document_title: List of U.S. states and territories by population

question_text: which state has the largest population in the us

text: Methodology[edit]

text: The United States Census counts most persons residing in the United States including citizens, non-citizen permanent residents, and non-citizen long-term visitors.[1] Civilian and military federal employees serving abroad and their dependents are counted in their home state.[2]

text: Electoral apportionment[edit]

text: Based on data from the decennial census, each state is allocated a proportion of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, although each state is guaranteed a minimum of one seat, regardless of population. This apportionment is based on the proportion of each state's population to that of the Fifty States together (without regard to the populations of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or other U.S. dependencies). The Electoral College is the body that, every four years, elects the President and Vice President of the United States. Each state's representation in the Electoral College is equal to that state's total number of members in both houses of the United States Congress. The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution effectively grants the District of Columbia, which is separate from any state, three votes. More precisely, the district gets as many votes in the Electoral College as it would have if it were a state, with the caveat that the district can have no more votes than the least populous state (which is currently Wyoming). Currently, this caveat is a moot point since the District would only be entitled to one Representative if it were a state, and is more populous than only two of the seven states with a single member in the House since 2013. Since the Constitution guarantees every state at least one Representative and guarantees every state two Senators, it effectively guarantees every state (and, since the ratification of the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia) at least three electoral votes. Thus, the total representation in the College is 538 members (equal to 100 senators plus 435 representatives, plus 3 members for the District of Columbia).[3]

text: The eleven most populous states, representing 56% of the population, currently have a majority of the Electoral College votes, enough to elect the president. These eleven states have not voted for the same candidate in any presidential election since 1984.

text: State information[edit]

text:
Rank in the fifty states, 2016
Rank in all states & territories, 2010
State or territory
Population estimate, July 1, 2016[4]
Census population, April 1, 2010
Total seats in House of Representatives, 2013–2023
Estimated pop. per House seat, 2016
Census pop. per House seat, 2010
Percent of total U.S. pop., 2016[note 1]

7000100000000000000♠1
7000100000000000000♠1
 California
39,250,017
37,254,503
7001530000000000000♠53
738,581
702,905
12.15%

7000200000000000000♠2
7000200000000000000♠2
 Texas
27,862,596
25,146,105
7001360000000000000♠36
763,031
698,487
8.62%

7000300000000000000♠3
7000400000000000000♠4
 Florida
20,612,439
18,804,623
7001270000000000000♠27
750,788
696,345
6.38%

7000400000000000000♠4
7000300000000000000♠3
 New York
19,745,289
19,378,087
7001270000000000000♠27
733,177
717,707
6.11%

7000500000000000000♠5
7000500000000000000♠5
 Illinois
12,801,539
12,831,549
7001180000000000000♠18
714,444
712,813
3.96%

7000600000000000000♠6
7000600000000000000♠6
 Pennsylvania
12,784,227
12,702,887
7001180000000000000♠18
711,250
705,688
3.96%

7000700000000000000♠7
7000700000000000000♠7
 Ohio
11,646,273
11,536,725
7001160000000000000♠16
725,839
721,032
3.59%

7000800000000000000♠8
7000900000000000000♠9
 Georgia
10,310,371
9,688,681
7001140000000000000♠14
729,633
691,975
3.19%

7000900000000000000♠9
7001100000000000000♠10
 North Carolina
10,146,788
9,535,692
7001130000000000000♠13
772,523
733,498
3.14%

7001100000000000000♠10
7000800000000000000♠8
 Michigan
9,928,300
9,884,129
7001140000000000000♠14
708,755
705,974
3.07%

7001110000000000000♠11
7001110000000000000♠11
 New Jersey
8,944,469
8,791,936
7001120000000000000♠12
746,501
732,658
2.77%

7001120000000000000♠12
7001120000000000000♠12
 Virginia
8,411,808
8,001,045
7001110000000000000♠11
762,090
727,366
2.60%

7001130000000000000♠13
7001130000000000000♠13
 Washington
7,288,000
6,724,543
7001100000000000000♠10
717,035
672,454
2.26%

7001140000000000000♠14
7001160000000000000♠16
 Arizona
6,931,071
6,392,307
7000900000000000000♠9
758,674
710,224
2.15%

7001150000000000000♠15
7001140000000000000♠14
 Massachusetts
6,811,779
6,547,817
7000900000000000000♠9
754,936
727,514
2.11%

7001160000000000000♠16
7001170000000000000♠17
 Tennessee
6,651,194
6,346,275
7000900000000000000♠9
733,367
705,123
2.06%

7001170000000000000♠17
7001150000000000000♠15
 Indiana
6,633,053
6,484,229
7000900000000000000♠9
735,520
720,422
2.05%

7001180000000000000♠18
7001180000000000000♠18
 Missouri
6,093,000
5,988,927
7000800000000000000♠8
760,459
748,615
1.89%

7001190000000000000♠19
7001190000000000000♠19
 Maryland
6,016,447
5,773,785
7000800000000000000♠8
750,800
721,694
1.86%

7001200000000000000♠20
7001200000000000000♠20
 Wisconsin
5,778,708
5,687,289
7000800000000000000♠8
721,417
710,873
1.79%

7001210000000000000♠21
7001220000000000000♠22
 Colorado
5,540,545
5,029,324
7000700000000000000♠7
779,511
720,704
1.72%

7001220000000000000♠22
7001210000000000000♠21
 Minnesota
5,519,952
5,303,925
7000800000000000000♠8
686,199
662,991
1.71%

7001230000000000000♠23
7001240000000000000♠24
 South Carolina
4,961,119
4,625,401
7000700000000000000♠7
699,449
660,766
1.54%

7001240000000000000♠24
7001230000000000000♠23
 Alabama
4,863,300
4,780,127
7000700000000000000♠7
694,140
682,819
1.51%

7001250000000000000♠25
7001250000000000000♠25
 Louisiana
4,681,666
4,533,479
7000600000000000000♠6
778,454
755,562
1.45%

7001260000000000000♠26
7001260000000000000♠26
 Kentucky
4,436,974
4,339,349
7000600000000000000♠6
737,515
723,228
1.37%

7001270000000000000♠27
7001270000000000000♠27
 Oregon
4,093,465
3,831,073
7000500000000000000♠5
805,795
766,215
1.27%

7001280000000000000♠28
7001280000000000000♠28
 Oklahoma
3,923,561
3,751,616
7000500000000000000♠5
782,268
750,270
1.21%

7001290000000000000♠29
7001300000000000000♠30
 Connecticut
3,576,452
3,574,118
7000500000000000000♠5
718,177
714,819
1.11%

7001710000000000000♠ —
7001290000000000000♠29
 Puerto Rico
3,411,307
3,726,157
1 (non-voting)
—
—
1.06%

7001300000000000000♠30
7001310000000000000♠31
 Iowa
3,134,693
3,046,869
7000400000000000000♠4
780,975
761,589
0.97%

7001310000000000000♠31
7001350000000000000♠35
 Utah
3,051,217
2,763,888
7000400000000000000♠4
748,083
690,221
0.94%

7001320000000000000♠32
7001320000000000000♠32
 Mississippi
2,988,726
2,968,103
7000400000000000000♠4
748,083
741,824
0.93%

7001330000000000000♠33
7001330000000000000♠33
 Arkansas
2,988,248
2,915,958
7000400000000000000♠4
744,551
728,980
0.93%

7001340000000000000♠34
7001360000000000000♠36
 Nevada
2,940,058
2,700,691
7000400000000000000♠4
722,711
675,110
0.91%

7001350000000000000♠35
7001340000000000000♠34
 Kansas
2,907,289
2,853,132
7000400000000000000♠4
727,910
713,280
0.90%

7001360000000000000♠36
7001370000000000000♠37
 New Mexico
2,081,015
2,059,192
7000300000000000000♠3
695,036
686,393
0.64%

7001370000000000000♠37
7001390000000000000♠39
 Nebraska
1,907,116
1,826,341
7000300000000000000♠3
632,063
608,780
0.59%

7001380000000000000♠38
7001380000000000000♠38
 West Virginia
1,831,102
1,853,011
7000300000000000000♠3
614,709
617,665
0.57%

7001390000000000000♠39
7001400000000000000♠40
 Idaho
1,683,140
1,567,652
7000200000000000000♠2
827,465
783,791
0.52%

7001400000000000000♠40
7001410000000000000♠41
 Hawaii
1,428,557
1,360,301
7000200000000000000♠2
715,802
680,151
0.44%

7001410000000000000♠41
7001430000000000000♠43
 New Hampshire
1,334,795
1,316,466
7000200000000000000♠2
665,304
658,235
0.41%

7001420000000000000♠42
7001420000000000000♠42
 Maine
1,331,479
1,328,361
7000200000000000000♠2
664,664
664,181
0.41%

7001430000000000000♠43
7001440000000000000♠44
 Rhode Island
1,056,426
1,052,931
7000200000000000000♠2
528,149
526,284
0.33%

7001440000000000000♠44
7001450000000000000♠45
 Montana
1,042,520
989,417
7000100000000000000♠1
1,032,949
989,415
0.32%

7001450000000000000♠45
7001460000000000000♠46
 Delaware
952,065
897,936
7000100000000000000♠1
952,065
897,934
0.30%

7001460000000000000♠46
7001470000000000000♠47
 South Dakota
865,454
814,191
7000100000000000000♠1
858,469
814,180
0.27%

7001470000000000000♠47
7001490000000000000♠49
  North Dakota
757,952
672,591
7000100000000000000♠1
756,927
672,591
0.24%

7001480000000000000♠48
7001480000000000000♠48
 Alaska
741,894
710,249
7000100000000000000♠1
741,894
710,231
0.23%

