Losing
one’s place in history is another unfortunate drawback to falling on the
battlefield. Had he survived Bunker Hill, Dr. Joseph Warren probably would be
remembered as a Founding Father on par with Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin.
Instead, he sacrificed everything for liberty. Warren and scores of other
overlooked patriots get their due in American Heroes Channel’s three-part The American Revolution (promo here), which premieres
this Monday night, beginning with Rise of
the Patriots.
It
was Warren who dispatched Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride. He was a
founding commander of the Minutemen, the organizer of an early patriot spy ring
within Redcoat occupied Boston, and a leading orator for the cause. Yet,
despite Warren’s prominence, Revere would become the iconic Minuteman. Through
PBS-style dramatizations and several historians’ expert commentary, AHC’s American Revolution gives viewers a
sense of how indispensable the good doctor was to the Patriot campaign in its
earliest days.
Each
installment will have a defining figure like Warren, but other notably
overlooked Revolutionary War heroes will be peppered-in throughout the series. Rise, also duly salutes freed slave Salem
Poor, whose courage at Bunker Hill seems tailored made for a dramatic treatment,
as well as the irascible French and Indian War veteran Samuel Whittemore, who
holds the distinction of being the oldest Revolutionary War veteran and
apparently the hardest to kill.
The
whole approach of the series is quite appealing. Clearly, there is a working
assumption that freedom and love of country are worth fighting for. By focusing
on the worthy but marginalized supporting players, it finds an angle to make
familiar history feel fresh. No cherry trees or kite flying this time around. As an additional bonus,
the talking heads are more engaging and in many cases more interesting to look
at than is often the case in historical programming.
