Kassandra Rios
Prof. McRee
History 1301
July 28, 2015
History vs. Hollywood
The “lm “The Patriot” is about a farmer named Benjamin Mar)n, he lived peacefully with his
seven kids in South Carolina. He lived in the period of )me where the Americans were at war
with England. Benjamin didn’t want to be part of the war until one day the british colonel
murder one of his son’s. He was compelled to get involved with Colonial Mili)a during the
American Revolution and later on lead the Mili)a. His oldest son also was killed by the british
colonel during the war. At the end of the movie Benjamin helped win the American Revolution
and he also honored his sons.
To begin with, Benjamin Mar)n was mainly based on Francis Marion, in the movie Benjamin
was a family man and had seven kids and had a wife but Francis didn’t marry un)l he was 54
and didn’t have any kids. Benjamin went to a meeting in Charleston to talk about South Carolina
agreeing to go to war with England a4er Benjamin rejected to go “ght he went home, months
passed and Charleston was taken over by the General and Benjamin wasn’t involve with the
take over but Francis was at a “dinner party “ and felt trap so he jumped out of a “second story
window but broke his ankle in the fall” so “he le4 town to recuperate in the country, with the
fortunate result that he was not captured when the british took Charleston”(The Swamp Fox).
The main reason Benjamin took command of the Mili)a was because of his sons, but Francis
reason was because things were looking bad in the South Carolina.
Secondly, Benjamin was illustrated “as a family man and hero who single-handedly defeats
countless hos)le Brits” (TIME) however Francis “was a man who actively persecuted Cherokee
Indians (killing them for fun) and regularly raped his female slaves” (TIME). In the “lm Benjamin
was seen as “brave and tragic character” (A Patriot’s History) but in reality Francis “did not look
or act like a hero at all” (A Patriot’s History). Benjamin was known for his “gh)ng skills during
the French and Indian War he told his son “we caught up with them at Fort Wilderness. We took
out )me. We cut them apart slowly, piece by piece” (The Patriot Movie) but in real life the Fort
Wilderness doesn’t exist. Francis was also called the “swamp fox” (TIME) but in the “lm
Benjamin was called a “ghost” (The Patriot Film). In addition, in the movie british soldiers were