7001610000000000000♠—
7001510000000000000♠51
 District of Columbia
681,170
601,767
1 (non-voting)
—
—
0.21%

7001490000000000000♠49
7001500000000000000♠50
 Vermont
624,594
625,745
7000100000000000000♠1
626,042
625,741
0.19%

7001500000000000000♠50
7001520000000000000♠52
 Wyoming
585,501
563,767
7000100000000000000♠1
586,107
563,626
0.18%

7001720000000000000♠—
7001530000000000000♠53
 Guam
161,785
159,358[5]
1 (non-voting)
—
—
0.06%

7001730000000000000♠—
7001540000000000000♠54
 U.S. Virgin Islands
103,574
106,405[6]
1 (non-voting)
—
—
0.04%

7001740000000000000♠—
7001550000000000000♠55
 American Samoa
54,343
55,519[7]
1 (non-voting)
—
—
0.01%

7001750000000000000♠—
7001560000000000000♠56
 Northern Mariana Islands
52,344
53,883[8]
1 (non-voting)
—
—
0.00%

7001760000000000000♠—
7001590000000000000♠59
 Wake Island
188
382
0
—
—
0.00%

7001780000000000000♠—
7001580000000000000♠58
 Johnston Atoll
40
1,100
0
—
—
0.00%

7001790000000000000♠—
7001570000000000000♠57
 Midway Atoll
75
2,220
0
—
—
0.00%

7001800000000000000♠—
7001600000000000000♠60
 Palmyra Atoll
20
n/a
0
—
—
0.00%

7001810000000000000♠—
7001810000000000000♠—
Contiguous United States
320,975,339
306,687,555
432 (+ 1 non-voting)
—
—
98.18%

7001820000000000000♠—
7001820000000000000♠—
The fifty states
322,464,620
308,156,338
435
737,348
708,376
98.48%

7001830000000000000♠—
7001830000000000000♠—
Fifty states + D.C.
323,145,790
308,758,105
435 (+ 1 non-voting)
—
—
98.67%

7001840000000000000♠—
7001840000000000000♠—
Total U.S. territory
326,929,143
312,913,872
435 (+ 6 non-voting)
—
—
100.00%

text: Jump up ^ Because of rounding of the individual percentages, the entries in this column may not sum to 100%.

text: Summary of population by region[edit]

text:
Legend

Division totals – 9 divisions for 50 states and D.C.

Region totals – 4 regions ( 2 or 3 divisions each)

Individual territories

Total U.S. Territories

50 States + District of Columbia

Divisions & regions as defined by U.S. Census Bureau

Last col. shows larger region which contains entity in col. 1

text:
Population of states, territories, divisions and regions

State/Territory/
Division/Region
Rank
2013
population
Rank
2010
population
Rank
2000
population
Rank
2000-
2010
change
Geographic
sort

21 ! Massachusetts
14 !14
28 !6,692,824
14 !14
28 !6,547,629
13 !13
27 !6,349,097
43 !43
56 !3.1%
01 !NEng

07 ! Connecticut
29 !29
44 !3,596,080
29 !29
45 !3,574,097
29 !29
45 !3,405,565
35 !35
45 !4.9%
02 !NEng

19 ! Maine
41 !41
56 !1,328,302
41 !41
57 !1,328,361
40 !40
56 !1,274,923
39 !39
49 !4.2%
03 !NEng

29 ! New Hampshire
42 !42
57 !1,323,459
42 !42
58 !1,316,470
41 !41
57 !1,235,786
32 !32
41 !6.5%
04 !NEng

39 ! Rhode Island
43 !43
58 !1,051,511
43 !43
59 !1,052,567
43 !43
59 !1,048,319
49 !49
65 !0.4%
05 !NEng

45 ! Vermont
49 !49
65 !626,630
49 !49
65 !625,741
49 !49
65 !608,827
44 !44
60 !2.8%
06 !NEng

55 !       New England
59 !9
18 !14,618,806
59 !9
18 !14,444,865
59 !9
18 !13,922,517
57 !7
52 !3.8%
07 !NEast

32 ! New York
03 !3
15 !19,651,127
03 !3
15 !19,378,102
03 !3
14 !18,976,457
46 !46
62 !2.1%
08 !MAtl

38 ! Pennsylvania
06 !6
20 !12,773,801
06 !6
20 !12,702,379
06 !6
20 !12,281,054
41 !41
53 !3.4%
09 !MAtl

30 ! New Jersey
11 !11
25 !8,899,339
11 !11
25 !8,791,894
09 !9
23 !8,414,350
37 !37
47 !4.5%
10 !MAtl

53 !       Mid-Atlantic
54 !4
09 !41,324,267
54 !4
09 !40,872,375
54 !4
09 !39,671,861
58 !8
57 !3.0%
11 !NEast

61 !       Northeast
63 !4
06 !55,943,073
63 !4
06 !55,317,240
63 !4
05 !53,594,378
63 !4
55 !3.2%
12 !USA

09 ! Florida
04 !4
16 !19,552,860
04 !4
16 !18,801,310
04 !4
17 !15,982,378
08 !8
09 !17.6%
13 !SAtl

10 ! Georgia
08 !8
22 !9,992,167
09 !9
23 !9,687,653
10 !10
24 !8,186,453
07 !7
08 !18.3%
14 !SAtl

33 ! North Carolina
10 !10
24 !9,848,060
10 !10
24 !9,535,483
11 !11
25 !8,049,313
06 !6
07 !18.5%
15 !SAtl

46 ! Virginia
12 !12
26 !8,260,405
12 !12
26 !8,001,024
12 !12
26 !7,078,515
16 !16
21 !13.0%
16 !SAtl

20 ! Maryland
19 !19
33 !5,928,814
19 !19
33 !5,773,552
19 !19
33 !5,296,486
23 !23
30 !9.0%
17 !SAtl

40 ! South Carolina
24 !24
38 !4,774,839
24 !24
38 !4,625,364
26 !26
41 !4,012,012
10 !10
13 !15.3%
18 !SAtl

48 ! West Virginia
38 !38
53 !1,854,304
37 !37
53 !1,852,994
37 !37
53 !1,808,344
45 !45
61 !2.5%
19 !SAtl

08 ! Delaware
45 !45
60 !925,749
45 !45
61 !897,934
45 !45
61 !783,600
11 !11
14 !14.6%
20 !SAtl

64 ! District of Columbia
64 !--
64 !646,449
64 !--
66 !601,723
64 !--
66 !572,059
64 !--
44 !5.2%
21 !SAtl

57 !       South Atlantic
51 !1
05 !61,783,647
51 !1
05 !59,777,037
51 !1
06 !51,769,160
53 !3
12 !15.5%
22 !South

42 ! Tennessee
17 !17
31 !6,495,978
17 !17
31 !6,346,105
16 !16
30 !5,689,283
19 !19
24 !11.5%
23 !ESC

01 ! Alabama
23 !23
37 !4,833,722
23 !23
37 !4,779,736
23 !23
37 !4,447,100
27 !27
35 !7.5%
24 !ESC

17 ! Kentucky
26 !26
40 !4,395,295
26 !26
40 !4,339,367
25 !25
40 !4,041,769
28 !28
36 !7.4%
25 !ESC

24 ! Mississippi
31 !31
46 !2,991,207
31 !31
47 !2,967,297
31 !31
47 !2,844,658
38 !38
48 !4.3%
26 !ESC

52 !       East South Central
58 !8
17 !18,716,202
58 !8
17 !18,432,505
58 !8
16 !17,022,810
55 !5
32 !8.3%
27 !South

43 ! Texas
02 !2
12 !26,448,193
02 !2
12 !25,145,561
02 !2
12 !20,851,820
05 !5
06 !20.6%
28 !WSC

18 ! Louisiana
25 !25
39 !4,625,470
25 !25
39 !4,533,372
22 !22
36 !4,468,976
48 !48
64 !1.4%
29 !WSC

36 ! Oklahoma
28 !28
42 !3,850,568
28 !28
43 !3,751,351
27 !27
43 !3,450,654
24 !24
31 !8.7%
30 !WSC

04 ! Arkansas
32 !32
47 !2,959,373
32 !32
48 !2,915,918
33 !33
49 !2,673,400
22 !22
29 !9.1%
31 !WSC

59 !       West South Central
55 !5
11 !37,883,604
55 !5
11 !36,346,202
55 !5
11 !31,444,850
52 !2
11 !15.6%
32 !South

62 !       South
60 !1
02 !118,383,453
60 !1
02 !114,555,744
60 !1
02 !100,236,820
60 !1
15 !14.3%
33 !USA

13 ! Illinois
05 !5
19 !12,882,135
05 !5
19 !12,830,632
05 !5
19 !12,419,293
42 !42
54 !3.3%
34 !ENC

35 ! Ohio
07 !7
21 !11,570,808
07 !7
21 !11,536,504
07 !7
21 !11,353,140
47 !47
63 !1.6%
35 !ENC

22 ! Michigan
09 !9
23 !9,895,622
08 !8
22 !9,883,640
08 !8
22 !9,938,444
50 !50
66 !-0.6%
36 !ENC

14 ! Indiana
16 !16
30 !6,570,902
15 !15
29 !6,483,802
14 !14
28 !6,080,485
31 !31
39 !6.6%
37 !ENC

49 ! Wisconsin
20 !20
34 !5,742,713
20 !20
34 !5,686,986
18 !18
32 !5,363,675
34 !34
43 !6.0%
38 !ENC

51 !       East North Central
53 !3
08 !46,662,180
53 !3
08 !46,421,564
52 !2
07 !45,155,037
59 !9
59 !2.8%
39 !MWest

