American Revolution (Ken Burns documentary) & Uranus

 

Ken Burns Documentary Series ‘The American Revolution’ released last fall and I finally began watching it this week.     I have been digging into the Revolution a lot for my astrology writing which I am sure many of you have noticed.   Having the astrology in my head while watching the first two episodes of the series was potent.   Arguably, Uranus had a hand in the riled-up colonists as they pushed back on the over-reach by British Crown. 

 

In the fall of 1773 Uranus station retrograde and during that retrograde in December was the Boston Tea Party.  Colonists destroyed 342 chests of tea, worth a huge sum, owned by the British East India Compay.  This pissed off The Crown.  No shit.  Then a couple months later,     Uranus station direct (24 Taurus) on Feb 2, 1774.   Uranus chugged along through the remaining degrees of Taurus and then on June 20 it entered Gemini for the first time.   

 

During this window, specifically March – June,the British went hard on intimidation of Massachusetts.  The British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, often called the Intolerable Acts in America. Among other actions, Britain closes the port of Boston and requires British troops to be housed in taverns and vacant buildings.  The British goal to punish Massachusetts failed to dissuade the other colonies.   In fact the stories, the updates, even the gossip energized the other colonies from New Hampshire to the Carolinas who supported Massachusett. All of these conversations and rallying perfect Gemini.   Uranus returned to Taurus in end of 1774 then finally re- entered Gemini April 9, 1775. Ten days later was the battle of Concord and Minute Men formed… the Revolutionary War was on. 

As Uranus moved deeper into Gemini, the revolution stopped being abstract and became intimate. Gemini fractured the social field; neighbors, siblings (both ruled by Gemini) along with families were forced to choose sides, splitting communities along lines of allegiance and belief. The war intensified through this Uranus in Gemini cycle until the decisive battle at Yorktown in 1781, followed by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 which formally ended the war   By then Uranus was in Cancer.   The entire revolutionary war was in the Uranus Gemini cycle.   Once it moved in Cancer, the task shifted from rebellion to belonging, from argument to shelter, from overthrowing authority to building a home that could contain the consequences of freedom.   

One other point of importance: While the Boston Tea Party is often framed and remembered as the spark that ignited the Revolutionary War, colonial grievances with the Crown began much earlier. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 marked one of the first major fractures in the relationship between Britain and the colonies, well before taxes like the Stamp Act or Tea Act.

The Proclamation forbade colonial settlers from moving into lands held by Native nations in the Ohio Valley, drawing a hard line across the frontier. It told colonists, in no uncertain terms: The frontier is not yours. For a population already oriented toward expansion, that restriction was intolerable. This included George Washington, who had fought in the French and Indian War and was granted land in western Pennsylvania near present-day Pittsburgh for his service. With the Proclamation in place, Washington and many others were suddenly barred from homesteading or speculating on the very lands they believed they had earned.  

Astrologically, this resentment took root while Saturn and Uranus were both in Aries, a volatile combination for authority and rebellion. It intensified as Uranus moved into Taurus, the sign of land, property, and ownership, likely amplified by Pluto in Capricorn, exposing the power structures controlling access to territory. By the time Uranus moved into Cancer, the pressure broke. Settlers flooded into the Ohio Valley, triggering a new wave of violent conflict with Native nations who had no intention of surrendering their homelands.

Oh, Uranus you really do know how to crack things open.  

For those of you paying attention to our Uranus in Gemini Era.    Uranus first entered Gemini on July 7, 2025, then stationed retrograde on September 7 and returned to Taurus on October 9. On February 3, 2026, Uranus station direct in Taurus and now heads back toward Gemini on April 25 where it will be until 2033.   

Go watch the documentary series.  It is good.