If I could recommend ONLY three things to my fellow Americans who HORRIBLY misunderstand our country (thanks to our BAD "public" "education" system) and what we are all about, I would recommend these three things, which are two books and a film:
In chronological order, to understand WHO we ARE, that is to understand OUR ancestors and WHY we are are here, I would recommend these:
In chronological order:
1) The book: Mayflower, the 2nd half of which and the important half is really about King Phillip's War, America's First War (with the greatest percentage of American deaths of all our wars), against the New England American Indians (and vice versa) in the 1670's. The first 50 years after 1620 the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Puritans of Boston got along fine with the Indians. This is why we celebrate Thanksgiving. Beginning in the 1670's? Not so much, and this book will explain the How Not and Why Not. Read, study, and learn.
2) The book: "1776", about the first year of the US Army under General George Washington, from the Siege of Boston vs the British Navy's blockade of Boston Harbor in 1775, through the retreat to winter in Morristown, NJ, following the successful routing of the British at The Battle of Princeton in 1776.
3) The film, "1776", a VERY entertaining musical comedy about the month-long legal wrangling in Philadelphia of June of that year that would lead to the passage of the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd, and its signing 2 days later. The passage is important. It came down to one man, one vote, that man being the wimpy James Wilson. The protagonists are Franklin, Adams and Jefferson, but the antagonists Rutledge and especially Dickinson are much more interesting, yet all are good. It's a musical comedy with lots of sex references, heh, well, we're Americans. :-)
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