In this opening program to the "America The Story of Us" series opened to an audience of 5.7 million viewers, a good sized viewership.
This segment begins with the success story of John Rolfe in tobacco planting at the colony of Jamestown. Donald J. Trump appears as a commentator to offer the view that the great success stories in American history are due primarily to brains, as opposed to luck. This was certainly true in the case of the ingenuity of Rolfe whose marriage to Pocahontas did not hurt in advancing his peripatetic career.
The second story presented in the program is the hardscrabble life of the Pilgrims in Plymouth. When Edward Winslow becomes a widower, he marries Susanna White, a widow. They have five children. Today, 10% of Americans may trace their ancestry back to the Mayflower, according to the program. The Pilgrims also make peace with the local Pokanoket tribe, which later became part of the larger Wampanoag after King Philip's War. In the early Plymouth settlement, the two groups join forces to battle the enemy of the Pokanoket. They also celebrated together the first Thanksgiving.
The program then skips ahead to the revolt that was simmering in Boston, the key hub of trade in the American colonies. The thesis explored in the episode is that each new generation of the colonists grew further away from its roots and began to see themselves primarily as Americans.
John Hancock's run-running operation is challenged by the British authorities, who demand a tax. But even when the British back down and rescind all taxes except for tea, it is not good enough for the colonists. The "Bloody Massacre" on King Street on March 5, 1770, is one of the triggers for the revolution to follow. Five colonists are killed, including Crispus Attucks, a black stevedore. The "Boston Gazette" helps to fan the flames.
Another grievance of the colonists was the arbitrary Proclamation Line drawn by the British to prevent settlements to the west. These issues coalesce around the First Continental Congress that convenes on September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia. Delegates included John Adams, Patrick Henry, and George Washington. It is clear that the Congress desires peace with Great Britain, not independence.
But in spring 1775, the die is cast with the "shot heard round the world" at Lexington, Massachusetts. John Parker's group of sixty untrained militia takes on the most formidable and disciplined fighting corps in the world. Eight patriots die and ten are wounded. But at Concord, the Americans learn fast that the way to defeat the British is not in conventional battlefield standoffs, but in guerilla warfare. The stage is set for full-blown revolution.
This segment begins with the success story of John Rolfe in tobacco planting at the colony of Jamestown. Donald J. Trump appears as a commentator to offer the view that the great success stories in American history are due primarily to brains, as opposed to luck. This was certainly true in the case of the ingenuity of Rolfe whose marriage to Pocahontas did not hurt in advancing his peripatetic career.
The second story presented in the program is the hardscrabble life of the Pilgrims in Plymouth. When Edward Winslow becomes a widower, he marries Susanna White, a widow. They have five children. Today, 10% of Americans may trace their ancestry back to the Mayflower, according to the program. The Pilgrims also make peace with the local Pokanoket tribe, which later became part of the larger Wampanoag after King Philip's War. In the early Plymouth settlement, the two groups join forces to battle the enemy of the Pokanoket. They also celebrated together the first Thanksgiving.
The program then skips ahead to the revolt that was simmering in Boston, the key hub of trade in the American colonies. The thesis explored in the episode is that each new generation of the colonists grew further away from its roots and began to see themselves primarily as Americans.
John Hancock's run-running operation is challenged by the British authorities, who demand a tax. But even when the British back down and rescind all taxes except for tea, it is not good enough for the colonists. The "Bloody Massacre" on King Street on March 5, 1770, is one of the triggers for the revolution to follow. Five colonists are killed, including Crispus Attucks, a black stevedore. The "Boston Gazette" helps to fan the flames.
Another grievance of the colonists was the arbitrary Proclamation Line drawn by the British to prevent settlements to the west. These issues coalesce around the First Continental Congress that convenes on September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia. Delegates included John Adams, Patrick Henry, and George Washington. It is clear that the Congress desires peace with Great Britain, not independence.
But in spring 1775, the die is cast with the "shot heard round the world" at Lexington, Massachusetts. John Parker's group of sixty untrained militia takes on the most formidable and disciplined fighting corps in the world. Eight patriots die and ten are wounded. But at Concord, the Americans learn fast that the way to defeat the British is not in conventional battlefield standoffs, but in guerilla warfare. The stage is set for full-blown revolution.