25 ! Missouri
18 !18
32 !6,044,171
18 !18
32 !5,988,927
17 !17
31 !5,595,211
29 !29
37 !7.0%
40 !WNC

23 ! Minnesota
21 !21
35 !5,420,380
21 !21
35 !5,303,925
21 !21
35 !4,919,479
26 !26
34 !7.8%
41 !WNC

15 ! Iowa
30 !30
45 !3,090,416
30 !30
46 !3,046,355
30 !30
46 !2,926,324
40 !40
50 !4.1%
42 !WNC

16 ! Kansas
34 !34
49 !2,893,957
33 !33
49 !2,853,118
32 !32
48 !2,688,418
33 !33
42 !6.1%
43 !WNC

27 ! Nebraska
37 !37
52 !1,868,516
38 !38
54 !1,826,341
38 !38
54 !1,711,263
30 !30
38 !6.7%
44 !WNC

41 ! South Dakota
46 !46
61 !844,877
46 !46
62 !814,180
46 !46
62 !754,844
25 !25
33 !7.9%
45 !WNC

34 !  North Dakota
48 !48
63 !723,393
48 !48
64 !672,591
47 !47
63 !642,200
36 !36
46 !4.7%
46 !WNC

58 !       West North Central
57 !7
14 !20,885,710
57 !7
14 !20,505,437
56 !6
13 !19,237,739
56 !6
40 !6.6%
47 !MWest

60 !       Midwest
62 !3
04 !67,547,890
62 !3
04 !66,927,001
61 !2
03 !64,392,776
62 !3
51 !3.9%
48 !USA

03 ! Arizona
15 !15
29 !6,626,624
16 !16
30 !6,392,017
20 !20
34 !5,130,632
02 !2
02 !24.6%
49 !Mtn

06 ! Colorado
22 !22
36 !5,268,367
22 !22
36 !5,029,196
24 !24
38 !4,301,261
09 !9
10 !16.9%
50 !Mtn

44 ! Utah
33 !33
48 !2,900,872
34 !34
50 !2,763,885
34 !34
50 !2,233,169
03 !3
03 !23.8%
51 !Mtn

28 ! Nevada
35 !35
50 !2,790,136
35 !35
51 !2,700,551
35 !35
51 !1,998,257
01 !1
01 !35.1%
52 !Mtn

31 ! New Mexico
36 !36
51 !2,085,287
36 !36
52 !2,059,179
36 !36
52 !1,819,046
15 !15
20 !13.2%
53 !Mtn

12 ! Idaho
39 !39
54 !1,612,136
39 !39
55 !1,567,582
39 !39
55 !1,293,953
04 !4
05 !21.1%
54 !Mtn

26 ! Montana
44 !44
59 !1,015,165
44 !44
60 !989,415
44 !44
60 !902,195
21 !21
28 !9.7%
55 !Mtn

50 ! Wyoming
50 !50
66 !582,658
50 !50
67 !563,626
50 !50
67 !493,782
12 !12
16 !14.1%
56 !Mtn

54 !       Mountain
56 !6
13 !22,881,245
56 !6
13 !22,065,451
57 !7
15 !18,172,295
51 !1
04 !21.4%
57 !West

05 ! California
01 !1
10 !38,332,521
01 !1
10 !37,253,956
01 !1
10 !33,871,648
20 !20
26 !10.0%
58 !Pac

47 ! Washington
13 !13
27 !6,971,406
13 !13
27 !6,724,540
15 !15
29 !5,894,121
13 !13
17 !14.1%
59 !Pac

37 ! Oregon
27 !27
41 !3,930,065
27 !27
42 !3,831,074
28 !28
44 !3,421,399
18 !18
23 !12.0%
60 !Pac

11 ! Hawaii
40 !40
55 !1,404,054
40 !40
56 !1,360,301
42 !42
58 !1,211,537
17 !17
22 !12.3%
61 !Pac

02 ! Alaska
47 !47
62 !735,132
47 !47
63 !710,231
48 !48
64 !626,932
14 !14
19 !13.3%
62 !Pac

56 !       Pacific
52 !2
07 !51,373,178
52 !2
07 !49,880,102
53 !3
08 !45,025,637
54 !4
25 !10.8%
63 !West

63 !       West
61 !2
03 !74,254,423
61 !2
03 !71,945,553
62 !3
04 !63,197,932
61 !2
18 !13.8%
64 !USA

65 ! 50 states and D.C.
65 !--
01 !316,128,839
65 !--
01 !308,745,538
65 !--
01 !281,421,906
65 !--
27 !9.7%
65 !NAmer

69 ! Puerto Rico
66 !1
43 !3,615,086
66 !1
44 !3,725,789
66 !1
42 !3,808,610
68 !3
68 !-2.2%
66 !Terr.

67 ! Guam
67 !2
68 !--
67 !2
68 !159,358
67 !2
68 !154,805
66 !1
58 !2.9%
67 !Terr.

70 ! U.S. Virgin Islands
68 !3
69 !--
68 !3
69 !106,405
68 !3
69 !108,612
67 !2
67 !-2.0%
68 !Terr.

66 ! American Samoa
69 !4
70 !--
69 !4
70 !55,519
70 !5
71 !57,291
69 !4
70 !-3.1%
69 !Terr.

68 ! Northern Mariana Islands
70 !5
71 !--
70 !5
71 !53,883
69 !4
70 !69,221
70 !5
71 !-22.2%
70 !Terr.

71 !       Total Territories
71 !--
67 !--
71 !--
41 !4,100,954
71 !--
39 !4,198,539
71 !--
69 !-2.3%
71 !USA


document_title: The Patriot (2000 film)

question_text: who played aunt charlotte in the movie the patriot

root

text: The Patriot (2000 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: During the American Revolution in 1776, Benjamin Martin, a veteran of the French and Indian War and a widower with seven children, is called to Charleston to vote in the South Carolina General Assembly on a levy supporting the Continental Army. Fearing war against Great Britain, Benjamin abstains; the vote is nonetheless passed and, against his father's wishes, Benjamin's eldest son Gabriel joins the Continental Army.

tag: p

text: Two years later Charleston falls to the British and a wounded Gabriel returns home carrying dispatches. The Martins care for both British and American wounded from a nearby battle, before British Dragoons, led by the ruthless Colonel William Tavington, arrive, arrest Gabriel, and take captive the African American free men and women who work Benjamin's land. When Benjamin's second son Thomas tries to free Gabriel, he is shot and killed by Tavington, who then orders the Martins' house burned, and wounded Americans executed. After the British leave, Benjamin gives his next two eldest sons rifles, and they ambush the British unit escorting a tied Gabriel. Benjamin skillfully, yet brutally, kills many soldiers with his tomahawk. A British survivor tells Tavington of the attack, earning Benjamin the moniker of the "Ghost". Benjamin and Gabriel resolve to fight the British, leaving the younger children in the care of Benjamin's sister-in-law, Charlotte. On their way to the Continental Army's camp, they witness the southern Continental Army under General Horatio Gates engaging the British Army. Benjamin recognizes the foolishness of the action; sure enough, the Continentals are decisively routed.

text: Benjamin meets his former commanding officer, Colonel Harry Burwell, who makes him colonel of the local colonial militia due to his combat experience. Benjamin is tasked with keeping Lord Cornwallis's regiments pinned south through guerrilla warfare. French Major Jean Villeneuve helps train the militia and promises more French aid. Gabriel asks why Villeneuve and others mention Benjamin's role in something called "Fort Wilderness". Benjamin says that when he was fighting in the British Army in the French and Indian War he and several other soldiers were sent on a mission to assault a French fort called "Fort Wilderness" where he and his comrades literally cut the defending French soldiers apart slowly, revealing why Benjamin is always hesitant when asked about the event and why he is haunted by his past. Benjamin's militia harass British supply lines, even capturing some of Cornwallis' personal effects and his two Great Danes, and burn half the bridges and ferries leading to Charleston. Lord Cornwallis blames Tavington for creating this reaction with his brutal tactics. However, irritated at the lack of progress, and insulted by Benjamin's clever ploy to free some of the captured militia, Cornwallis reluctantly allows Tavington to stop Benjamin by any means necessary.

text: With the reluctant aid of the Loyalist Captain Wilkins, Tavington learns the identities of some militia members and proceeds to attack their families and burn their homes. Benjamin's family flees Charlotte's plantation as it is burned to live in a Gullah settlement with former black slaves. There, Gabriel marries his betrothed Anne. Tavington's brigade rides into the town that supplies the militia. He assembles all the townspeople, including Anne, into the church promising freedom in exchange for the whereabouts of the rebels. However, after the location is given the doors are barricaded, trapping the people as Tavington orders the church burned, killing them all in a cold-blooded act of mass-murder. After discovering the tragedy, Gabriel and several others race to attack Tavington's encampment. In the ensuing fight, Tavington mortally wounds Gabriel before fleeing. Benjamin arrives soon after, only to have another of his sons die in his arms.

text: Benjamin mourns and wavers in his commitment to continue fighting, but is resolved when reminded of his son's dedication to the cause by finding an American flag he repaired personally. Martin's militia, along with a larger Continental Army regiment, confronts Cornwallis' regiment in a decisive battle at the Battle of Cowpens. The British appear to have the upper hand until Benjamin rallies the troops forward against their lines and Tavington rushes to personally target him. The two duel and Tavington gains the upper hand, delivering several wounds to Benjamin. A beaten Benjamin slumps to his knees, and Tavington prepares to deliver the coup de grâce. At the last second, however, Benjamin dodges the attack and stabs Tavington to death, avenging his sons' deaths. The battle is a Continental victory and Cornwallis is forced to retreat.

