From an historian's perspective, why do you suppose that the American West of the 1800s has been paid much more attention in popular culture than the Colonial Era of the 1500s-1700s?

by Scienscatologist

I recently realized that there are many, many more books, films, and TV shows about the Westward Expansion of the 1800s, which was a relatively short time frame compared to the Colonial Era. About half as long, actually.

What makes this even more surprising is that the Colonial Era was extremely eventful and exciting. There was the discovery of an entirely "New World," first contact with cultures to whom Europeans were completely alien, at least two major wars (French-Indian and Revolutionary), the founding of a nation with a new(ish) style of government, that would come to have a massive impact (good and bad) on the entire planet, and so on.

Despite all this, there are only a handful of books and movies about this period of human history, and only one TV show that I could find: 1964's Daniel Boone. Westerns, on the other hand, have long been a staple of not only American popular culture, but have been entertainment fodder for most of the rest of the world, too.

I just find it odd, and more than a little frustrating. While I know there are plenty of scholarly resources to be had, I would love it if there were more films and books for just simple entertainment. So far, the only real standouts that I'm aware of are The Last of the Mohicans and HBO's John Adams.

So, as an historian, why do you think we don't care much about the Colonial Era, as far as entertainment is concerned?

bigdiggernick1

I'm not really a historian but personally I feel it's because the American West period can be used as a sort of pseudo propaganda to idealize supposed "American Values", like self suffeciency, hard work, ruggedness, independence, etc. This makes it sexier for the American consumer. The Colonial period can't be used in the same manner because at the time there was no United States, there were only british colonies. The main characters would not be American, but British. The values and lessons idealized would not be American, they would be British. Thereby making it harder for the consumer to identify with, and making it less likely for the consumer to consume