puzzled.

Inside Buckman Tavern, Captain Parker warns the gathered militia that British regulars are approaching Concord to seize their cannon. Some men want to attack, but the group has voted not to interfere. Parker dismisses them to their homes with orders to listen for William’s drum if they are needed. Marvin begins sharing drum patterns with William and finds the past more interesting than he expected.

Soon a sentry reports that the British are only half a mile away. William sounds the call to arms, and about seventy Minutemen gather on Lexington Green against roughly seven hundred soldiers. Marvin notices another Black Minuteman, Prince Easterbrooks, standing in formation. Caesar also takes his place and firmly corrects Marvin’s assumption: he is not a slave but a soldier.

Captain Parker orders the men to hold their ground and not fire unless fired upon. William expects the regulars to continue down the road, but he tells Marvin to hide in a fish barrel for safety. British officers discover him there and briefly lift him out, laughing at the frightened young rebel before dropping him back inside.

Major John Pitcairn orders the militia to lay down its weapons and disperse. Parker begins sending his men away without surrendering their arms. Then a shot rings out from an uncertain source, and firing erupts across the green despite Pitcairn’s orders to cease. The British march away after the violence. Eight colonists have died and ten are wounded, including Prince. William is devastated to learn that his friend Isaac has been killed. Caesar asks Marvin to help care for the wounded and recognizes that they may have witnessed the beginning of a war.

The Imagination Station moves Marvin forward to the evening of June 16. He rejoins William and Caesar on the road between Lexington and Boston. The militia has fought the returning British forces and now has them confined in Boston. William and Caesar are traveling to join a secret operation rumored to concern Breed’s Hill or Bunker Hill, and Marvin marches with them.

Around the campfire, Marvin again asks whether Black men truly belong in this struggle. Caesar explains that he has the same right and responsibility as any other man to defend his home, town, and land. He tells Marvin that Crispus Attucks, a Black man, shed the first blood for their cause in the Boston Massacre and reminds him that Prince stood beside white neighbors at Lexington. Their skin may differ, but their blood is the same color when they fight together.

After a long march, they reach Bunker Hill and report to Captain Smith. Under cover of darkness, the soldiers must build an earthen fort before dawn and prepare to resist the British. William is sent into town for food and leaves his drum in Marvin’s care. Caesar hands Marvin a shovel and tells him to start digging. The hungry, footsore boy has little time to complain: another battle is about to begin.