Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Freelancer

(2,107 posts)
Thu Mar 15, 2018, 05:01 AM Mar 2018

"The Men Who Built America - Frontiersmen" was infuriatingly bad

I was really looking forward to this "Frontiersmen" series on History Channel. It was just awful!

IMO, nobody should be pointing their children or their students toward this series. It's the worst kind of program -- not a documentary and not a dramatization. It's just a mess.

I'm not an expert or historian, but I've learned quite a bit. Almost nothing that I learned about Boone and Kentucky over the years was correctly depicted in this series. Some elements were there, yes, but jumbled and rearranged. Important formative events in Boone's life were only touched upon, or ignored completely.

The series completely ignored the presence of slavery and Boone's ownership of slaves -- depicting the Western expansion as a complete white settler vs. native enterprise.

They made it seem that Boone hacked the trail through the Cumberland Gap himself, when in fact it had existed for ages before frontiersmen arrived. He just found out about it and capitalized upon it.

Ugh! There's too much wrong to list.

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
"The Men Who Built America - Frontiersmen" was infuriatingly bad (Original Post) Freelancer Mar 2018 OP
Did not see it, but this I knew ... left-of-center2012 Mar 2018 #1
We avoided this roscoeroscoe Mar 2018 #2
History Lite ..... marble falls Mar 2018 #3
Amazing that they are running a show... BaileyBill Mar 2018 #4
History Channel is junk. JayhawkSD Mar 2018 #5

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
1. Did not see it, but this I knew ...
Thu Mar 15, 2018, 06:46 AM
Mar 2018

(the trail through the Cumberland Gap)

"... it had existed for ages before frontiersmen arrived.
He just found out about it and capitalized upon it."

 

JayhawkSD

(3,163 posts)
5. History Channel is junk.
Thu Mar 15, 2018, 10:22 AM
Mar 2018

They are famous for "history" shows that are a bunch of people running around filthy and dressed like cave men, doing whatever daily activities they believe cave men did.

They do have one show called "Ice Road Truckers" which I rather enjoy, although what it has to do with history I cannot imagine, and if I ran a trucking company I certainly would not hire any of the idiots they have driving the trucks.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»American History»"The Men Who Built Americ...