American Revolution Documentary

Centerpiece

Centerpiece

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Posting this on the politics thread, just because.
Really looking forward to this one. I’m sure Ken Burns did his usual masterful job putting this together. He’s doing some events, conversations with the public and pre-screenings all over the nation leading up to a November release on PBS (my favourite TV programming). He just did one in Raleigh yesterday - did anyone go check it out?

www.pbs.org

The American Revolution | Coming Fall 2025 | PBS

The American Revolution, a landmark documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, is coming Fall 2025.
www.pbs.org

The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war. It impacted millions – from Canada to the Caribbean and beyond. Few escaped its violence.​

“It declared American independence with promises that we continue to strive for. The American Revolution opened the door to advance civil liberties and human rights, and it asked questions that we are still trying to answer today.”

Was the “event” on Jan 6 2021 just a continuation of “Patriots still fighting the Revolution”? Or was it an insurrection trying to disrupt Congress. Or… was it simply a peaceful demonstration with just a few Oath keepers getting a bit rowdy along with some proud boys feeling their oats?
 
Centerpiece said:
Was the “event” on Jan 6 2021 just a continuation of “Patriots still fighting the Revolution”? Or was it an insurrection trying to disrupt Congress. Or… was it simply a peaceful demonstration with just a few Oath keepers getting a bit rowdy along with some proud boys feeling their oats?
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Ask the Capitol police if they believe it was "peaceful."
 
Psyched. In the meantime I’ve got to recommend the HBO “John Adams” series (not a doc). There are scenes in it that are quite true according to accounts and in other places they’ve done what well-intentioned films must do.

This excerpt for example is quite accurate apparently.

 
One of my hobbies is wandering around old cemeteries and taking photos of gravestones I like. In Piedmont NC and Upstate SC, you run across gravestones that strongly suggest that a lot of scores were settled under the guise of helping or hindering the American Revolution. Below is one of the more explicit ones. The inscription reads: "In Memory of William Anderson and his Wife Rebecca the former of whom was born 1706 and was murdered by a party of TORIES near the close of the Revolution. The latter was born 1710 and died 1806. Erected by their affection Daughter SARAH BREAKIN" ETA: This photo was taken at Nazareth Presbyterian Church, that is located about five miles south-west of Spartanburg, NC
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At the same church as the previous photo, Nazareth Presbyterian, is this photo of a Civil War Veteran, who died in 1877. I particularly like how the weathering and the moss has changed one hand to black while keeping the other hand white. Seems to me to carry a suggestion of the old adage, "Time Heals All Wounds."
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Here's a War for Independence in Piedmont NC ramble (The Day In Question is July 29)...

Growing up I did a lot of riding around in Chatham, Moore, Randolph, Orange, Guilford, Alamance, Durham, & Wake Counties-The Heart of North Carolina. Firstly, my parents were big hospital visitors, maybe that was a function of their own life cycles or advances in medicine. Secondly, my Deddy ran a hardware store & we were constantly going here & there to pick up water pumps or put them in the ground or deliver this or fix that. He knew ALL the back roads too. Thirdly, we attended a lot of small political rallies-never-Never GOP by the way-in school auditoriums & gyms in little towns throughout that region. And lastly, they were big followers of high school basketball & we regularly drove to games, often in those same towns & venues, across the winter months.

In doing that I came to despise one David Fanning. There was a NC Historical Marker proclaiming his meanness in Pittsboro but I also saw evidence of his evil in Eli Whitney (Alamance), near Ramseur/Asheboro/Cox’s Mill (Randolph), Hillsborough (Orange), & Carthage (Moore). These markers, “History On A Stick”-sparked me to read & to try & understand my own history.

