Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has a new idea to help Americans cope with these divisive times as we celebrate the nation's 242nd anniversary: a visual history lesson to remind everyone that "we've been there before."

His new website is named after the nation's motto, E Pluribus Unum – Out of many One. The emphasis is on the "one" thing that unites us: our shared history.

"It is critically important to connect our history to today and identify those archetypal American themes that speak to what we are experiencing today – hard times, immigration, the U.S. Constitution, the idea of leadership, race, the environment," Burns said in an interview.

"All repeat American themes that help us merge the past with the present and understand that we're not alone in this time," he said. "Earlier periods dealt with disarray and division and we worked them out. They provide templates for delivering us from particularly painful moments now."

The website allows users to navigate based on time period or theme to watch clips of Burns' more than two dozen documentaries on themes ranging from the Civil War and Vietnam to baseball, jazz and the Brooklyn Bridge. The films strive for historical accuracy and avoid a political slant, letting viewers draw their own conclusions from the facts. ...