A review of PBS’s “War of the Worlds” (American Experience)

Note: This post contains some science-fiction images, which are used to dramatize the story. Thus, not all of the pictures in this particular blog post are strictly historical; nor are they meant to be taken as such.

This broadcast made people think that a Martian invasion was really happening …

In 1938, there was a radio broadcast about a Martian invasion, based upon the 1898 science-fiction novel by H. G. Wells. The novel “War of the Worlds” was a milestone in the history of science fiction, but the broadcast has since become famous for another reason. That is, this broadcast made people think that this “Martian invasion” was really happening. This is why PBS decided to cover it in this program. As worthy as the history of science fiction might be, it would seldom receive the documentary treatment of PBS. But the 1938 panic was a case study in mass psychology, which showed how suggestible people are – some would say “gullible.” People dispute the extent of the panic, but there were certainly people who believed that it was really happening. This film uses audio from the broadcast, and photographs and real footage from the time. I suspect that it would be nearly impossible to get a CD or a DVD of the full radio program as it was first broadcast – although I have not looked for such discs myself, so I don’t know this for certain. Suffice it to say, though, that this documentary occupies a small niche, and is worth having in and of itself.

The Constitution of Massachusetts influenced the national Constitution

“We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in affording us, in the course of His providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprise, of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other; and of forming a new constitution of civil government, for ourselves and posterity; and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, do agree upon, ordain and establish the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”

– Preamble to the original Constitution of Massachusetts (ratified 1780), as written by John Adams

The Constitution of Massachusetts was originally written by John Adams …

In 1787, John Adams was serving as the American ambassador to Britain. Thus, he was not present at the (federal) Constitutional Convention, which was held that year. But he had more influence upon the federal Constitution than one might be tempted to conclude from this. This is because, eight years earlier, he had attended the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention held in 1779. Thus, he was the principal author of the Constitution of Massachusetts. This is among the oldest written constitutions to remain in effect today. It was also the first constitution anywhere in the world to be “created by a convention called for that purpose, rather than by a legislative body” (as one source puts it).

John Adams, the principal author of the Constitution of Massachusetts

… and remained unchanged until the 1820s, long after the founding era

This constitution remained unchanged until the Second Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. This latter convention was held from 1820 to 1821. At this time, the first nine amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution were all passed simultaneously. Thus, all of the amendments to that constitution were well after the founding era. I will be focusing here on how the Massachusetts Constitution influenced the federal Constitution. Thus, all of the amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution (even the very first one) are too late to be relevant to our present subject. Thus, I will be focusing here on the original text of the Massachusetts Constitution – as drafted in 1779, and presented and ratified in 1780. This will showcase the ideas of John Adams, and how they influenced our federal Constitution.

The title page of the first published edition of the original 1780 Massachusetts Constitution

The Constitution of Massachusetts influenced the Bill of Rights

“All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.”

– The original Constitution of Massachusetts (ratified 1780), Part 1, Article 1 – as written by John Adams

“A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants … of Massachusetts”

The United States Constitution shows the influence of several American state constitutions. But the one that influenced it the most was undoubtedly the Massachusetts Constitution. The original text of the Massachusetts Constitution was principally written by John Adams. It influenced many of the provisions in the original United States Constitution, as I show in a previous post. In this post, I will instead show how it influenced the amendments in the United States Bill of Rights. It has a lengthy section entitled “A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts” (Source: Part the First). This section makes for very interesting reading.

John Adams, the principal author of the Constitution of Massachusetts

A review of “John Dewey” (audiobook)

John Dewey was one of the most influential philosophers to come out of the then-rising United States. Specifically, he lived in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and was a professor at a number of universities. He wrote on a number of topics, but is best remembered for his writings on philosophy. In particular, he commented on education, and believed that he was “revolutionizing” all of American education with his philosophy.

A review of PBS’s “Eleanor Roosevelt” movie

“A snub is the effort of a person who feels superior to make someone else feel inferior. To do so, he has to find someone who can be made to feel inferior.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt, at a White House press conference in 1935 – speaking of how a UC-Berkeley professor had refused to host an event where her husband’s Secretary of Labor gave a speech at the school’s Charter Day (often quoted as “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”)

The longest-serving First Lady in American history …

She is the longest-serving First Lady in American history. Her famous husband was elected to four terms (even if he didn’t complete the last one), so she served for 12 years as First Lady – far longer than anyone else! This film is the longest PBS documentary to focus specifically on her life. She was also one of the three protagonists in Ken Burns’ “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” which I have not seen. But there were two other main characters in that series, which were Franklin Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt – the latter of whom was much earlier than either Franklin or Eleanor. Thus, to your pain or pleasure, the Ken Burns series focuses on others besides her. By contrast, this PBS documentary focuses entirely on her, and spends two and a half hours on her life story. There’s an advantage to their focusing entirely on one person, even if their coverage is still comparatively short in this regard.