Back to Fanning. His story attests to the nastiness that was our War for Independence & the degree to which it was also a civil war. In 1781 Fanning managed to gather some 700 North Carolinians dedicated to preserving monarchical rule. Countering that commitment were multiple pockets of Resistance throughout the colony. Fanning has been described as vicious & truth be told, it appears he was - and so were many of the engagements of that conflict. I think we are often given to believe that war was somehow different from later ones but simply following Fanning’s July through September 1781 terror campaign through the Piedmont should extinguish those imaginings.

Fanning was appointed Colonel of the “Loyal Militia of Randolph & Chatham” on July 5, 1781. On July 18 Fanning attacked the courthouse in Pittsboro & took captive numerous pro-Independence activists. On July 29 he led the attack described below on the Alston home near Carthage. Throughout August Fanning spent his time in the Cape Fear region claiming supplies. Back in the Piedmont, on September 12 Fanning attacked Hillsborough & nigh destroyed the Government of Resistance, kidnapping Rebel Governor Thomas Burke. Burke wrote later of his poor treatment at Fanning’s hands. On September 13 Fanning fought off an attempt to free the governor & other captives at Lindley’s Mill. Note that ALL these actions occurred AFTER the Battle of Guilford Courthouse & the movement out of the colony of General Cornwallis’ British regular Army.

Fanning fought until forced to flee to Canada where he led an auspicious life not uncontroversial & flecked with notable acts that hardly absolve him. Was I correct in my child’s vision of Fanning as Evil? He was certainly daring & ruthless & ultimately on the wrong side of MY history. He did himself no favors in his comportment & mentions of kindness &/or compassion are absent from his story. He was convicted of rape in his later life but received a government pardon, a fact that certainly indicates a rotten, soulless cretin.

On to The On This Day:
#OTD (July 29) in 1781 British Loyalists led by David Fanning attacked Rebelling Colonists bivouacked at the home of their commander Philip Alston. Temperance Alston hid her children in the chimney & when Tories threatened to burn them out, she negotiated peace, saving the property & lives-This place is known as The House in the Horseshoe(Moore) because of its location in a bend of the Deep River. https://www.ncdcr.gov/.../attack-at-house-in-the-horseshoe
Check out (And Search) the NC Historic Marker Website HERE: http://www.ncmarkers.com/search.aspx.
 
I also liked the Tv series TURN: Washington’s Spies
Ran on AMC 10 years ago. Hollywoodized depiction of true events.
 
WaynetheDrain said:
Fuck off. If you were a man of your convictions, you’d boycott the show since your fearless leader is doing his best to put PBS out of business.
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Nice. You don’t know anything about me. I’m a fan of Burns (and history) and love his documentaries. PBS can survive just fine without government subsidies.
 
05C40 said:
At the same church as the previous photo, Nazareth Presbyterian, is this photo of a Civil War Veteran, who died in 1877. I particularly like how the weathering and the moss has changed one hand to black while keeping the other hand white. Seems to me to carry a suggestion of the old adage, "Time Heals All Wounds."
1747417469636.jpeg
Click to expand...
Still a lot of healing to do.
 
I don't doubt that the Trump, Miller, Johnson, Maga regime, etc., doesn’t think too much of Ken Burns. If they think of him and his documentaries at all it's probably with disdain that he speaks with a voice that may contradict their ideas of what "making America great again" entails. They probably think of Burns as being "woke", a "libtard", an insurrectionist. They probably think: how dare he spin the history of this great nation into something which rational, intellectual, intelligent people may find interesting, compelling and truthful.

The bit about "the loyalists being conservatives and that King George wasn't a tyrant"... that hits too close to home for Maga - as they too believe being loyal to King Trump (above all else) is what being a "patriot" is all about.

This documentary will serve as a mirror lifted up to the faces of Maga and they will try to spin it in a way where they see themselves as the "tea party" all over again. They will refuse to see themselves as the loyalists - the enemy of the fledgling United States of America. But the reality is, they are indeed those civilians who cast their lot with the enemy. They are the redcoats. Their republican party is the red side wearing their red maga hats. If they had it to do all over again, Maga would be fighting on the side of the British in this very day.
 
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