Tonight, history fans can begin to watch America The Story of Us, a new 12-hour/6 night series on the History Channel, which shares 400 years of our nation’s history…introduced tonight by President Obama.
America The Story of Us tells the extraordinary story of how America was invented, looking at the moments where Americans harnessed technology to advance human progress— from the rigors of linking the continent by transcontinental railroad, the internet of its day, to triumphing over vertical space through construction of steel structured buildings. The series is also a story of conflict – with Native American peoples, slavery, the revolutionary war that birthed the nation, the Civil War that divided it and the great world war that shaped its future.
Narrated by Liev Schreiber, America The Story of Us does not start out as a very intriguing series. Yes, it shares our country’s history, starting from May 1610 to 1775 in the first episode but no, it does not give any new insight into any of these historical events. This is definitely not The People Speak. Viewers with knowledge of The Mayflower, Pocahontas, John Adams, the creation of the 13 colonies, and The Battle of Lexington have nothing to gain from the first episode that will air.
This is however a good educational tool for middle school children. Elementary children will be bored to death and high school students should know all of this history at this point, so its best fit would be the middle school audience. The most interesting parts of the first episode and can really help viewers of all ages reevaluate and possibly come to more of an appreciation and/or better understanding of America in future episodes are the moments that feature powerful figures including Colin Powell, Sheryl Crow, Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Buzz Aldrin, Bill Maher, Rosie Perez, and many more. They share their thoughts about what went down in history and being American and historical consultants Professor Daniel Walker Howe and Professor David M. Kennedy are talking heads as well.
Colin Powell and Donald Trump actually makes brief appearances among others in the first episode. Though since their appearances are short, their brief opinions do not give enough for viewers to stop and discuss. It would be nice to compare history with the contemporary thoughts of today’s role models and today’s history, but little time is given to even get those thoughts. Aside from that, the acting is swell, the editing is fine (for what it was going for) but overall this series is quite ordinary. Perhaps it will become more intriguing as each night goes on…
America The Story of Us premieres tonight at 9pm ET.