John Adams series on HBO

[Stalwart]

Zack is trolling.  Don't give him the satisfaction. 

Lock the thread, and go watch the series.   

[gyrene81]

I did watch the series...slow...over acted...a little theatrical in places...ok for what it was but not worthy of much more than a nod.

[Halo]

What, no one has mentioned how much he depended on his wife, who always had something wise to say about everything?

[TracerX]

What, no one has mentioned how much he depended on his wife, who always had something wise to say about everything?

I think they put the best possible spin upon the relationship between Adams and his wife.  The relationship was completely foreign to the one I had created in my mind, however I found the series interpretation much more enjoyable to watch, so much so that I do not protest in the slightest at its liberties.  I would prefer to remember Abigail the way she was portrayed in the series over any other.  There is no doubt that they were inseperable in both mind and spirit.

[texasmom]

I loved it.  It's terrible that I didn't necessarily picture any of those guys from that time period as actual people... just stoic sitting-still-for-the-photo guys.  If not for anything else, it prompted me to reread some of the books from that period & see those folks with a little bit more of a realistic view.

[Saxman]

just stoic sitting-still-for-the-photo guys.

What photos?

[texasmom]

What photos?

In the books. You're right though... they're 'artists renditions...' not photos.  *grin*

[Widewing]

Native American Indians?

We didn't enslave them, we merely shot them....

[Widewing]

America history is spotless then?

Compared to English history? Linen white.

[Chalenge]

We didn't enslave them, we merely shot them....

Who is this 'we' you are referring to?  

I think we can blame it all on the attitudes of the early Spanish explorers and after that it was on again off again expansionism. Quite often times it was kill or be killed and to point fingers from the comfort of your computer desk and say it was 'that countries fault' or the result of genocide toward an entire way of life is a great over-simplification and completely dishonest.

[zack1234]

Zack is trolling.  Don't give him the satisfaction. 

Lock the thread, and go watch the series.   

Trolling? I asked a legit question about a American politician and I got a sarcastic answer.
By the way I  proud of my country and if you don't like fair enough, I won't be insulting your country as you have with mine.

[Chalenge]

Flaw is a nice safe word, Britain banned slavery not Adams and Jefferson.

No this was a flame on one of our Presidents (not a particularly great one but still a forefather and due a great deal of respect) and it is factually incorrect. It was Jefferson that banned the slave trade in 1807 before Parliament did in England. On March 3 1807 President Thomas Jefferson signed into act a bill approved by Congress the day before “to prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States.” Three weeks later on the 25th the British House of Lords passed an Act for the Abolition of The Slave Trade.

By law even after the Slave Trade Acts were law the trade itself could not be abolished until 1808 and so the United States ended slave trading on January 1 1808 and England on March 1 1808 (ironically delivering African captives to America).

[zack1234]

I apologise if I insulted a American president this was not meant as a insult, despots and insulting the British monarchy is seen as a insult to the British.
Again I state you talk about freedom and liberty, and ignore the major fact that it was freedom for a select few.
Jefferson had slaves and talked about freedom and liberty from despots, again this is not meant as a insult.
We in Britain are told every day in the liberal media how evil our forefathers were, my forefathers were living in slums in Liverpool and living to the ripe old age of 25.

God save the queen and her corgis

[wrag]

I apologise if I insulted a American president this was not meant as a insult, despots and insulting the British monarchy is seen as a insult to the British.
Again I state you talk about freedom and liberty, and ignore the major fact that it was freedom for a select few.
Jefferson had slaves and talked about freedom and liberty from despots, again this is not meant as a insult.
We in Britain are told every day in the liberal media how evil our forefathers were, my forefathers were living in slums in Liverpool and living to the ripe old age of 25.

God save the queen and her corgis

The actual facts of what happened and why have been obscured by some................ for a reason.  IMHO you don't have the ACTUAL facts, but many here in America today haven't gotten them either.  And IMHO that was done DELIBERATELY and for a purpose.  I could go on but I'm tired of getting banned for a week or so LOL.  Might want to go have a look at FlameWarriors BBS.  But people aren't always nice over there though     

[Saxman]

I apologise if I insulted a American president this was not meant as a insult, despots and insulting the British monarchy is seen as a insult to the British.
Again I state you talk about freedom and liberty, and ignore the major fact that it was freedom for a select few.
Jefferson had slaves and talked about freedom and liberty from despots, again this is not meant as a insult.

FYI: The original Declaration of Independence included a clause for the total abolition of slavery. Jefferson was adamant on it, and so was Adams, and they fought tooth and nail for it for the very reason you point out here.

The problem was to keep the South (particularly the Deep South) on board they were forced to remove it.