America, The Story of Us TV series Review

History In The Very Broadest Of Strokes

I was excited about America: The Story of Us when it was first announced, and eagerly awaited the series. I began watching with the understanding that not all events in American history would be covered. Indeed, even a thirty to forty hour series wouldn’t be able to do that. Still, I was very upset by just how much was left out.

Rather than present a labored review of all episodes in the series, I’ll focus on the episodes that covered the1840s to the Civil War because they represent all problems I had with the entire series. In the episode, “Westward,” the story unfolds about how the pioneers moved west trying to reach California. The series relates some brief, interesting anecdotes and there are promising introductions of significant people, but after these quick mentions most are not brought up again. One major claim I found very troubling in the episode was the description of Mexico as a “super power.” Mexico was far from it at the time, and had experienced nothing but unrest since its independence from Spain in the 1820s. In fact, the government had changed hands over twenty times in twenty years. Even Mexican historians acknowledge that it was not prepared for a war with the United States and that factions in Mexico could not even unite properly during the conflict. None of this is explained in the episode, and the war is only mentioned in passing in a later episode. This was a great injustice, as it follows the path of other failed series which overlooked a pivotal war in American history. Nor does the show talk about the major political figures such as Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, or James K. Polk, or social movements and shifts in public opinion of the time that led to the war and shaped the period. Rather, it uses the broadest of brush strokes to barely touch on the topic, and seems to rely more on special effects to make the episode interesting. Finally, speakers like Donald Trump, Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, New Gingrich, Sheryl Crow, and Michael Stratham have nothing important to add to the subject. The series did interview Pulitzer Prize winning author Daniel Walker Howe about the period, but only briefly.

The series does devote an entire episode to the buildup to the Civil War, and another episode to the fighting in the Civil War, and it does talk about the evils of slavery and the several innovations such as embalming and the increased use of telegraph lines and trains, which occurred during the war. However, the episodes never refer to the Compromise of 1820 or the Compromise of 1850 and provide no profiles of either abolitionists or those who favored slavery. Once the war begins, the series does not give an overall strategic view of what happened during the war, or any events on either home front. The episode doesn’t even mention Gettysburg! Grant and Lee are introduced, but with the exception of a few more short anecdotes in no particular order, the episodes concluded with a great deal of important material left unexamined. Given the fact that the History Channel has interviewed such noted Civil War historians as James McPherson, Gary Gallagher, and William Davis for past shows, it’s very surprising that they were not included in this one.

Overall, the series grossly oversimplifies American history and does very little to add to it, carelessly skipping over essential events and people. If you are just starting to learn about American history, this show may be a useful tool. However, if you are like me and wanted a little more depth, with notable theories and evidence about why things occurred, you will find this series very disappointing and may likely be reminded of the worst substitute history teacher you ever had.

Thoughts on the Death of bin Laden

Like all Americans, I celebrated the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a raid in Pakistan Sunday night. I thought back to 9/11 when I was awoken by my father, who told me something bad had happened at the World Trade Center. I spent the rest of the day sitting with my ninth grade class watching as the news stations played and replayed the planes disintegrating into the twin towers, the smoking aftermath of the attack on the Pentagon and Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, and the unbelievable collapse of the towers themselves.

After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan several weeks later, I thought it would only be a matter of time until bin Laden was caught or killed, and I was sure they had him in Tora Bora. Then I watched helplessly as it was reported that the Northern Alliance allowed a cease fire which gave him the chance to escape. Over the years, the hunt for him stalled and public attention turned to Iraq and the economy. bin Laden dwindled to a shadowy figure who occasionally released video and audio tapes. While other key al-Qaeda members were being killed or captured, bin Laden remained elusive. Eventually, I came to believe that between the fierce tribal loyalty which surrounded him and the endless, rugged mountainous terrain of his hiding place, he would never be found. I fully expected he would be able to stay out of sight until the day he would die in a cave and be secretly buried.

Now bin Laden is dead, the result of what will likely be considered one of the more complex and brilliantly executed raids in history, his body positively identified with the help of his relative’s DNA and slipped into the Arabian Sea from the deck of a U.S. carrier.

If President Barrack Obama is gloating a bit, he certainly deserves to do so. Had anything gone wrong, had the helicopters been shot down or any of the Special Forces been killed, he would have borne the brunt of the blame. I haven’t been a huge Obama fan, but I am the first to admit he made a hard call that was successful, and he will get a massive and well deserved bump in the polls. It will be even better if everyone remembers that there is other credit that’s also well-deserved; the credit for how the intelligence was gathered, how the operation was planned and its secrecy protected, and most important, how it was ultimately carried out – successfully – by the Special Forces who stormed the compound.

I was inspired by the unbridled patriotism that followed Obama’s speech. The day may long be remembered as my generation’s V-J Day (August 14, 1945 when Japan announced it would surrender to the Allies, ending World War II). While Americans and our supporters should indeed celebrate, I sincerely hope we won’t now think that the war is over or that we can now simply leave the Middle East. Dangerous men like Yemen’s Anwar al-Awlaki and Egypt’s Ayman al-Zawahiri remain at large to threaten American lives, and they will not simply go away.

The Special Forces’ success will send al-Qaeda further underground, and make them look over their shoulders. They will continue to plan attacks on us, though their communications will become more difficult and the U.S. will surely exploit all of that intelligence they gathered during the raid. Also, there is a chance that internal conflict may erupt in the ranks of al-Qaeda as they work to fill the void – though, according to terrorism experts, there is no one who will enjoy the level of extremist support bin Laden had.

While others may point out that the death of one bad guy won’t matter when so many others are still out there, one thing has been made refreshingly clear, at least to me: Hurt us, and we will find you, no matter how long it takes.