text: After many eventual retreats, Cornwallis is besieged at Yorktown, Virginia where he surrenders to the surrounding Continental Army and the long-awaited French naval force. After the conflict ends, Benjamin returns with his family and discovers his militia men rebuilding his homestead in their new nation.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin
A veteran of the French and Indian War as the hero of the fictional Fort Wilderness and widowed father of seven children, Benjamin does what he can to avoid fighting in the Revolutionary War knowing the implications surrounding it. When his oldest son, Gabriel joins up, and his second born son, Thomas is killed, he takes it upon himself to join and fight with the colonial militia. He is nicknamed "The Ghost" by the British. He is based on a composite of historical characters which include Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene, Andrew Pickens, and Francis Marion.[6]
Heath Ledger as Gabriel Edward Martin
Benjamin's eldest child, and the husband of Anne Patricia Howard Martin. He decides to join up with the Continental Army against his father's wishes. He is killed during an attack on the Green Dragoons' camp, while seeking revenge against Colonel Tavington for his wife's murder.
Gregory Smith as Thomas Martin
Benjamin's second son, he, like Gabriel, is anxious to fight in the war, but Benjamin says he has to wait because of his age. He is shot and killed by Tavington when he protests against Gabriel's arrest. Tavington rebukes him as a "stupid boy" for his actions afterward. Benjamin takes Thomas's set of toy tin soldiers and, over the course of the film, melts them down into bullets for his pistol.
Trevor Morgan as Nathan Martin
Third son, he and Samuel help around the farm. When Gabriel is taken prisoner and Thomas is killed, he and Samuel help their father on a rescue mission. Unlike Samuel, he is "glad" to kill British soldiers.
Bryan Chafin as Samuel Martin
Fourth son, he is usually seen helping Nathan around the farm. When Gabriel is taken prisoner and Thomas is killed, he helps his father, Benjamin, rescue Gabriel by killing several British soldiers, even though he doesn't want to kill. For a short while, he becomes scared of his father after he witnesses him brutally killing and mutilating, post-mortem, a British soldier with a tomahawk.
Logan Lerman as William Martin: Benjamin's fifth and youngest son. This character was not originally in the script and was only added because Mel Gibson wanted to have seven children in the film (like in real life) rather than six. Though present throughout the film, his only line is during the opening credits.
Mika Boorem as Margaret Martin
Benjamin's older daughter, she is often seen taking care of her younger siblings.
Skye McCole Bartusiak as Susan Martin
The younger daughter and child among Benjamin's seven children, she has a problem with speaking, which may be a post-traumatic reaction to the death of their mother; only later on does she finally open up. Her feelings towards her father change radically as the film progresses, and after Benjamin leaves from the furlough to rejoin his militia, in an extremely emotional scene, she seemingly forgives him and tells him she'll say anything he wants to make him stay, to which Benjamin can only promise to return, which Susan accepts.
Joely Richardson as Charlotte Selton
Benjamin's sister-in-law and love interest in the film. She is the owner of a plantation that is later burned down in the film. She looks after Benjamin's children while he is fighting.
Jason Isaacs as Colonel William Tavington
Colonel of the Green Dragoons, he is portrayed as a charismatic sociopath and a brutal commander. Long ago, his late father wasted away the family money, along with William's inheritance. He suggests to Cornwallis that he be allowed to acquire the Ohio territory as payment after the war since the brutality his commander wants from him sacrifices his social standing in English society. He is nicknamed "The Butcher" by Brigadier General O'Hara. The character is based on Banastre Tarleton.[6]
Chris Cooper as Colonel Harry Burwell
One of Benjamin's commanding officers in the French and Indian War and a colonel of the Continental Army. He fought in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill. When his wife gives birth to their firstborn son, they name him after Benjamin's late eldest son, Gabriel. His character is loosely based on[citation needed] Lieutenant Colonel Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee.
Tchéky Karyo as Major Jean Villeneuve
A French officer who trains Martin's militia, he holds a grudge against Martin for his part in the French and Indian War, but they become close friends by the war's end. He explains in the film that he watched his wife and two daughters, 12-year-old Violette and 10-year-old Pauline (both green-eyed), being burned in the ship that carried them by the British, which explains his hatred for them. He serves as Martin's second-in-command.
René Auberjonois as Reverend Oliver
A minister of Pembroke who volunteers to fight with the militia. He also tries to give spiritual advice to his fellow soldiers. He is one of the eighteen captured men taken to Fort Carolina and released later on by Benjamin. He aides Gabriel in killing Captain Bordon, but is mortally shot by Tavington. Before dying, he courageously tosses his musket to Gabriel so that he may finish off Tavington.
Lisa Brenner as Anne Patricia Howard Martin
Gabriel's childhood friend and love interest, whom he marries later in the film. She is killed in the town church along with the rest of the town on Tavington's orders.
Tom Wilkinson as Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis
A general of the British army. While pompous and arrogant, he is disgusted by Tavington's savage and ungentlemanly-like tactics. Cornwallis is a skilled commander, with Martin calling him a genius, but he sees militia as nothing more than "farmers with pitchforks" and is easily duped by Martin in a key scene. His two Great Danes, Jupiter and Mars, are a gift from king George III.
Peter Woodward as Brigadier General Charles O'Hara
Cornwallis' second-in-command. Like Cornwallis, he does not share Tavington's views on war.
Donal Logue as Dan Scott
One of Benjamin's men. He is a racist and bullies the former slave Occam, but grows to befriend him, especially when saved by him while wounded. In the last part of the film, they stand side by side in the final battle and the raising of Martin's new house.
Leon Rippy as John Billings
One of Benjamin's neighbors and oldest friends who joins the militia. He is one of the 18 captured men taken to Fort Carolina and released later on by Benjamin. Afterward, John helps Charlotte Selton and Benjamin's children escape the burning of the Selton plantation. He commits suicide, in full view of his comrades, after finding that Tavington's men have killed his wife and son. Afterward, Benjamin gives the militia a furlough.
Adam Baldwin as Captain James Wilkins
An officer in the Loyalist Colonial militia recruited into the Green Dragoons by Captain Bordon. He knows everything about Benjamin Martin, and is called upon by Tavington to divulge such information when required. Earlier on, at the South Carolina Assembly in Charleston, he is one of the twelve out of forty to vote against a levy for the Continental Army. He fights alongside Tavington, and also shares these brutal views on how "all those who stand against England deserve to die a traitor's death." When he is forced to burn the church at Pembroke, with town residents inside by Tavington, only then does he regret his own words and realize what kind of man his commanding officer really is. He is last seen fighting alongside the British in the final battle of the movie. His fate is not shown.
Jamieson K. Price as Captain Bordon
Tavington's second-in-command of the Green Dragoons and chief intelligence officer. He is just as ruthless as his commander, "strong-arming" prisoners during interrogations. He is killed by Gabriel in the youth's raid against the Dragoons.
Jay Arlen Jones as Occam
An African slave who is sent to fight in his master's place. He is taunted and bullied by the other members of the militia, but is treated as an equal by Benjamin, Gabriel, Jean, and later on by Dan Scott and the others. He gives out information of the captured eighteen militia men at Fort Carolina while escaping Tavington's trap. After serving a year in the Continental Army, he becomes a free man, but nonetheless still serves with the militia until the end of the war, and later aids, alongside his former adversary Dan Scott, in raising a new house for Martin. (See also: African Americans in the Revolutionary War)
Joey D. Vieira as Peter Howard
Anne Howard's father, who lost his left leg and most of his hearing while fighting the French and Indian War. He likens British taxation policies to the British taking his other leg.
Zach Hanner as British field officer.
Terry Layman as General George Washington.
Andy Stahl as General Nathanael Greene.
Grahame Wood as a friendly British Lieutenant at Martin's farm who interacts with both Benjamin Martin and Colonel Tavington. He sees Tavington's orders to kill the Colonial wounded and other prisoners revolting, but remains silent and follows through with the orders without question, largely out of fear for his own life. He dies shortly afterwards in Martin's skirmish to rescue his son, Gabriel.

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Script[edit]

text: Screenwriter Robert Rodat wrote seventeen drafts of the script before there was an acceptable one. In an early version, Anne is pregnant with Gabriel's child when she dies in the burning church. Rodat wrote the script with Gibson in mind for Benjamin Martin, and gave the Martin character six children to signal this preference to studio executives. After the birth of Gibson's seventh child, the script was changed so that Martin had seven children. Like the character William Wallace, which Gibson portrayed in Braveheart five years earlier, Martin is a man seeking to live his life in peace until revenge drives him to lead a cause against a national enemy after the life of an innocent family member is taken.

text: Casting[edit]

text: Joshua Jackson, Elijah Wood, Jake Gyllenhaal and Brad Renfro were considered to play Gabriel Martin. The producers and director narrowed their choices for this role to Ryan Phillippe and Heath Ledger, with the latter chosen because the director thought he possessed "exuberant youth".

