There's a teacher's guide
I'm finding it difficult to sit down and soak up all of the John Adams episodes. Instead of sitting in front of the TV, I should be writing love letters to my husband!
“ I look back to the early days of our acquaintance and
friendship as to the days of love and innocence, and,
with an indescribable pleasure, I have seen near a score
of years roll over our heads with an affection heightened
and improved by time, nor have the dreary years of
absence in the smallest degree effaced from my mind
the image of the dear untitled man to whom I gave
my heart.”
—Abigail Adams, wRiting to John Adams in 1782
The documentary runs a little slow ... but that is part of the draw, I think. We need to feel the slowness of those times. The long sea passages from the colonies back to Britain transporting news of treaties, battles, surrenders and victories. The time it took to powder one's wig before any meeting of the Continental Congress.
When I saw a trailer for the movie, Tom Hanks, executive producer, said something to the effect that researching Adams led him to an understanding of our history that had he realized as a school child, would have blown off his little head!
But he didn't say WHAT that was! What was it?
One remarkable detail of the movie/Adams life was that at 14-years-old, John Quincy, who had accompanied his father to Paris, braving British fire on the sea, was sent to St. Petersburg as the secretary to the new US Ambassador ... BECAUSE he was fluent in Russian.
Stan commented that he wouldn't have sent his son off with that man who looked a little suspect (must have been that wig). So is the taint of our modern times and fear of child predators.
Still. 14.
We know how wise Jesus was at 12! I just listened to a sermon on that (What Your 12-year-old Should Know).
We better download and start working on that teacher's guide (though it's produced from TIme and HBO, so I am a little suspicious of the bent!)
Posted in: on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at at 8:49 AM