The War That Made America (2005)
The War That Made America (2005) This marvelous PBS four-hour documentary is the definitive video history of how the French-Indian War, which sparked the first world war, shaped America. It is authoritative on 1) George Washington’s role in inadvertently starting this war; 2) the difficult political choices that confronted sophisticated Indian tribes; 3) the British setbacks and triumphs against the French; and 4) how the British choice to take Canada rather than sugar-rich Guadeloupe set the stage for ultimate American independence. The documentary is based on Professor Fred Anderson’s superb The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War and his earlier, seminal Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
