The movie “The Patriot,” depicts what life was like during the American Revolutionary in the late seventeenth century. Though the movie is considered a historical film, according to some historians, there are many inaccuracies found throughout the plot. Roland Emmerich, the director did want the general plot of the film to be true, so he spoke with historians at the Smithsonian concerning costumes, props, and the set. This is most likely why experts say that the villages, taverns and plantations, all part of colonial Charleston, seem like a historically accurate depiction of the setting. The Fort Carolina set was also called impressive, since the British built many forts that were constructed very similarly to the one in the movie. Emmerich’s …show more content…
Benjamin Martin is a combination of three different leaders that actually lived and were part of the Revolutionary War. These include Thomas Sumter and Andrew Pickens, and Francis Marion. Like Benjamin in the movie, Sumter and Pickens both had plantations that were burned in by the British. Little is shared with Gibson’s character, other than this similarity. On the other hand, Marion, the primary person that Benjamin’s character is modeled after, was a militia leader in South Carolina, like Martin. Nicknamed the “Swamp Fox,” he was known for his swift and sneaky attacks. In the movie, Benjamin’s also shares this quality and is referred to as the “ghost.” Unlike Martin, Marion was not a respected leader though. According to one British historian, he was “a serial rapist who hunted Indians for fun.” Other than these small details, Benjamin Martin’s character is completely …show more content…
A significant number of these resided in Georgia and the Carolinas where the story takes place. In fact, much of the fighting that was done here involved civil wars between the Tories and Whigs. The movie introduces only one Loyalist soldier, Captain Wilkins, who is part of Tavington’s dragoon, making it seem as though Loyalists were rare. This seems strange since half of the British army in the South was comprised of Loyalist militia and provincial units. At the end of the story, Martin finally gets revenge on Tavington for the death of his sons, and the Patriots force the fictional General Cornwallis to surrender in the last big war scene. Next, Martin talks about the arrival of the French soon after, who win an important naval battle at Chesapeake Bay, which leads to the siege on Yorktown. This is one of the final blows, which decided the end of the war and the Treaty of Paris. This is one of the few parts of the film that seems to align with
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers to the United States, was not a patriot but a mere loyalist to England before the dissolution between England and the colonies occurred. Sheila L. Skemp's The Making of a Patriot explores how Benjamin Franklin tried to stay loyal to the crown while taking interest in the colonies perception and their own representation in Parliament. While Ms. Skemp alludes to Franklin's loyalty, her main illustration is how the attack by Alexander Wedderburn during the Privy Council led to Franklin's disillusionment with the British crown and the greater interest in making the Thirteen Colonies their own nation. Her analysis of Franklin's history in Parliament and what occurred on the night that the council convened proves the change behind Franklin's beliefs and what lead to his involvement in the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.
Many famous people were involved in these battles. Paul Revere was a patriot who is well-known for his famous midnight ride.
Gallipoli is a historical film released in 1981 (directed by Peter Weir) which chronicles the lives of two young Australian men, and their journey through enlisting in the Australian Army and serving in the Battle of Gallipoli, of the First World War. The film itself represents the past through three main aspects. Firstly, the film both reflects and influences societal values and attitudes, and in this way mythologises aspects of history, specifically when considering the ‘ANZAC legend’. Simultaneously the film is able to shape societies knowledge of parts of history, looking at the futility of war in conjunction with a partial shift in blame for the immense number of casualties (26,000 Australians) of the campaign. Finally, in the films representation
This Battles costed the Americans 115 men killed, 305 men wounded and 30 men held hostage. Later on gathered together from New Hampshire being under controlled by John Stark and James Reed. On June 16th Colonel William Prescott separated cambridge with over 1,200 men going across Charlestown Neck, But the British was was wanting to attack on June 18th.
