John Adams

2859 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by mehig, Jun 2, 2016

CAS14

Discussion Starter · May 31, 2016 (Edited by Moderator)

I've been watching an HBO miniseries about John Adams and the early history of our (United States of America) nation. Tonight, I'm watching episode four.

Early in this episode, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were meeting in Paris. Franklin had a very nice brass topper on his stick.

Later, after serving as an Ambassador to England, Adams had returned home. He was walking with a son, counseling him regarding a very young love interest, and he used another stick.

I'm guessing that these sticks were historically well-researched, as the entire series seems to have been, so far.

FYI

Our son visited recently and gifted, then installed, an Apple TV attachment, through which we subscribed HBO Now. That's how I get to the Adams series. Perhaps other options are available, such as Netflix, I don't know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_%28miniseries%29

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CAS14

Discussion Starter · #2 · May 31, 2016

I don't want to begin a political debate, but it is interesting how the issues and human responses then are similar to those now.

Today on Facebook, a Marine unit group that I put up to add to our website, experienced some problems. A political discussion was initiated. Some responses were angry, then insulting even obscene, and eventually threatening. As our parents advised, politics, religion, and other sensitive subjects are best not discussed at the dinner table. I had to permanently remove some elite Marines from the Facebook group.

I'm sad about that.

But in any case, this John Adams miniseries is a real history lesson with info not taught in my history classes, some likely made up for TV, but much likely obtained from the archived correspondence between our founders.

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Batakali

· #3 · May 31, 2016

If it's the same series I saw than you're gonna love the rest of it! On a related note. YouTube has a nice little video on Franklin's stick. Just enter Ben Franklin walking stick. You'll find it pretty easy.

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CAS14

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 31, 2016

Batakali said:
If it's the same series I saw than you're gonna love the rest of it! On a related note. YouTube has a nice little video on Franklin's stick. Just enter Ben Franklin walking stick. You'll find it pretty easy.

Many thanks! Now that's some outstanding American history!

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gdenby

· #5 · Jun 1, 2016

Batakali said:
If it's the same series I saw than you're gonna love the rest of it! On a related note. YouTube has a nice little video on Franklin's stick. Just enter Ben Franklin walking stick. You'll find it pretty easy.

Thanks for the link, I'm watching it now.

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gdenby

· #6 · Jun 1, 2016

CAS14 said:
...

But in any case, this John Adams miniseries is a real history lesson with info not taught in my history classes, some likely made up for TV, but much likely obtained from the archived correspondence between our founders.

Is it the miniseries featuring Paul Giamatti? That was pretty good. Based on a work of the same name by the well respected David McCullough. I enjoyed it, and found that critical reviews were generally positive. Adam's, being the focus of the drama, is shown in a somewhat better light than other historical accounts make him out to be. From what I've read, he was a good bit more irritating, and sometimes pompous that the show portrays.

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CAS14

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 1, 2016

gdenby said:
CAS14 said:

...

But in any case, this John Adams miniseries is a real history lesson with info not taught in my history classes, some likely made up for TV, but much likely obtained from the archived correspondence between our founders.

Click to expand...

Is it the miniseries featuring Paul Giamatti? That was pretty good. Based on a work of the same name by the well respected David McCullough. I enjoyed it, and found that critical reviews were generally positive. Adam's, being the focus of the drama, is shown in a somewhat better light than other historical accounts make him out to be. From what I've read, he was a good bit more irritating, and sometimes pompous that the show portrays.

Yes, that's the one. Finished episode five last night. Even here, Adams is depicted as abrasive and not very warm towards his children. His largest asset seems to be his wife, who tactfully reigns him in, often.

Searching for brass replicas of his fir cap topper. An acquaintance with casting experience participates in the Colonial Williamsburg events, and he's checking with some guys who might know whether such a thing exists.

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mehig

· #8 · Jun 2, 2016

Here's a picture of a Half Crown that was in circulation in John Adam's time. I have a John Q. Adams land grant from around 1820 that I'll post a picture of if anyone is interested.