The history channel tonight had a wonderful documentary entitle America: The Story of Us. A tad pretentious, I feel, but wonderfully produced if nothing else. What was most captivating was its presentation of American history as if it was a novel, or a grand story. It introduced characters and, rather than saying what they would eventually become famous for (T. Jefferson as Independence author, or B. Franklin as all-around badass), just talked about them where they were at that moment. It presented itself to me as a wonderful opportunity: I'm sure that there are people who don't know much about our history, and people like me who are captivated by a good story even if they know how it will end. If the story of America was presented as it unfolded, generation after generation, really portraying the epic scale of what has shaped this country, it could be a sublimely powerful and moving tale.

For the most part, this is what the documentary did. It showed the Pilgrims, and how their settlement managed to survive and thrive, and eventually grow into a colony. It briefly touched on the Dutch founding of New York, and Jamestown almost succumbing until the arrival of John Rolfe, and showed how they developed over time to become important cities and creators of culture.

Why is it that so often history is presented as a series of dates and names