text: Filming[edit]

text: The film's German director Emmerich said "these were characters I could relate to, and they were engaged in a conflict that had a significant outcome—the creation of the first modern democratic government."[6]

text: The film was shot entirely on location in South Carolina, including Charleston, Rock Hill—for many of the battle scenes, and Lowrys—for the farm of Benjamin Martin, as well as nearby Fort Lawn.[7] Other scenes were filmed at Mansfield Plantation, an antebellum rice plantation in Georgetown, Middleton Place in Charleston, South Carolina, at the Cistern Yard on the campus of College of Charleston, and Hightower Hall and Homestead House at Brattonsville, South Carolina, along with the grounds of the Brattonsville Plantation in McConnells, South Carolina.[8] Producer Mark Gordon said the production team "tried their best to be as authentic as possible" because "the backdrop was serious history," giving attention to details in period dress.[6] Producer Dean Devlin and the film's costume designers examined actual Revolutionary War uniforms at the Smithsonian Institution prior to shooting.[6]

text: Music[edit]

text: The musical score for The Patriot was composed by John Williams and was nominated for an Academy Award.[9] David Arnold, who composed the scores to Emmerich's Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, created a demo for The Patriot that was ultimately rejected. As a result, Arnold never returned to compose for any of Emmerich's subsequent films and was replaced by Harald Kloser and Thomas Wanker.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The Patriot received mildly favorable reviews from critics. The film scored a "Fresh" rating of 61% rating among all critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which notes that it "can be entertaining to watch, but it relies too much on formula and melodrama."[10][11] The Patriot is one of two Emmerich films to ever be given a "fresh" rating from that website (the other is Independence Day). Rotten Tomatoes also notes that, "While his hero is conscience-stricken about killing, Emmerich sure enjoys serving it up in generous helpings.[12] " On Metacritic, the film earned a rating of 63 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell gave the film a generally negative review, although he praised its casting and called Mel Gibson "an astonishing actor", particularly for his "on-screen comfort and expansiveness". He said the film is a "gruesome hybrid, a mix of sentimentality and brutality".[13] Jamie Malanowski, also writing in The New York Times, said The Patriot "will prove to many a satisfying way to spend a summer evening. It's got big battles and wrenching hand-to-hand combat, a courageous but conflicted hero and a dastardly and totally guilt-free villain, thrills, tenderness, sorrow, rage and a little bit of kissing".[14] The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.

text: Controversy[edit]

text: A highly positive review was purportedly written by a critic named David Manning, who was credited to The Ridgefield Press, a small Connecticut weekly news publication. During an investigation into Manning's quotes, Newsweek reporter John Horn discovered that the newspaper had never heard of him.[15] The story emerged at around the same time as an announcement that Sony had used employees posing as moviegoers in television commercials to praise the film. These occurrences, in tandem, raised questions and controversy about ethics in movie marketing practices.

text: On June 10, 2001, the episode of Le Show, host Harry Shearer conducted an in-studio interview with Manning, whose "review" of the film was positive. The voice of Manning was provided by a computer voice synthesizer.[16]

text: On August 3, 2005, Sony made an out-of-court settlement and agreed to refund $5 each to dissatisfied customers who saw this and four other films in American theatres, as a result of Manning's reviews.[17]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The Patriot opened in 3,061 venues at #2 with $22,413,710 domestically in its opening weekend, falling slightly short of expectations (predictions had the film opening #1 with roughly $25 million ahead). The film opened behind Warner Bros The Perfect Storm, which opened at #1 with $41,325,042.[18] The film closed on October 16, 2000 with $113,330,342 domestically, which barely recouped its budget of $110 million. It was successful overseas grossing $101,964,000 with a grand total of $215,294,342.[2]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The Patriot was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Mixing (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Lee Orloff), Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.[19] It also received several guild awards, including the American Society of Cinematographers award to Caleb Deschanel for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography[20] and the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award for Best Period Makeup and Best Period Hair Styling.[21]

text: Historical authenticity[edit]

text: During development, Emmerich and his team consulted with experts at the Smithsonian Institution on set, props, and costumes; advisor Rex Ellis even recommended the Gullah village as an appropriate place for Martin's family to hide.[22] In addition, screenwriter Robert Rodat read through many journals and letters of colonists as part of his preparation for writing the screen play.[23]

text: Producer Mark Gordon said that in making the film, "while we were telling a fictional story, the backdrop was serious history".[6] Some of the resulting characters and events thus were composites of real characters and events that were designed to serve the fictional narrative without losing the historical flavor. Rodat said of Gibson's character: "Benjamin Martin is a composite character made up of Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, Andrew Pickens, and Francis Marion, and a few bits and pieces from a number of other characters."[6] Rodat also indicated that the fictional Colonel William Tavington is "loosely based on Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who was particularly known for his brutal acts".[6]

text: While some events, such as Tarleton's pursuit of Francis Marion and his fellow irregular soldiers who escaped by disappearing into the swamps of South Carolina, were loosely based on history,[24] and others were adapted, such as the final battle in the film which combined elements of the Battles of Cowpens and Battle of Guilford Court House, most of the plot events in the film are pure fiction.

text: Criticism of Benjamin Martin as based on Francis Marion[edit]

text: The film was harshly criticized in the British press in part because of its connection to Francis Marion, a militia leader in South Carolina known as the "Swamp Fox". After the release of The Patriot, the British newspaper The Guardian denounced Marion as "a serial rapist who hunted Red Indians for fun.[25] Historian Christopher Hibbert said of Marion:

text: "The truth is that people like Marion committed atrocities as bad, if not worse, than those perpetrated by the British."[26]

text: The Patriot does not depict the American character Benjamin Martin as innocent of atrocities; a key plot point revolves around the character's guilt over acts he engaged in, such as torturing, killing, and mutilating prisoners during the French and Indian War, while not mentioning his crimes against fellow colonists during the Revolutionary War. In Hibbert's book Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes, written before The Patriot was released, Hibbert included no criticism of Marion. Conservative radio host Michael Graham rejected Hibbert's criticism of Marion in a commentary published in National Review:

text: "Was Francis Marion a slave owner? Was he a determined and dangerous warrior? Did he commit acts in an 18th century war that we would consider atrocious in the current world of peace and political correctness? As another great American film hero might say: 'You're damn right.' "That's what made him a hero, 200 years ago and today."[27]

text: Graham also refers to what he describes as "the unchallenged work of South Carolina's premier historian" Dr. Walter Edgar, who claimed in his 1998 South Carolina: A History that Marion's partisans were "a ragged band of both black and white volunteers".[27]

text: Amy Crawford, in Smithsonian magazine, stated that modern historians such as William Gilmore Simms and Hugh Rankin have written accurate biographies of Marion, including Simms' The Life of Francis Marion.[28] The introduction to the 2007 edition of Simms' book was written by Sean Busick, a professor of American history at Athens State University in Alabama, who wrote:

text: "Marion deserves to be remembered as one of the heroes of the War for Independence....Francis Marion was a man of his times: he owned slaves, and he fought in a brutal campaign against the Cherokee Indians...Marion's experience in the French and Indian War prepared him for more admirable service."[28]

text: During pre-production, the producers debated on whether Martin would own slaves, ultimately deciding not to make him a slave owner. This decision received criticism from Spike Lee, who in a letter to The Hollywood Reporter accused the film's portrayal of slavery as being "a complete whitewashing of history".[29] Lee wrote that after he and his wife went to see the film, "we both came out of the theatre fuming. For three hours The Patriot dodged around, skirted about or completely ignored slavery." Gibson himself remarked: "I think I would have made him a slave holder. Not to seems kind of a cop-out."[30]

text: Criticism of Tavington as based on Tarleton[edit]

text: After release, several British voices criticized the film for its depiction of the film's villain Tavington and defended the historical character of Banastre Tarleton. Ben Fenton, commenting in the Daily Telegraph, wrote:

text: "There is no evidence that Tarleton, called 'Bloody Ban' or 'The Butcher' in rebel pamphlets, ever broke the rules of war and certainly did not ever shoot a child in cold blood."[31]

text: Although Tarleton gained the reputation among Americans as a butcher for his involvement in the Waxhaw massacre in South Carolina, he was a hero in Liverpool, England. Liverpool City Council, led by Mayor Edwin Clein, called for a public apology for what they viewed as the film's "character assassination" of Tarleton.[32] What happened during the Battle of The Waxhaws, known to the Americans as the Buford Massacre or as the Waxhaw massacre, is the subject of debate. According to an American field surgeon named Robert Brownfield who witnessed the events, the Continental Army Col. Buford raised a white flag of surrender, "expecting the usual treatment sanctioned by civilized warfare". While Buford was calling for quarter, Tarleton's horse was struck by a musket ball and fell. This gave the Loyalist cavalrymen the impression that the Continentals had shot at their commander while asking for mercy. Enraged, the Loyalist troops charged at the Virginians. According to Brownfield, the Loyalists attacked, carrying out "indiscriminate carnage never surpassed by the most ruthless atrocities of the most barbarous savages".

text: In Tarleton's own account, he stated that his horse had been shot from under him during the initial charge in which he was knocked out for several minutes and that his men, thinking him dead, engaged in "a vindictive asperity not easily restrained".[33]

text: Tarleton's role in the Revolutionary War in the Carolinas is examined by Ben Rubin who shows that historically, while the actual events of the Battle of the Waxhaws were presented differently according to which side was recounting them, the story of Tarleton's atrocities at Waxhaws and on other occasions became a rallying cry, particularly at the Battle of King's Mountain.[34] The tales of Tarleton's atrocities were a part of standard U.S. accounts of the war and were described by Washington Irving and by Christopher Ward in his 1952 history, The War of the Revolution, where Tarleton is described as "cold-hearted, vindictive, and utterly ruthless. He wrote his name in letters of blood all across the history of the war in the South."[35] Not until Anthony Scotti's 2002 book, Brutal Virtue: The Myth and Reality of Banastre Tarleton, were Tarleton's actions fully reexamined. Scotti challenged the factual accounts of atrocities and stressed the "propaganda value that such stories held for the Americas both during and after the war".[36] Scotti's book, however, did not come out until two years after The Patriot. Screenwriters consulting American works to build the character Tavington based on Tarleton would have commonly found descriptions of him as barbaric and accounts of his name being used for recruiting and motivation during the Revolutionary War itself.[37]

text: Whereas Tavington is depicted as aristocratic but penniless, Tarleton came from a wealthy Liverpool merchant family. Tarleton did not die in battle or from impalement, as Tavington did in the film. Tarleton died on January 16, 1833, in Leintwardine, Herefordshire, England, at the age of 78, nearly 50 years after the war ended. He outlived Col. Francis Marion who died in 1795, by 38 years. Before his death, Tarleton had achieved the military rank of General, equal to that held by the overall British Commanders during the American Revolution, and became a baronet and a member of the British Parliament.

