More History: Sons of Liberty

Television drama is moving in the right direction, realizing you do not need to make up so many new stories when the stories of our past are already so interesting.  As we saw with AMC's Turn and HBO's John Adams, the early years of our nation around the time of the Revolutionary War has plenty of heroes, forbidding battles, and hair-raising outcomes.  

The History Channel is also mining this era with its new drama Sons of Liberty.  It has assembled quite a cast to bring the founding of the nation to life.  The series stars tomorrow night (January 25) and runs for three nights.  Here is the History Channel's description of the series:

SONS OF LIBERTY, the three-night, six-hour event, follows a defiant and radical group of young men–Sam Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Dr. Joseph Warren–as they band together in secrecy to change the course of history and make America a nation.

The Sons of Liberty sparked a revolution, the cast depicting them includes: Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia) as Sam Adams, a natural born leader with charisma and a penchant for mischief; Ryan Eggold (The Black List) as Dr. Joseph Warren, a doctor and man of conscience and integrity; Michael Raymond-James (Jack Reacher, Terriers, True Blood) as Paul Revere, a veteran who wholeheartedly joins forces with Sam Adams; Rafe Spall (Prometheus, Life of Pi) as John Hancock, the wealthiest man in Boston at the time; and Henry Thomas (E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Gangs of New York, Legends of the Fall) as John Adams, a lawyer and the conservative, smart cousin of Sam Adams. Additionally, Marton Csokas (Equalizer, The Lord of the Rings, Rogue) plays the ferocious General Thomas Gage who is sent to handle the colonial unrest in Boston; Emily Berrington (24: Live Another Day) as Margaret Gage; Jason O’Mara (The Good Wife, Terra Nova, Life on Mars) as General George Washington and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad, Under the Dome, Men, Women & Children) as the brilliant yet mischievous diplomat Benjamin Franklin.

Calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, they light the spark that ignited our revolution. While many of their names have become legendary, this group of young rebels didn’t start off as noble patriots. They were a new generation of young American men from varied backgrounds, struggling to find purpose in their lives. They were looking for equality, but they found something greater: Independence.

SONS OF LIBERTY is a dramatic interpretation of events that sparked a revolution. It is historical fiction, not a documentary. The goal of our miniseries is to capture the spirit of the time, convey the personalities of the main characters, and focus on real events that have shaped our past. For historical information about the Sons of Liberty and the dawning of the American Revolution, please read the Historian’s View section on history.com/sons.

Notice in that last paragraph that the "History" Channel is engaging in historical ficiton.  I am not sure if I like that bit.  At least the website steers us back to actual history if we get lost, but how many will do this research?  

The Los Angeles Times is already raising a ruckus about the incomplete retelling of the past, stating 

Writers Stephen David, David C. White and Kirk Ellis don't bother explaining the many laws and policies that caused people like Adams to organize and agitate — presumably the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts seem too much like school. Instead "The Sons of Liberty" focuses the big action — the smuggling done to get goods past the British forces, the Boston tea party, the Boston massacre, Revere's famous ride, the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill.

The proof is in the viewing, so I will be testing the new series against my own knowledge of the past and maybe do a little research as well.  That said, I also look forward to a good story.