Gale Fuller mentioned the Mel Gibson film "The Patriot," which I too enjoyed as it is terrific entertainment but as history it is total bunk. It completely misrepresents the African-American experience in the Revolution in the South. The black soldier in the film says he will get his freedom in exchange for fighting, a plan that was indeed proposed for South Carolina and Georgia but was hooted down by the legislatures there. Those states financed their war effort partly by selling slaves they confiscated from loyalists--so the blacks financed freedom but not for themselves. A number of historians pointed out that the scene where a building is set afire by the British with people inside is based not on the Revolution but on a Nazi atrocity of WWII. Closer to home, devotees of Robert E. Lee were outraged to see an image of his birthplace, Stratford Hall, used as the British headquarters. History can be made entertaining but such efforts are not always accurate; the problem is that people believe what they see on the screen is the truth. Henry Wiencek Charlottesville To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html