World History
I watched the Disney movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets the other day. It was a good (but not great) film I enjoyed watching. However, it had a major historical inaccuracy that was not in any way needed to advance the plot which I found annoying.
President Abraham Lincoln was murdered by southern separatists on April 15th, 1865. Although the war was all but over, fighting continued for several more months. For example, CSA General Johnson did not surrender his troops to General Sherman until June 23rd.
The movie opens with the assassination of President Lincoln by Booth. It shows Ford's Theater, the murder, and aftermath including Booth's infamous quote, "Sic Semper Tyraniss!" as he killed the very unpopular (in the south anyway) Lincoln.
What bothers me is that National Treasure: Book of Secrets opens with the caption, "Five days after the end of the Civil War." This is not correct. The final end date is debated by historians but the war was continuing when Lincoln died even if it was in the last days. Why did the movie makes this false assertion? Why not just note, "In the finals days of the Civil War?"
Yes, it is just a movie. Liberties with history are expected and even OK sometimes. But this error seems pointless. Maybe there really isn't a lost city of gold under Mt. Rushmore either? (Sorry, I don't mean to spoil the movie for anyone.)
- Lincoln Or Darwin? They Are Both Important
Newsweek has a nice article online titled Who Was More Important: Lincoln or Darwin? It is by Malcolm Jones. From the article:How's this for a coincidence? Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born in the same year, on the same day: Feb. 12, 1809....
- 10,000 Bc
I was fortunate enough to catch a showing of 10,000 BC at the theater the other day. I enjoyed it very much. I thought the plot was slow at points but it was good overall. The film site notes of the film, "A prehistoric young mammoth hunter embarks on...
- Pro-union Southerners
I was surprised to read about the 1st Alabama Cavalry today. This unit was from the deep south and it fought for the Union during the American Civil War. I had no idea that such a unit ever existed! Reading further, I discovered that large portions of...
- Oliver Law
Oliver Law. The Spanish Civil War drew combatants from all over the world. International brigades were formed by men from a variety of nations to fight on the side of Republican forces. One of these brigades was the Abraham Lincoln Battalion which was...
- Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson. This is a nicely done short biography of American President Andrew Johnson. From the site: Andrew Johnson ( December 29 , 1808 - July 31 , 1875 ) was the sixteenth Vice President ( 1865 ) and the seventeenth ( 1865 - 1869 ) President...
World History
When did the American Civil War end? Disney Does Not Know
I watched the Disney movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets the other day. It was a good (but not great) film I enjoyed watching. However, it had a major historical inaccuracy that was not in any way needed to advance the plot which I found annoying.
President Abraham Lincoln was murdered by southern separatists on April 15th, 1865. Although the war was all but over, fighting continued for several more months. For example, CSA General Johnson did not surrender his troops to General Sherman until June 23rd.
The movie opens with the assassination of President Lincoln by Booth. It shows Ford's Theater, the murder, and aftermath including Booth's infamous quote, "Sic Semper Tyraniss!" as he killed the very unpopular (in the south anyway) Lincoln.
What bothers me is that National Treasure: Book of Secrets opens with the caption, "Five days after the end of the Civil War." This is not correct. The final end date is debated by historians but the war was continuing when Lincoln died even if it was in the last days. Why did the movie makes this false assertion? Why not just note, "In the finals days of the Civil War?"
Yes, it is just a movie. Liberties with history are expected and even OK sometimes. But this error seems pointless. Maybe there really isn't a lost city of gold under Mt. Rushmore either? (Sorry, I don't mean to spoil the movie for anyone.)
- Lincoln Or Darwin? They Are Both Important
Newsweek has a nice article online titled Who Was More Important: Lincoln or Darwin? It is by Malcolm Jones. From the article:How's this for a coincidence? Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born in the same year, on the same day: Feb. 12, 1809....
- 10,000 Bc
I was fortunate enough to catch a showing of 10,000 BC at the theater the other day. I enjoyed it very much. I thought the plot was slow at points but it was good overall. The film site notes of the film, "A prehistoric young mammoth hunter embarks on...
- Pro-union Southerners
I was surprised to read about the 1st Alabama Cavalry today. This unit was from the deep south and it fought for the Union during the American Civil War. I had no idea that such a unit ever existed! Reading further, I discovered that large portions of...
- Oliver Law
Oliver Law. The Spanish Civil War drew combatants from all over the world. International brigades were formed by men from a variety of nations to fight on the side of Republican forces. One of these brigades was the Abraham Lincoln Battalion which was...
- Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson. This is a nicely done short biography of American President Andrew Johnson. From the site: Andrew Johnson ( December 29 , 1808 - July 31 , 1875 ) was the sixteenth Vice President ( 1865 ) and the seventeenth ( 1865 - 1869 ) President...