What Do You Know – Casey McKinnon – History

Last week’s What Do You Know – Lilly Lewin – Math

First a note: If you didn’t already know the subjects that our guest bloggers are creating are chosen by me. I know them all fairly well and try my best to intro them according to what they do know and what I think they are great at. When it comes to the subjects, I pick subjects that I think will force them to think outside of their boxes. Apparently I’m 2 for 2 these last two weeks with Math for Lilly and now History for Casey. That being said, Casey was a good sport about it, and you’ll see why.

If you don’t already know who Casey McKinnon @caseymckinnon on twitter you should! Hailing from the land of maple syrup and Mike Meyers, Casey is a true pioneer. Not so much in the log cabin sense, but much of the web video landscape can be traced back to her diligence in creating content for the web. See Galacticast and A Comicbook Orange. In my little head Casey is one of the people I look up to when it comes to creating content for the web, not only her ability to be creative and fun, she’s opinionated when it comes to many of the issues surrounding what’s going on in the web community. Read her blog, period. You will be informed. I was lucky enough to finally work with Casey on a BlackBoxTV shoot that I produced. See the fruits of that labor here. I can only hope to work with her again. I’m excited for you to read her piece on “History”, not many people can marry, being Canadian with a dose of Abraham Lincoln and throw in some Dune for good measure. Read on.

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I saw The Conspirator this weekend. I went for James McAvoy, whose career I’ve been following since he appeared in SyFy’s Children of Dune miniseries in 2003, but as a Canadian was interested to learn about the witch hunt following the assassination of President Lincoln. What I saw in the film, however, reminded me very much of the witch hunt following loyalists during the American Revolution.

It is said that history is written by the victors. When it comes to loyalists, however, they are treated differently by historical texts whether you’re looking at it from the perspective of Americans or Canadians. In the United States, loyalists were rancid people who helped preserve oppressive British order, but in Canada loyalists are held with high regard. In fact, the descendants of loyalists who fled the US to remain loyal to the crown were granted the honorific title of United Empire Loyalist with a “UE” at the end of their name. This is similar – yet completely opposite – to the American title of “DAR”, but for all descendants, not just the “daughters.”

Loyalists were not necessarily bad people. Many of them were farmers who simply believed in the order of the time and disagreed with the rebels. These loyalists… these people… got no fair trials. They were lynched by mobs in the name of revolution.

Now I’m not saying that I know all the facts. And I’m certainly not saying I don’t love the outcome of the esteemed union of these fifty beautiful states. But if Americans can watch a movie like The Conspirator and become truly affected by the unfair trials after Lincoln’s assassination, I hope that they can do the same for the unfair treatment of loyal British subjects during the American Revolution. I’m sure they would appreciate it… I should know, after all… for my full name is Casey Erin McKinnon UE.

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Casey always wanted to be an actress, but thought it was a really bad idea until she saw Clint Eastwood’s Bronco Billy and decided she needed to follow her dreams regardless of the consequences. She has won multiple awards for her work in web series Galacticast and A Comicbook Orange, and has been written up in The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, among others. Suffice to say, she’s pretty darn happy she chose this path. You can find her on Twitter, at her web site, and hopefully in one of Eastwood’s future movies. ;)