The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen

I have only seen the Daniel Boone episode at this point, but I loved it. They left out a lot, but it's the History Channel and they tend to do that, plus they only had a certain amount of time.

I like how they included Boone's daughter as being a strong woman.

I beg of anyone who knows, to tell me the theme song.

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.

"90 minutes after the battle begins the Alamo falls..."

I'm not a historian or even a super history buff... BUT... I KNOW that the Battle of the Alamo took 13 days... NOT 90 minutes. Maybe the final siege, AFTER holding out for 12 days, took 90 minutes... But they didn't once mention the previous 12 days of battle that they fought off Santa Ana! The Alamo is one of the greatest standoffs of all time and bought Sam Houston the time he needed to rally enough forces to defeat Santa Ana and secure Texas for America.

I thought this was THE HISTORY Channel.

The rest is entertaining but I'm not sure how accurate now. It's produced well enough.

And interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections. Let these influencing powers actuate, by the permission or disposal of Providence, from selfish or social views, yet in time the mysterious will of Heaven is unfolded, and we behold our conduct, from whatever motives excited, operating to answer the important designs of heaven. -Daniel Boonel

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.