The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen

Never have I understood American history like this before! For the first time in my life, there's coherency and continuity from the Revolutionary War to Westward Expansion to the War of 1812 leading up to the Alamo. Before this series, all these events along with their key players were just independent events in American history with no "red strings" between them, now, the names that were somewhat familiar before are heroes with depth and the events pivotal and momentous to build what America is today.

I found this series to be informative and balanced, explaining both the perspectives of the natives and the westward-pushing Americans. Along the way, tidbits of knowledge filled in gaps of my own. For example. I never knew that Sacagawea had been stolen as a child and was reunited with her brother while guiding Lewis and Clark - a fact that saved the expedition. The series abounds with these factoids.

I have one complaint, though. Couldn't the producers have found a flat part of New Zealand to film some of the scenes in? I cringe when I see scenes supposedly of lower Michigan, northwest Ohio or central Indiana, filmed in a mountainous area. Those locales might pass for Wyoming or North Carolina, but not the flat flat flat Midwest.

Nonetheless, the series is entertaining and I recommend it.

This series is very informative, well-balanced, and covers the critical time in the US history as we emerged from a colony until we were literally coast-to-coast. Of course many areas and many people are ignored in order to cover the scope of the enormous events and some people get a little more attention than perhaps they should. In addition, there are some notable errors (e.g., the battle of the Alamo didn't take a single day). So don't expect a history lesson. It's entertainment and along the way there is a lot to learn about the country's history, most of it true.

It's great to finally see some real history shows back on the History Channel. The best thing about this series is that it gives a broad and sweeping overview of the frontier history of the United States from the time of the Revolutionary War to the Texas Revolution. It hits on most of the major historical events and some of the big names involved like Daniel Boone, William Henry Harrison, Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, etc. But as many others have pointed out there are some really glaring historical inaccuracies and some really bad editing. A couple of the historical errors that stand out to me was describing the Battle of Fallen Timbers as being fought between Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison. Wrong. The American forces that defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers were commanded by Gen. Anthony Wayne. Harrison was merely one of the officers in Wayne's camp. And while Tecumseh certainly fought against the Americans at Fallen Timbers, the Indian force was commanded by the Shawnee chief Blue Jacket. And the problems with uniforms is just horribly distracting. The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought in 1811, but shows William Henry Harrison and his troops dressed in Revolutionary War era uniforms complete with knee breeches and tricorn hats! Inexplicably there are other battle scenes where some of the soldiers are shown in Revolutionary War era uniforms while others are shown in more accurate War of 1812 style uniforms. This may seem like nitpicking, but these kind of editing gaffes should be below the History Channel on a show with this level of production values. Legends of the Old Northwest, a show from the History Channel in the late 1990s did a much better job of portraying the history of this era. I applaud History for creating a series like this and I think it is well worth watching for those interested in the early history of the United States, but I wish they had done a better job in some respects.

There's a lot of great stuff to enjoy in this series, but as usual it's a typical case of Anglo-American-centric history, ignoring two important players.

Fur trader Anthony Sadowski was the first white man to explore the fledgling "western territories." His grandson Jacob Sadowski was by some accounts the first to guide Daniel Boone down the trails allegedly "blazed" by Boone.

The Sadowskis, like the Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the earliest Polish settlers in the early 1600s, routinely get shafted by American historians (and the History Channel) who continue to toe the official Anglo-American party line - furthering an incomplete view of our national history to serve a political agenda instituted after the Revolution.