Mary Silliman's War is set in 1779, in Fairfield, Connecticut during the American Revolution. The film focuses on the experiences of Mary, as she is swept up in the unsettling events of the revolutionary war. Mary's husband, Selleck Silliman, is a prominent patriot and the state's attorney; it falls to Selleck to prosecute citizens of Fairfield who remain loyal to Great Britain. The arrest, conviction, and impending execution of two local tories (or loyalists) angers other loyalists, who make Selleck the object of their revenge. He is kidnapped and taken to New York, where he is confined in a British prison. Mary resolves to obtain his release. While dealing with day-to-day domestic concerns, and trying to cope with the calamities of war, she acts in ways that are unusual for women of her social position. She petitions the Connecticut Assembly, solicits the help of the governor and council, and ultimately develops a bold plan to secure Selleck's freedom. Mary Silliman's War is based on people who actually lived and events that actually occured, chronicled in a book by Joy Day Buel and Richard Buel Jr., The Way of Duty (1980). As you watch and think about the film, consider the following questions:
1. What impact does the war have on families and communities? Are there opportunites (for personal advancement) as well as disruptions and liabilities connected with the war?
2. How does the war affect matters of respect, deference, and social hierarchy? Is it "democratizing" or does it leave basic social relations unchanged?
3. How do people's levels of commitment to the revolutionary (or loyalist) cause vary? Why?
4. Which side represents liberty and opportunity? Are the patriots' methods consistent with their principles? Why?
5. What does the film show us about the place of women in society? How does Mary, and how do other women, relate to men? How do the women depicted change their view of their own roles, their place with the family and their communities?
6. Are women "citizens"? Are they understood to be part of the political movement, part of "the people" of the new nation struggling to emerge?
7. Why was there so much support for the loyalist cause in Fairfield? Is "treason" a reasonable charge against loyalists or patriots caught up in the struggle?
8. Do you think that the Revolution was a "civil war" as well as a struggle for independence from Great Britain? Why or why not?
9. How violent was the Revolution? How crucial was violence to the course of the movement?