From Henry VIII to John Adams

I'm watching the Showtime series The Tudors and the HBO mini-series John Adams at the moment. Both mention Indians briefly.

"I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am"

In the third episode of The Tudors, Henry VIII is conferring with Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, about an alliance against France. As an aside, Charles tells Henry about Spain's discovery of the New World and all the gold General Cortés is raking in.

FYI, Charles V was the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He ruled during the, er, golden era of Spanish exploration. As Wikipedia puts it:During Charles' reign, the territories in New Spain were considerably extended by conquistadores like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, who caused the Aztec and Inca empires to fall in little more than a decade. Combined with the Magellan expedition's circumnavigation of the globe in 1522, these successes convinced Charles of his divine mission to become the leader of a Christian world that still perceived a significant threat from Islam. Of course, the conquests also helped solidify Charles' rule by providing the state treasury with enormous amounts of bullion. As the conquistador Bernal Diaz observed: "We came to serve God and his Majesty, to give light to those in darkness, and also to acquire that wealth which most men covet." In 1550, Charles convened a conference at Valladolid in order to consider the morality of the force used against the indigenous populations of Spanish America.The decision of the Valladolid conference is unknown, but the debate itself is strong evidence that the Europeans knew they were doing evil in the Americas. If Bartolomé de las Casas could judge his fellow Spaniards to be corrupt and immoral, so can we.

"The Atlas of Independence"

In the first episode (Join or Die) of John Adams, a colonist notes that Britain has imposed taxes to pay for the recent war against the French and Indians. In the second episode (Independence), John Dickinson argues that declaring independence will set the Indians loose on America's borders.

The series missed several opportunities to refer to Indians. For instance, the Indian disguises used at the Boston Tea Party. Ben Franklin's interest in the Haudenosaunee League and its democratic form of government. And Thomas Jefferson's "merciless savages" line in the Declaration of Independence. (This last omission is probably for the best.)

For more on the subject, see Fun 4th of July Facts.

It remains to be seen whether John Adams will say anything about the Indians who fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War. Or about George Washington's destruction of 40 Seneca villages. I'm guessing not. Though it's mentioned slavery and shown one or two black men, it's unsurprisingly Eurocentric.

All in all, The Tudors is good but John Adams is great. It's one of the best series ever on the American Revolution. Rob's rating: 9.0 of 10.