With the Fourth of July right around the corner, it brought to mind movies and books that has our unique American history as the subject. I have been here long enough that I think you know how much I love movies and books. The American Revolution is a subject I find fascinating. I enjoy all kinds of history, but our country’s founding fathers are of big interest to me. I have read several books on George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin.
I have also read books about Martha Washington and Abigail Adams. I am particularly interested in the people and their lives, more than I am battle strategies, etc. How our leaders make decisions during war is something I do find interesting, but the further I go back in history, the more I want to read about these people as people and not just historical icons.
I have a book that was written by Mary Higgins Clark titled, Mount Vernon Love Story, A Novel of George and Martha Washington. Just as the title explains the book is about these two people before and after they met. It is not a very large book and when I first purchased it, I read it in one sitting. I have since re-read it several times.
The extra interesting thing about Abigail Adams is she was both a wife of a President and the mother of a President. She herself sacrificed much for our independence and she was a strong support for her husband John Adams. She didn’t just sit on the sidelines, she was involved, educated and a true Patriot.
David McCullough’s book, John Adams was the origin for HBO’s miniseries, also by that title. Paul Giamatti plays Adams and Laura Linney is Abigail. I highly recommend the book and the series. The miniseries aired in 2008 and it is available for rental and purchase. The story of Adams’ entire family is inspirational as well as very human. It takes them from that historical, cardboard, icon and brings them to life.
Tom Wilkinson’s portrayal of Ben Franklin in that miniseries is another high point. You found yourself not liking Ben at times. Ben was such a complex person. I have the impression he would be a great guest for a party. He was also a ladies’ man and was very at home with the French. All of the representations of these historical men, especially Jefferson, diligently work to bring you the real personalities.
Jeff Daniels starred in The Crossing in 2000. This was a made for cable-TV presentation. Jeff Daniels, in my opinion, does a great job portraying Washington. This movie takes you into the problems and all other aspects of the war. Plus it takes you into Washington’s decisions and his determination. But, he was human and there were times Washington was very weary, and you see that as well.
The year 2000 also brought us another favorite of mine, The Patriot. Mel Gibson is Benjamin Martin, a widower and father to a large brood of children. The oldest, Gabriele is played by Heath Ledger. The story focuses on this particular family and how the revolution pushed them into change regardless of much they fought to keep it at bay.
The flip side of the focus in this movie is the militia. The militia was your everyday men including farmers, merchants, preachers and very young boys. The movie does take liberty in bringing you the behavior of the British leaders and those who didn’t follow the protocols of war. You also see the type of fighting that frustrates me. One side stands on one side of the field and the other stands directly across. They start firing. If you are in the front row, it didn’t look very good for you. This back and forth of gunfire coming towards each other makes you question intelligence of military leaders. But, it is a different time and world that I cannot completely relate to.
There is a film I have not been able to get a hold of as of yet. Revolution is a film released in 1984 with Al Pacino and Donald Southerland. Al Pacino is a New York trapper, Tom Dobb, who becomes an unwilling participant in the American Revolution after his son Ned is drafted into the Army by the villainous Sergeant Major Peasy. Tom attempts to find his son, and eventually becomes convinced that he must take a stand and fight for the freedom of the Colonies. I have heard many good opinions of this film and I hope to get a chance some day to actually see it.
I have a small copy of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. The first time I read Common Sense, I felt like I had to work myself through. It was not a sit back and relaxing kind of read. The writing style for one was difficult for me to get familiar with. Mr. Paine’s sentence structure runs on and is dense. However my second try at reading this book did go easier. This book was published in 1776 and it focused on two things; independence from England and creating a democratic republic. Mr. Paine also used many verses from the bible to make a point and he wrote in the every day voice of that time period.
If you have never read Common Sense, you might want to check it out. It explains the whole concept of the revolution. He also helps you see the Crown as abusive and why we needed to sever our ties with the Crown. I think this book boosted the cause of the patriots. This book was a best seller when it was released.You can find the entire book on many web sites.
Here is a link to one that is easy to navigate through. http://www.bartleby.com/133/index.html
So there are just few things that came to my mind concerning our Fourth of July holiday. As always I would love to know the reaction of our founding fathers if they could see us today. There are many, many books on this subject, some I still have on my must read list. I tell my kids I will live for a long time because God would never make me leave without reading all the books I want to read!
You all take care and stay safe,
KJ
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