1765
“Liberty cannot be preserved without a
general knowledge among the people,
who have a right … and a desire to know.
John Adams
The Declaration was American's foundational document, laying before the world the self-evident truths of a free and fair republic and it's famous second paragraph begins with these words, "We hold these truths..." The 2026 Semiquincentennial celebration is a launching point for America to reconnect with our founding principles as we enter into 13 years of civic celebrations and reflection on these milestones. Not only is civic education a worthy cause, it is a vital part of any democracy.
However, research shows that knowledge regarding basic government principles and operations is surprisingly low in the United States. According to an Annenberg Public Policy Center survey, one-third of Americans could not name all three branches of their government, and two-thirds could not name three of the five First Amendment rights. The results are even more disheartening when it comes to state and local politics. It’s time to begin filling that education gap in a modern, engaging, and even humorous way. The Center for Civic Education and Capital Media Group, Inc. are launching a national initiative to increase civic knowledge and citizen responsibility.
We Hold These Truths
Mark Hamill
A new compelling five-part TV documentary series for PBS that speaks directly to a national American audience in which civic knowledge is alarmingly sparse. We can all agree that every American should have a strong understanding of the U.S. government's inner workings, the significance of key government documents like the Constitution, and the principles of democracy. Compound this lack of civic knowledge with disinformation and you have the building blocks for conspiracy theories, conflict, and disenfranchisement. Along with foundational civics and constitutional topics, this nonpartisan educational TV series will address these knowledge gaps and explore the misinformation that has divided America and increased the distrust of its government and public service members.
The We Hold These Truths documentary series is hosted and narrated by Mark Hamill but the civic history will be delivered by leading scholars as well as actors who have played the role of U.S. President or Vice President in movie or TV, fiction or non-fiction. Each episode will engage and educated the viewer in an entertaining and relevant manner the entire family can enjoy. We Hold These Truths will become a trusted educational tool for parents, educators, and anyone eager to become an active and informed citizen.
Mark Hamill is an Actor, Producer, and Director.
The American actor Mark Hamill has played and voiced over 250 roles, gaining world fame with his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movie trilogy (1977–1983). To this day, his role as a jedi remains one of the greatest symbols of good battling evil and of light triumphing over darkness.
IMDb
Mark Hamill distinguished himself from his role in Star Wars by landing roles like Corvette Summer (1978) and Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One (1980) and pursuing a theatre career on Broadway, starring in productions of The Elephant Man (1980), Amadeus (1983) and The Nerd (1987). Starting in the 1990s, Hamill began to work primarily as a voice actor for animated film, television, and video games, with the Joker in multiple pieces of DC Comics media, starting with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992, being his most well-known voice role. For his role of the Joker, he was nominated for two Annie Awards and won a BAFTA Game Award. His other animated roles include the Hobgoblin in Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994–1998), Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008), Mr. Salacia and Senator Stampingston in Metalocalypse (2006–2013, 2023), and Skips in Regular Show (2010–2017) and The Lost Tapes (2026–present).
Hamill returned to mainstream prominence when he reprised his Luke Skywalker role in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015–2019). He followed this with live-action roles in Brigsby Bear (2017), the Netflix miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), The Life of Chuck (2024), and The Long Walk (2025).
National Broadcast, Streaming & Classroom Distribution
Reaching 80 Million U.S. households, 77,000 Schools and Universities and 26,000 Public and Academic Libraries.
Informed and Thoughtful Citizens Committed To
And Actively Engaged in the Practice of Democracy.
This national public television series is a nonprofit educational initiative of the Center for Civic Education. The Center for Civic Education renews democracy with each generation, through a time-tested civic education system grounded in our national network of scholars, educators, and supporters. Through high-quality instructional materials, teacher professional learning, iterative research of core programs, and student experiential learning, the Center provides transformative nonpartisan civic learning experiences that inspire long-term engagement and foster strong people and communities.
Distribution of this six-part series includes TV broadcast on public television stations nationwide, streaming local PBS channels on Amazon Prime, on-demand viewing on the PBS.org website, on the PBS OTT channel, and both PBS Android and iOS apps. According to a recent PEW Research Study, just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they often get their news from social media. Multiple short clips from each episode in this series will be distributed on social media to reach audiences that utilize these platforms regularly to get their news.
100 high school teachers throughout the United States will attend a summer institute and be introduced to "We hold these truths” video series as a supplemental teaching resource to accompany their implementation of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution in their classrooms. Through our distribution relationships, this series will reach 80 million U.S. households across traditional broadcast, streaming channels, and online. An additional 40 million students and teachers are reached inside 2,500 Universities, 77,000 K-12 Schools, 26,000 Public and Academic libraries worldwide. Episodic licensing of this series will be made available to civic education organizations and network TV broadcast companies.
Center for Civic Education.
