An Empire of Reason

Jul 3, 1988

0h 58m

★ 0.0

Overview

Docudrama about the debate surrounding New York State's ratification of the United States Constitution. Historical figures wear modern dress and use familiar language to help today's audience understand firsthand the forces that shaped this country two hundred years ago. The argument, characters, passions and debating points are historically accurate, but the language and the medium of the debate is modern in form. Present day newscasters and commentators play themselves, reporting on the events of the 1780s as though they were occurring now.

Genres

Documentary

Drama

History

Production Companies

Middlemarch Films

An Empire of Reason Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Self - Host

Cokie Roberts

Self

William F. Buckley Jr.

Self

Walter Cronkite

Self

John Chancellor

Self

Phil Donahue

Self

Robert MacNeil

Self

Andrea Mitchell

Self

Al Roker

Self

Forrest Sawyer

Daniel Shays

Jamey Sheridan

Mayor of New York City, 1788

Ed Koch

Jesse Woodhull

James Rebhorn

When Benjamin Steed and Mary Ann Steed relocate their family to upstate New York in the early 1800's, they unwittingly settle in a town divided along religious lines. After their new hired help turns out to be at the center of the uproar, each member of the Steed family must come to terms with their own beliefs in the face of heavy persecution. Together they struggle to weather the raging controversy surrounding a young man named Joseph Smith.

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