text: Depiction of atrocities in the Revolutionary War[edit]

text: The Patriot was criticized for misrepresenting atrocities during the Revolutionary War, including the killing of prisoners of war and wounded soldiers and burning a church filled with townsfolk. While atrocities occurred during the war, the most striking of the film's depictions of British atrocities—the burning of a church full of unarmed colonial civilians—had virtually no factual basis nor parallel in the American or European 18th century wars, with the exception of the Massacre at Lucs-sur-Boulogne in 1794. The New York Post film critic Jonathan Foreman was one of several focusing on this distortion in the film and wrote the following in an article at Salon.com:

text: "The most disturbing thing about The Patriot is not just that German director Roland Emmerich (director of Independence Day) and his screenwriter Robert Rodat (who was criticized for excluding the roles played by British, Canadian (Juno Beach) and other Allied troops in the Normandy landings from his script for Saving Private Ryan) depicted British troops as committing savage atrocities, but that those atrocities bear such a close resemblance to war crimes carried out by German troops—particularly the SS in World War II. It's hard not to wonder if the filmmakers have some kind of subconscious agenda....They have made a film that will have the effect of inoculating audiences against the unique historical horror of Oradour—and implicitly rehabilitating the Nazis while making the British seem as evil as history's worst monsters....So it's no wonder that the British press sees this film as a kind of blood libel against the British people."[38]

text: The Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter, a historian of the era, said: "Any image of the American Revolution which represents you Brits as Nazis and us as gentle folk is almost certainly wrong. It was a very bitter war, a total war, and that is something that I am afraid has been lost to history....[T]he presence of the Loyalists (colonists who did not want to join the fight for independence from Britain) meant that the War of Independence was a conflict of complex loyalties."[39] The historian Richard F. Snow, editor of American Heritage magazine, said of the church-burning scene: "Of course it never happened—if it had do you think Americans would have forgotten it? It could have kept us out of World War I."[40][41]

text: The concept of patriotism[edit]

text: Slate columnist Michael Lind criticized the identification of the leading character's actions with patriotism. Specifically, Lind stated that "this movie is deeply subversive patriotism. Indeed, patriotism is a concept that neither the screenwriter...nor the director...seems to understand". He further wrote that "the message of The Patriot is that country is an abstraction, family is everything. It should have been called The Family Man".[42]

text: In contrast, historian Ben Rubin argues that because the American Revolution was a conflict that as often pitted neighbor against neighbor—Whigs (advocates of Revolution) against Tories (loyalists to Britain)—as it pitted nascent Americans against the British, many people stayed neutral until goaded into taking a stand in reaction to perceived atrocities.[43] From this perspective, Benjamin Martin's joining of the militia becomes, according to commentator Jon Roland, a deep patriotism that "shows them being called up, not as an act of an official, but by private persons aware of a common threat...[reacting to a] militia duty to defend one another".[44]

text: Homages[edit]

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: In the film, Gibson's character asks, "Why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away?" "They Call me a brainless Tory," said (Doctor) Reverend Mather Byles while watching three thousand Sons of Liberty parading the streets of Boston, "but tell me my young friend, which is better, to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away or three thousand tyrants not a mile away".[45]

text:
Paul Revere And The World He Lived In by Ester Forbes Riverside Press Cambridge, Massachusetts 1942
The Patriot: The Official Companion by Suzanne Fritz and Rachel Aberly
The Patriot: A Novel by Stephen Molstad


document_title: Graphic novel

question_text: what is the definition of a graphic novel

text: Graphic novel

text: Definition[edit]

text: The term is not strictly defined, though Merriam-Webster's full dictionary definition is "a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and published as a book", while its simplest definition is given as "cartoon drawings that tell a story and are published as a book".[4] In the publishing trade, the term extends to material that would not be considered a novel if produced in another medium.[citation needed] Collections of comic books that do not form a continuous story, anthologies or collections of loosely related pieces, and even non-fiction are stocked by libraries and bookstores as "graphic novels" (similar to the manner in which dramatic stories are included in "comic" books).[citation needed] The term is also sometimes used to distinguish between works created as standalone stories, in contrast to collections or compilations of a story arc from a comic book series published in book form.[5][6][7]

text: In continental Europe, both original book-length stories such as La rivolta dei racchi (1967) by Guido Buzzelli,[citation needed][8] and collections of comics have been commonly published in hardcover volumes, often called "albums", since the end of the 19th century (including such later Franco-Belgian comics series as The Adventures of Tintin in the 1930s,

text: History[edit]

text: As the exact definition of the graphic novel is debated, the origins of the form are open to interpretation.

text: The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck is the oldest recognized American example of comics used to this end.[9] It originated as the 1828 publication Histoire de M. Vieux Bois by Swiss caricaturist Rodolphe Töpffer, and was first published in English translation in 1841 by London's Tilt & Bogue, which used an 1833 Paris pirate edition.[10] The first American edition was published in 1842 by Wilson & Company in New York City using the original printing plates from the 1841 edition. Another early predecessor is Journey to the Gold Diggins by Jeremiah Saddlebags by brothers J. A. D. and D. F. Read, inspired by The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck.[10] In 1894 Caran d'Ache broached the idea of a "drawn novel" in a letter to the newspaper Le Figaro and started work on a 360-page wordless book (never published).[11] In the United States there is a long tradition of reissuing previously published comic strips in book form. In 1897 the Hearst Syndicate published such a collection of The Yellow Kid by Richard Outcault and it quickly became a best seller.[12]

text: 1920s to 1960s[edit]

text: The 1920s saw a revival of the medieval woodcut tradition, with Belgian Frans Masereel cited as "the undisputed king" of this revival.[13] His works include Passionate Journey (1919).[14] American Lynd Ward also worked in this tradition, publishing Gods' Man, in 1929 and going on to publish more during the 1930s.[15][16]

text: Other prototypical examples from this period include American Milt Gross' He Done Her Wrong (1930), a wordless comic published as a hardcover book, and Une Semaine de Bonté (1934), a novel in sequential images composed of collage by the surrealist painter Max Ernst. Similarly, Charlotte Salomon's Life? or Theater? (composed 1941-43) combines images, narrative, and captions.[citation needed]

text: The 1940s saw the launching of Classics Illustrated, a comic-book series that primarily adapted notable, public domain novels into standalone comic books for young readers. In 1947 Fawcett Comics published Comics Novel #1: "Anarcho, Dictator of Death", a 52-page comic dedicated to one story.[17] In 1950, St. John Publications produced the digest-sized, adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust, a film noir-influenced slice of steeltown life starring a scheming, manipulative redhead named Rust. Touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover, the 128-page digest by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" (Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin proved successful enough to lead to an unrelated second picture novel, The Case of the Winking Buddha by pulp novelist Manning Lee Stokes and illustrator Charles Raab.[18][19] Presaging Will Eisner's multiple-story graphic novel A Contract with God (1978), cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman wrote and drew the four-story mass-market paperback Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book (Ballantine Books #338K), published in 1959.[20]

text: By the late 1960s, American comic book creators were becoming more adventurous with the form. Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin self-published a 40-page, magazine-format comics novel, His Name is... Savage (Adventure House Press) in 1968—the same year Marvel Comics published two issues of The Spectacular Spider-Man in a similar format. Columnist and comic-book writer Steven Grant also argues that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales #130–146, although published serially from 1965–1966, is "the first American graphic novel".[21] Similarly, critic Jason Sacks referred to the 13-issue "Panther's Rage" — comics' first-known titled, self-contained, multi-issue story arc — that ran from 1973 to 1975 in the Black Panther series in Marvel's Jungle Action as "Marvel's first graphic novel".[22]

text: Meanwhile, in continental Europe, the tradition of collecting serials of popular strips such as The Adventures of Tintin or Asterix led to long-form narratives published initially as serials.[citation needed]

text: By 1969, the author John Updike, who had entertained ideas of becoming a cartoonist in his youth, addressed the Bristol Literary Society, on "the death of the novel". Updike offered examples of new areas of exploration for novelists, declaring "I see no intrinsic reason why a doubly talented artist might not arise and create a comic strip novel masterpiece".[23]

text: Modern era[edit]

text: Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin's Blackmark (1971), a science fiction/sword-and-sorcery paperback published by Bantam Books, did not use the term originally; the back-cover blurb of the 30th-anniversary edition (ISBN 978-1-56097-456-7) calls it, retroactively, "the very first American graphic novel". The Academy of Comic Book Arts presented Kane with a special 1971 Shazam Award for what it called "his paperback comics novel". Whatever the nomenclature, Blackmark is a 119-page story of comic-book art, with captions and word balloons, published in a traditional book format. It is also the first with an original heroic-adventure character conceived expressly for this form.[citation needed]

text: European creators were also experimenting with the longer narrative in comics form. In the United Kingdom, Raymond Briggs was producing works such as Father Christmas (1972) and The Snowman (1978), which he himself described as being from the "bottomless abyss of strip cartooning", although they, along with such other Briggs works as the more mature When the Wind Blows (1982), have been re-marketed as graphic novels in the wake of the term's popularity. Briggs notes, however, "I don't know if I like that term too much".[24]

text: First self-proclaimed graphic novels: 1976–1978[edit]

