Call me crazy...
...but this is my guilty summer pleasure series, along with Rescue Me and the Closer. I can't believe this board is so sparse.
Is there anyone else who has slightly mysterious bruises
Hello Crazy, I agree. My cousin and I love this show. It takes precedence on my TiVO. It's amazing how, even though I know what's going to happen, I still find myself thinking "The suspense is killing me!" Sometimes I have to remind myself that I do know the outcome :).
shareHaha, yeah, I know what you mean. It's pretty well done for a documentary series, although I'm sure they're cutting some corners on the complete historical record.
Is there anyone else who has slightly mysterious bruises
It's pretty well done for a documentary series, although I'm sure they're cutting some corners on the complete historical record.
Oh, rest assured, they are cutting corners but that's fine. A good example is Thomas Hutchinson's account, and the burning of his mansion back in 1765. It happened in August but how the program was setup, it showed the burning within the same month as the Stamp Act being born. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, another important faction; the effigy hanging of stamp collector, Andrew Oliver was something else not mentioned. The hanging of Oliver on the Liberty Tree in Boston was a great example of the theatrical display, and just how fierce and chaotic the atmosphere became.
I do have one peeve, or a problem with the program. Samuel Adams is not mentioned at all! This man contributed so much, and the program kicked Adams to the curb! Come on! Adams was a Founding Father, 5th Gov. of Massachusetts, signer, and was a brilliant politician who knew how to whip the people into shape.
But my favorite character in the program is Washington. The guy that plays him is awesome! So serious, just as Washington probably presented himself back in the day. share
Hello Jessica! Welcome to the Revolution boards!
I do agree with you about the casting of Washington for this series...absolutely spot-on (well, as much as we really know about Mr. Washington, anyway) - and Mark Collins, the actor who portrays him in the series was a really great guy too - we got to "hang" with him a bit during the filming, then took our picture with him on the set.
I do, unfortunately, have to take issue with your defence of Sam Adams, however. Most people do not realise how truly vile his actions were during the early days of the uprisings around Boston, as they have been swept under the rugs, so to speak, in whitewashed American history texts.
He personally accounted for the personal ruination of several lawful businesses and careers during this time, wontonly destroying property and livelihoods of those who had showed even slight favoritism to British rule - and, at a time when all "Americans" were still legally and ostensibly British subjects.
There are also noted accounts of his "reign of terror" against the peaceful citizenry of the Massachusetts Colony - not the least of which was his personal vendetta against Hutchinson (inspired by an old family slight when Adams' father was denied access to a business venture by Hutchinson years earlier, for which Sam Adams always blamed him).
Then there is the account of Adams and his band of hooligans (terrorists, as we call them today), who dragged some minor official - who had written a letter of support for the Crown in a local newspaper - and his family out of their home in the middle of a freezing winter night, stripped them, poured hot tar over him (imagine the intense pain caused by those burns!), then tied them up, placed them in a shallow launch (boat), then sent them drifting into Boston Harbor!
So, sorry, but I cannot, in good consience, put that man upon any pedestal shared by true Patriots such as Washington and Adams' own cousin, John.
"I'm going to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it. Probably with dynamite."
*looks at title* I'm insane, how about you, swborderer? :P
I answered, or rather 'attempted' to explain choosing S. Adams as a favorite on other thread. I hope you like to read. ;) It's pretty in depth, but written quickly.
So, sorry, but I cannot, in good consience, put that man upon any pedestal shared by true Patriots such as Washington and Adams' own cousin, John.In reality, and this is purely an opinion by me, there were different levels of pedestals.
S. Adams, in good concious, shouldn't be shunned, for he did what he believed to be correct in his own able mind, even though, his decesions were done by physical force. For that, I place him on the pedestal, in the middle - niether the botton, nor the top; not ruling over anyone. The lesson I see through S. Adams is that if you truly believe in something, stand by them, and he did just that by playing his role as a politician.
Certaintly, John, his second cousin, Washington, Franklin and Jefferson are higher on the pedestal for obvious reasons; they sacerficed more in a sense. share
Of course they cut corners. You can't stuff everything about the American Revolution into a documentary, no matter how much one may wish.
The only complaint I truly have comes from when they discuss the British's attempt to negotiate with the Americans. The documentary states that George Washington put aside the request; however, that is not true. He merely forwarded it down to Congress in Philadelphia, believing it to be their job. Congress actually agreed to the meeting and sent some famous delegates: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Edward Routledge. The meeting took place on September 11, 1776 at Howe's headquarters on Staten Island. It is known as the Staten Island Peace Conference and frankly, it failed. Mostly because neither side had the ability to compromise. Howe's instructions were to get the Americans to reswear allegiance to England and the fighting would stop. Congress's orders to the delegates were that the British had to accept the Declaration of Independence.
The house where the meeting took place is a national historic landmark and there is an organization that preserves it. They have the minutes of the conference. While I don't expect the documentary to re-enact the conference, some acknowledgement that it took place would have been nice. Why talk about Howe's letters to Washington if they aren't going to tell the whole story? It makes the Americans look unwilling to compromise when the Founding Fathers wanted to end the war as quickly as the British!
"God save my little broken body."-Rizzo the Rat
"We are the music while the music lasts"--TS Eliot