Many suspect that they were with Washington only to maximize the hate on both sides of the battle. They went against Washington’s orders to not be the aggressors. Soon large units of British and American soldiers were sent to settle what should have been small battles. The French however were prepared to fight back and even had the Indians as allies to help with upcoming battles. In July, Braddock’s army which consisted of over 2000 British soldiers rode west with George Washington and came upon 250 plus French soldiers with over 600 Indians allies. Nearly 1000 British were killed, unlike George Washington who was unhurt during the battle was soon promoted to commander of the Virginia army for his bravery. (Roark 146)
II. Movie Summary: “The Patriot” takes place during the Revolutionary War. It’s 1776 and intense fighting is going on in the north, while in the south the people are scrambling to recruit anyone who was willing to fight against the British. The main character, Benjamin Martin, is a veteran of the French and Indian war who wants independence from Britain, but is not willing to risk the safety of his already motherless children by going to war. His son Gabriel however, has a different view of the war, and enlists in the Continental Army without the consent of his father. Soon Benjamin is forced into action whether he wanted to be or not. When helping out hurt and wounded soldiers from both sides at his home he is viewed as a traitor, and Gabriel is ordered to be hanged. Benjamin’s son Thomas tries to help Gabriel, but is shot and killed by the brutal and nasty Colonel William Tavington, who also orders the Martin’s house to be burned to the ground. This understandably pushes Benjamin over the edge. He and his two younger sons then by themselves gun down over 20 redcoats and rescue Gabriel. Benjamin’s quick shooting and stealthful movements earn him the nickname of “The Ghost.” He then leaves his children with their aunt Charlotte, and forms a small militia group full of locals to help in the fight against the British and for personal revenge. Martin’s militia accounts for many redcoat deaths and cause a lot of trouble for the British. Col. Tavington however, results to his brutal tactics against the families and loved ones of the soldiers in Martin’s militia. Tavington is responsible for the deaths of Gabriel’s, wife, most of the citizens of their SC town, and later Gabriel himself as well. Martin’s army however overcomes much adversity, and plays a large part in the Continental effort. They later join up with the main Continental Army, and along with the long awaited arrival of the French, force Cornwallis and the British to surrender at Yorktown. Benjamin also gets his revenge by killing Tavington in the battle. This spells victory for the Americans and p...
This story, as a whole, possesses both strengths and weaknesses. This book has two strengths. One of those strengths is that the book contains pictures. The pictures add a visual context to the story, which is quite useful and helpful to those in the audience that are visual learners. For example, in the eight pages in between pages 138 and 139 contain pictures along with descriptive captions. Some of these pictures include the famous picture or painting of the Boston Massacre, John Burgoyne, Major-General Sir Henry Clinton, Charles Lee, a political cartoon named “Six-Pence a Day”, a self-portrait of Major John Andre, a British drummer and fifer, General Burgoyne’s camp and German mercenaries of the Prince Carl Regiment. Throughout the book, there are also pages that contain various maps. By including these pictures in the book, as well as many others, readers are able to visualize the American Revolutionary War and its events as they read through the text. By doing this, they are able to better understand the book’s content and storyline. The second of these strengths is its organization. By putting the events in chronological order, the audience is able to create a mental timeline of war’s happenings and helps them
Over the years there has been a numerous amount of Hollywood films produced that were roughly based on historical settings. Sometimes the stories are accurate, but often times the stories are changed to fit the needs of entertainment and profit. In 1998, a film named Saving Private Ryan was produced in an attempt to retell the story of Sergeant Frederick Niland. However, the film is not as accurate as many assumed it to be. Personally, not knowing the true story of the film I too thought it was a lot similar to the actual events than it truly is.
The Patriot, written by Robert Rodat, takes place in South Carolina and reveals a widowed father’s love for his family and trying to keep them together, despite the Revolutionary War that had begun. Trying to keep his demons from reappearing, Benjamin Martin faces his fear of his past coming back to haunt him after serving in the French and Indian War. Martin is a South Carolina farmer who lost his wife, Elizabeth, and reluctantly signs up to join the Continental Army after his eldest son, Gabriel joined the regulars to fight against the British. After a battle began on Martin’s plantation, Benjamin helped wounded soldiers from both sides and was approached by William Tavington, a colonel with the British. During this confrontation Tavington informed Martin that anyone who assisted soldiers of the Continental Army would lose their home. Tavington then threatened Martin’s children and captured Gabriel, a military courier delivering dispatches between Continental Army units, and a younger son, Thomas was killed by Colonel Tavington, while trying to save his brother’s life. And despite Martin’s soulful plea, his son was not spared nor was his home.