text: In 1976, the term "graphic novel" appeared in print to describe three separate works. Bloodstar by Richard Corben (adapted from a story by Robert E. Howard) used the term to define itself on its dust jacket and introduction. George Metzger's Beyond Time and Again, serialized in underground comics from 1967 to 1972, was subtitled "A Graphic Novel" on the inside title page when collected as a 48-page, black-and-white, hardcover book published by Kyle & Wheary.[citation needed]

text: The digest-sized Chandler: Red Tide (1976) by Jim Steranko, designed to be sold on newsstands, used the term "graphic novel" in its introduction and "a visual novel" on its cover, although Chandler is more commonly considered[citation needed] an illustrated novel than a work of comics.[citation needed]

text: The following year, Terry Nantier, who had spent his teenage years living in Paris, returned to the United States and formed Flying Buttress Publications, later to incorporate as NBM Publishing (Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine), and published Racket Rumba, a 50-page spoof of the noir-detective genre, written and drawn by the single-name French artist Loro. Nantier followed this with Enki Bilal's The Call of the Stars. The company marketed these works as "graphic albums".[25]

text: The first six issues of writer-artist Jack Katz's 1974 Comics and Comix Co. series The First Kingdom were collected as a trade paperback (Pocket Books, March 1978),[26] which described itself as "the first graphic novel". Issues of the comic had described themselves as "graphic prose", or simply as a novel.[citation needed]

text: Similarly, Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by writer Don McGregor and artist Paul Gulacy (Eclipse Books, August 1978)—the first graphic novel sold in the newly created "direct market" of United States comic-book shops[27]—was called a "graphic album" by the author in interviews, though the publisher dubbed it a "comic novel" on its credits page. "Graphic album" was also the term used the following year by Gene Day for his hardcover short-story collection Future Day (Flying Buttress Press).

text: Another early graphic novel, though it carried no self-description, was The Silver Surfer (Simon & Schuster/Fireside Books, August 1978), by Marvel Comics' Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Significantly, this was published by a traditional book publisher and distributed through bookstores, as was cartoonist Jules Feiffer's Tantrum (Alfred A. Knopf, 1979)[28] described on its dustjacket as a "novel-in-pictures".[citation needed]

text: Adoption of the term[edit]

text: Hyperbolic descriptions of longer comic books as "novels" appear on covers as early as the 1940s. Early issues of DC Comics' All-Flash Quarterly, for example, described their contents as "novel-length stories" and "full-length four chapter novels."[29]

text: In its earliest known citation, comic book reviewer Richard Kyle used the term "graphic novel" in CAPA-ALPHA #2 (November 1964), a newsletter published by the Comic Amateur Press Alliance, and again in an article in Bill Spicer's magazine Fantasy Illustrated #5 (Spring 1966).[30] Kyle, inspired by European and East Asian graphic albums (especially the Japanese manga), used the label to designate comics of an artistically "serious" sort.[31] Following this, Spicer, with Kyle's acknowledgment, edited and published a periodical titled Graphic Story Magazine in the fall of 1967.[30] The Sinister House of Secret Love #2 (Jan. 1972), one of DC Comics' line of extra-length, 48-page comics, specifically used the phrase "a graphic novel of Gothic terror" on its cover.[32]

text: In response to criticism regarding the content of comic books, and to the establishment of the industry's self-censorship Comics Code Authority, an underground alternative comix movement was created.[33]

text: The term "graphic novel" began to grow in popularity months after it appeared on the cover of the trade paperback edition (though not the hardcover edition) of Will Eisner's A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories (October 1978). This collection of short stories was a mature, complex work focusing on the lives of ordinary people in the real world based on Eisner's own experiences.[34] The term "graphic novel" was intended[citation needed] to distinguish it from the traditional serialized nature of comic books, with which it shared a storytelling medium.

text: One scholar used graphic novels to introduce the concept of graphiation, a newly coined term used to describe graphic expression or visual enunciation. Graphiation refers to the theory that the entire personality of an artist is visible through his or her visual representation of a certain character, setting, event, or object in a novel, and as a means to examine and analyze drawing style.[35]

text: Even though Eisner’s A Contract with God was finally published in 1978 by a smaller company, Baronet Press, it took Eisner over a year to find a publishing house that would allow his work to reach the mass market.[36] Eisner cited[citation needed] Lynd Ward's 1930s woodcuts (see above) as an inspiration.[citation needed]

text: The critical and commercial success of A Contract with God helped to establish the term "graphic novel" in common usage, and many sources have incorrectly credited Eisner with being the first to use it. These included the Time magazine website in 2003, which said in its correction, "Eisner acknowledges that the term 'graphic novel' had been coined prior to his book. But, he says, 'I had not known at the time that someone had used that term before.' Nor does he take credit for creating the first graphic book."[37]

text: One of the earliest contemporaneous applications of the term post-Eisner came in 1979[citation needed], when Blackmark's sequel—published a year after A Contract with God though written and drawn in the early 1970s—was labeled a "graphic novel" on the cover of Marvel Comics' black-and-white comics magazine Marvel Preview #17 (Winter 1979), where Blackmark: The Mind Demons premiered—its 117-page contents intact, but its panel-layout reconfigured to fit 62 pages.[citation needed]

text: Following this, Marvel from 1982 to 1988 published the Marvel Graphic Novel line of 10"x7" trade paperbacks—although numbering them like comic books, from #1 (Jim Starlin's The Death of Captain Marvel) to #35 (Dennis O'Neil, Mike Kaluta, and Russ Heath's Hitler's Astrologer, starring the radio and pulp fiction character the Shadow, and released in hardcover). Marvel commissioned original graphic novels from such creators as John Byrne, J. M. DeMatteis, Steve Gerber, graphic-novel pioneer McGregor, Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, Walt Simonson, Charles Vess, and Bernie Wrightson. While most of these starred Marvel superheroes, others, such as Rick Veitch's Heartburst featured original SF/fantasy characters; others still, such as John J. Muth's Dracula, featured adaptations of literary stories or characters; and one, Sam Glanzman's A Sailor's Story, was a true-life, World War II naval tale.[citation needed]

text: Cartoonist Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus (1986), helped establish both the term and the concept of graphic novels in the minds of the mainstream public.[33] Two DC Comics book reprints of self-contained miniseries did likewise, though they were not originally published as graphic novels: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), a collection of Frank Miller's four-part comic-book series featuring an older Batman faced with the problems of a dystopian future; and Watchmen (1986-1987), a collection of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' 12-issue limited series in which Moore notes he "set out to explore, amongst other things, the dynamics of power in a post-Hiroshima world".[38] These works and others were reviewed in newspapers and magazines, leading to increased coverage.[39] Sales of graphic novels increased, with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, for example, lasting 40 weeks on a UK best-seller list.[40]

text: European adoption of the term[edit]

text: Outside North America, Eisner's A Contract with God and Spiegelman's Maus led to the popularization of the expression "graphic novel" as well.[41] Until then, most European countries used neutral, descriptive terminology that referred to the form of the medium, and not the contents. In Francophone Europe for example, the expression bandes dessinées – which literally translates as "drawn strips" – is used, while the terms stripverhaal ("strip story") and tegneserie ("drawn series") are used by the Dutch/Flemish and Scandinavians respectively.[42] European comics studies scholars have observed that Americans originally used "graphic novel" to describe everything that deviated from their standard, 32-page comic book format, meaning that all larger-sized, longer Franco-Belgian comic albums, regardless of their contents, fell under the heading.[citation needed]

text: American comic critics occasionally refer to European graphic novels as "Eurocomics",[43] and attempts were made in the late 1980s to cross-fertilize the American market with these works. American publishers Catalan Communications and NBM Publishing released translated titles, predominantly from the backlog catalogs of Casterman and Les Humanoïdes Associés.

text: Criticism of the term[edit]

text: Some in the comics community have objected to the term "graphic novel" on the grounds that it is unnecessary, or that its usage has been corrupted by commercial interests. Writer Alan Moore believes,

text: It's a marketing term... that I never had any sympathy with. The term 'comic' does just as well for me... The problem is that 'graphic novel' just came to mean 'expensive comic book' and so what you'd get is people like DC Comics or Marvel Comics—because 'graphic novels' were getting some attention, they'd stick six issues of whatever worthless piece of crap they happened to be publishing lately under a glossy cover and call it The She-Hulk Graphic Novel...."[44]

text: It's a perfect time to retire terms like "graphic novel" and "sequential art," which piggyback on the language of other, wholly separate mediums. What's more, both terms have their roots in the need to dissemble and justify, thus both exude a sense of desperation, a gnawing hunger to be accepted.[45]

text: Author Daniel Raeburn wrote, "I snicker at the neologism first for its insecure pretension—the literary equivalent of calling a garbage man a 'sanitation engineer'—and second because a 'graphic novel' is in fact the very thing it is ashamed to admit: a comic book, rather than a comic pamphlet or comic magazine."[46] Writer Neil Gaiman, responding to a claim that he does not write comic books but graphic novels, said the commenter "meant it as a compliment, I suppose. But all of a sudden I felt like someone who'd been informed that she wasn't actually a hooker; that in fact she was a lady of the evening."[47] Responding to writer Douglas Wolk's quip that the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book is "the binding", Bone creator Jeff Smith said, "I kind of like that answer. Because 'graphic novel'... I don't like that name. It's trying too hard. It is a comic book. But there is a difference. And the difference is, a graphic novel is a novel in the sense that there is a beginning, a middle and an end."[48] The Times writer Giles Coren said, "To call them graphic novels is to presume that the novel is in some way ‘higher’ than the karmicbwurk (comic book), and that only by being thought of as a sort of novel can it be understood as an art form."[49]

text: Some alternative cartoonists have coined their own terms to describe extended comics narratives. The cover of Daniel Clowes' Ice Haven (2001) describes the book as "a comic-strip novel", with Clowes having noted that he "never saw anything wrong with the comic book".[50] The cover of Craig Thompson's Blankets calls it "an illustrated novel."[citation needed]


document_title: List of Washington Capitals seasons

question_text: when was the last time the caps went to the finals

text: List of Washington Capitals seasons

text: Table key[edit]

text:
Key of colors and symbols

Color/symbol
Explanation

Stanley Cup champions

Conference champions

Division champions

Led league in points

text:
Key of terms and abbreviations

Term or abbreviation
Definition

Finish
Final position in division standings

GA
Goals against (goals scored by the Capitals' opponents)

