Times that Tried Our Souls
In history class this semester our middle-school-age daughter is learning about the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. So I emailed her teacher to ask what movies we should rent to supplement her in-class education. I also recalled a few flicks from my past. We loaded up our Netflix queue, and for the past week or so we've had History Nights at the Glahns (replacing popcorn with ice cream sodas).
We started with "Johnny Tremain," a fictional account of a young man who lived at the time of the Boston Tea party. Then we watched Jeff Daniels a
s George Washington in "The Crossing,"--focused on the famous Christmas assault on the well-supplied, well-trained Hessians when rebel troops crossed the icy Delaware, some of them without shoes (br-r-r-r!). That little ragtag crew, against all odds, turned the tide.
s George Washington in "The Crossing,"--focused on the famous Christmas assault on the well-supplied, well-trained Hessians when rebel troops crossed the icy Delaware, some of them without shoes (br-r-r-r!). That little ragtag crew, against all odds, turned the tide.
From there we moved to the War of 1812. This collection of documentaries focuses on the difficult time in our nation's history during which Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner as he watched foreign troops bomb the heck out of our fort. As it happened, our family watched the collection over the two evenings that coincided with the U.S. stock market suffering its biggest point drop in history.
We learned how the British ran our government out of Washington (Dolly Madison delayed long enough to save George Washington's portrait) and the enemy set the White House and Capitol on fire. Watching that put the days' trials into perspective. ("Okay, the economy is going to pot, but at least the White House and the Capitol Building aren't burning.") More interesting than that, though, was to hear how the very night the enemy took our capitol, a hurricane/tornado hit Washington, D.C., and drove out the previously victorious troops, taking such a number that they had to retreat. Even the commentator on the documentary referred to it as "a miracle." Add to that the unbelievable odds-beating Battle of New Orleans, one of the greatest all-time military surprises. It's history. Yes. But to be honest it's felt more like extended testimonies, with evidence after evidence of benevolent Sovereignty. Not a bad reminder at a time when we question why we stashed that cash in our 401(K) instead of booking an Alaska cruise.