When thinking of the most important men in US history, Abraham Lincoln is someone who will always be brought up. Lincoln is most known for saving the Union and writing the Emancipation Proclamation. Because of this, he is remembered as a hero and one of the most respected presidents in the United States’ history. Often times when looking back on respected historical figures, there can be a tendency to misremember things or omit details to cement the figure into the legacy we want to remember. Hollywood is especially notorious for creating films “based on a true story,” but are heavily altered for the sake of the film’s plot. This leads to the question, is Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” a historically accurate representation of Lincoln, or is it Hollywood misremembering details, or adding their own plot lines?
After an intensely bloody and graphic scene where the Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France on D-Day, 1944, a squad of eight American soldiers was assembled for a special mission to find and save Private James Ryan, played by Matt Damon. Mrs. Ryan, played by Amanda Boxer, was about to received notice that three of her four sons had been killed in action during war. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, played by Harve Presnell, made the decision to try and save her last son and return him home. The Academy award winning WWII film Saving Private Ryan by Stephen Spielberg goes beyond simple entertainment because of the movies historical accuracy, believable characters and its realistic story of courage
The revolutionary war of the United States of America was a time of many important battles fought in the name of freedom and independence from Great Britain, the greatest military power of the world at the time. One of these famous battles that took part of the history of the American Revolution is known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. Taking place on the night of June 16, 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill was a battle that resulted in an American loss of the battle, but also hurt the British Army significantly and boosted the American rebels’ morale during the Revolution. The battle took place in Charleston, Massachusetts, specifically on the Charleston Peninsula, which was home to Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill and had a vital oversight of the Boston Harbor, the most important harbor in the Americas at the time.
The film, The Flags of our Fathers, recreates the American perspective in the Battle of Iwo Jima. The storyline was focused on the three of the six men who raised the flag in the famous and iconic photo taken by Joe Rosenthal. To discover more about the events and if Clint Eastwood portrayed the battle in a historically accurate manner, I decided to base my research on this topic. I came to the decision to make my hypothesis, “Clint Eastwood accurately presented the experiences of the Battle of Iwo Jima.” I formed and developed questions regarding the accuracy of the film in regards to the American and Japanese perspectives of the films the director, Clint Eastwood presented. My primary questions are, “Does the film accurately represent the
The movie I decided to analyze for this course was American History X (1998), which stars Edward Norton. Though this movie isn’t widely known, it is one of the more interesting movies I have seen. It’s probably one of the best films that depict the Neo Nazi plague on American culture. The film takes place from the mid to late 1990’s during the Internet boom, and touches on subjects from affirmative action to Rodney King. One of the highlights of this movie that really relates to one of the key aspects of this course is the deterrence of capital punishment. Edward Norton’s portrayal as the grief stricken older brother who turns to racist ideologies and violence to cope with his fathers death, completely disregards the consequences of his actions as he brutally murders someone in front of his family for trying to steal his car. The unstable mentality that he developed after his father’s death really goes hand-to-hand specifically with Isaac Ehrlich’s study of capital punishment and deterrence. Although this movie is entirely fictional, a lot of the central themes (racism, crime punishment, gang pervasiveness, and one’s own vulnerability) are accurate representations of the very problems that essentially afflict us as a society.
Wouldn’t it be thrilling to tread into the era of lords, knights and dukes? The War Lord is a 1965 fictional movie directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, and produced by Walter Seltzer. Charlton Heston is the star of the film (Brooke). Visually, The War Lord is remarkably well done. The weapons and sieges on the tower are good. The coarseness of the era is brought to the viewer’s attention. But some aspects of the movie may not be historically accurate. The right of droit du seigneur is practiced in this movie. But did this practice really exist? Also, the movie depicts a village openly practicing Druidism. Would this have been possible for the time period? Although The War Lord does a good job portraying visual aspects of the High Middle Ages, the film is not historically accurate in the way it portrays the right of droit du seigneur or the overt practice of Druidism.