Given the tension with the drawn out election process, and the increasing lack of social cohesion, I decided I’d give a quick review of a show from my youth: Liberty’s Kids.
As I said, I first watched it when I was a kid, but I re-watched it this past summer.
I was highly impressed with it after watching as an adult. This show manages to be neither doggedly pro or anti-America.
It was made in the early 2000s, a time when our society was more, well, civilized. I fear that, given the increasingly overt politicization of our entertainment and the common political leanings of those who work in entertainment, it would be strongly anti-American if made today.
Then again, if it were a show made by a right leaning institution, it might be too pro-American.
But instead, it avoids this problem entirely and presents the founding of the United States in a positive light while also pointing out the shortcomings and intricacies of that time period.
The show features a very star studded cast to boot.
It includes Walter Cronkite, Billy Crystal, Ben Stiller, Whoopi Goldberg, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dustin Hoffman, Yolanda King, and more.
Kids today might not recognize those names and they should be grounded for that transgression. And if an adult today doesn’t recognize at least most of those names they should be grounded without dinner.
Liberty’s Kids covers touchy subjects like slavery in a fair and sensitive way that’s appropriate for kids. It points out the hypocrisy of demanding freedom from Britain while owning slaves while also pointing out that many of the founding fathers were adamantly against the practice and that some of them knew it would take another war to abolish it.
It covers stories that we might not know about like Elizabeth Freeman a.k.a. Mum Bett, who was the first person to sue for her freedom and win. The Massachusetts supreme court ruled that slavery was inconsistent with the Massachusetts constitution.
Or James Armistead, who acted as a double agent for the Americans. He knew the British would think nothing of his slave status and so he reported British movements and plans to Lafayette while reporting fake American movements and plans back to the British.
It also covers the heroism of women like Margaret Corbin, who, after her husband was downed, continued to operate the cannon he was stationed on until she herself was too badly injured.
And Deborah Samson, who disguised herself as a man in order to serve in the Continental Army.
One of my favorite episodes covered Benjamin Franklin’s inventions and achievements in life. Including things like the bifocal, a more efficient fireplace, and the founding of the nation’s first hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital.
The show offers a historically accurate view of our founding, without political leanings and emotions getting in the way.
It’s also interesting to compare their problems to ours today. Some, while vastly different, are eerily the same.
They had issues with Congress being painfully slow and being more interested in arguing than they were getting anything done. They had many concerns about the integrity of the mail system too.
I won’t spoil any more of the show in case some of you are interested. If you have kids, or you’re a kid at heart, give it a watch and decide if it’s something your own kids should watch. You at least have this child at heart vouching for it!
And best of all, you’ll get to hear what might be the corniest intro song of all time.
Thank you for reading.