GF
Goals for (goals scored by the Capitals)

GP
Number of games played

L
Number of losses

OT
Number of losses in overtime (since the 1999–2000 season)

Pts
Number of points

T
Number of ties

W
Number of wins

—
Does not apply

text: Year by year[edit]

text:
Year by year listing of all seasons played by the Washington Capitals

NHL season
Capitals season
Conference
Division
Regular season[4][5]
Postseason

Finish
GP
W
L
T
OT
Pts
GF
GA
GP
W
L
GF
GA
Result

1974–75
1974–75
Wales
Norris
5th
80
8
67
5
—
21
181
446
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1975–76
1975–76
Wales
Norris
5th
80
11
59
10
—
32
224
394
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1976–77
1976–77
Wales
Norris
4th
80
24
42
14
—
62
221
307
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1977–78
1977–78
Wales
Norris
5th
80
17
49
14
—
48
195
321
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1978–79
1978–79
Wales
Norris
4th
80
24
41
15
—
63
273
338
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1979–80
1979–80
Wales
Patrick
5th
80
27
40
13
—
67
261
293
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1980–81
1980–81
Wales
Patrick
5th
80
26
36
18
—
70
286
317
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1981–82
1981–82
Wales
Patrick
5th
80
26
41
13
—
65
319
338
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1982–83
1982–83
Wales
Patrick
3rd
80
39
25
16
—
94
306
283
4
1
3
11
19
Lost Division Semifinals to New York Islanders, 1–3[6]

1983–84
1983–84
Wales
Patrick
2nd
80
48
27
5
—
101
308
226
8
4
4
28
25
Won Division Semifinals vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 3–0
Lost Division Finals to New York Islanders, 1–4[7]

1984–85
1984–85
Wales
Patrick
2nd
80
46
25
9
—
101
322
240
5
2
3
12
14
Lost Division Semifinals to New York Islanders, 2–3[8]

1985–86
1985–86
Wales
Patrick
2nd
80
50
23
7
—
107
315
272
9
5
4
36
24
Won Division Semifinals vs. New York Islanders, 3–0
Lost Division Finals to New York Rangers, 2–4[9]

1986–87
1986–87
Wales
Patrick
2nd
80
38
32
10
—
86
285
278
7
3
4
19
19
Lost Division Semifinals to New York Islanders, 3–4[10]

1987–88
1987–88
Wales
Patrick
2nd
80
38
33
9
—
85
281
249
14
7
7
54
50
Won Division Semifinals vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 4–3
Lost Division Finals to New Jersey Devils, 3–4[11]

1988–89
1988–89
Wales
Patrick
1st
80
41
29
10
—
92
305
259
6
2
4
18
25
Lost Division Semifinals to Philadelphia Flyers, 2–4[12]

1989–90
1989–90
Wales
Patrick
3rd
80
36
38
6
—
78
284
275
15
8
7
49
48
Won Division Semifinals vs. New Jersey Devils, 4–2
Won Division Finals vs. New York Rangers, 4–1
Lost Conference Finals to Boston Bruins, 0–4[13]

1990–91
1990–91
Wales
Patrick
3rd
80
37
36
7
—
81
258
258
11
5
6
29
35
Won Division Semifinals vs. New York Rangers, 4–2
Lost Division Finals to Pittsburgh Penguins, 1–4[14]

1991–92
1991–92
Wales
Patrick
2nd
80
45
27
8
—
98
330
275
7
3
4
27
25
Lost Division Semifinals to Pittsburgh Penguins, 3–4[15]

1992–93
1992–93[a]
Wales
Patrick
2nd
84
43
34
7
—
93
325
286
6
4
2
15
23
Lost Division Semifinals to New York Islanders, 2–4[16]

1993–94
1993–94
Eastern[b]
Atlantic
3rd
84
39
35
10
—
88
277
263
11
5
6
32
32
Won Conference Quarterfinals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 4–2
Lost Conference Semifinals to New York Rangers, 1–4[17]

1994–95
1994–95[c]
Eastern
Atlantic
2nd
48
22
18
8
—
52
136
120
7
3
4
10
17
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to Pittsburgh Penguins, 3–4[18]

1995–96
1995–96
Eastern
Atlantic
4th
82
39
32
11
—
89
234
204
6
2
4
17
21
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to Pittsburgh Penguins, 2–4[19]

1996–97
1996–97
Eastern
Atlantic
5th
82
33
40
9
—
75
214
231
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1997–98
1997–98
Eastern
Atlantic
3rd
82
40
30
12
—
92
219
202
21
12
9
53
44
Won Conference Quarterfinals vs. Boston Bruins, 4–2
Won Conference Semifinals vs. Ottawa Senators, 4–1
Won Conference Finals vs. Buffalo Sabres, 4–2
Lost Stanley Cup Finals to Detroit Red Wings, 0–4[20]

1998–99
1998–99
Eastern
Southeast[g]
3rd
82
31
45
6
—
68
200
218
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

1999–2000
1999–2000
Eastern
Southeast
1st
82
44
24
12
2[d]
102
227
194
5
1
4
6
15
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to Pittsburgh Penguins, 1–4[21]

2000–01
2000–01
Eastern
Southeast
1st
82
41
27
10
4
96
233
211
6
2
4
10
14
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to Pittsburgh Penguins, 2–4[22]

2001–02
2001–02
Eastern
Southeast
2nd
82
36
33
11
2
85
228
240
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

2002–03
2002–03
Eastern
Southeast
2nd
82
39
29
8
6
92
224
220
6
2
4
15
14
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to Tampa Bay Lightning, 2–4[23]

2003–04
2003–04
Eastern
Southeast
5th
82
23
46
10
3
59
186
253
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

2004–05[e]
2004–05
Eastern
Southeast
Season cancelled due to 2004–05 NHL lockout

2005–06
2005–06
Eastern
Southeast
5th
82
29
41
—[f]
12
70
237
306
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

2006–07
2006–07
Eastern
Southeast
5th
82
28
40
—
14
70
235
286
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

2007–08
2007–08
Eastern
Southeast
1st
82
43
31
—
8
94
242
231
7
3
4
20
23
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to Philadelphia Flyers, 3–4[24]

2008–09
2008–09
Eastern
Southeast
1st
82
50
24
—
8
108
272
245
14
7
7
41
38
Won Conference Quarterfinals vs. New York Rangers, 4–3
Lost Conference Semifinals to Pittsburgh Penguins, 3–4[25]

2009–10
2009–10
Eastern
Southeast
1st
82
54
15
—
13
121
318
233
7
3
4
22
20
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to Montreal Canadiens, 3–4[26]

2010–11
2010–11
Eastern
Southeast
1st
82
48
23
—
11
107
224
197
9
4
5
23
24
Won Conference Quarterfinals vs. New York Rangers, 4–1
Lost Conference Semifinals to Tampa Bay Lightning, 0–4[27]

2011–12
2011–12
Eastern
Southeast
2nd
82
42
32
—
8
92
222
230
14
7
7
28
30
Won Conference Quarterfinals vs. Boston Bruins, 4-3
Lost Conference Semifinals to New York Rangers, 3–4[28]

2012–13[h]
2012–13
Eastern
Southeast
1st
48
27
18
—
3
57
149
130
7
3
4
13
15
Lost Conference Quarterfinals to New York Rangers, 3–4[29]

2013–14
2013–14
Eastern
Metropolitan[i]
5th
82
38
30
—
14
90
235
240
—
—
—
—
—
Did not qualify

2014–15
2014–15
Eastern
Metropolitan
2nd
82
45
26
—
11
101
242
203
14
7
7
28
28
Won First Round vs. New York Islanders, 4–3
Lost Second Round to New York Rangers, 3–4[30]

2015–16
2015–16
Eastern
Metropolitan
1st
82
56
18
—
8
120
252
193
12
6
6
29
22
Won First Round vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 4–2
Lost Second Round to Pittsburgh Penguins, 2–4[31]

2016–17
2016–17
Eastern
Metropolitan
1st
82
55
19
—
8
118
263
182
13
7
6
36
34
Won First Round vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 4–2
Lost Second Round to Pittsburgh Penguins, 3–4

2017–18
2017–18
Eastern
Metropolitan
1st
82
49
26
—
7
105
259
239
24
16
8
86
61
Won First Round vs. Columbus Blue Jackets 4–2
Won Second Round vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2
Won Conference Finals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning 4–3
Won Stanley Cup Finals vs. Vegas Golden Knights 4–1

Totals[32][33]
3426
1575
1406
303
142
3595
10750
10861
275
132
143
793
776

text: Notes[edit]

text:
a In 1992, the NHL expanded the season to 84 games, and each team played two games at a neutral site. After the 1995 lockout, the neutral site games were eliminated, and the season was reduced to 82 games.[34]
b The NHL realigned into Eastern and Western conferences prior to the 1993–94 season.[35] Washington was placed in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.[36]
c The season was shortened to 48 games because of the 1994–95 NHL lockout.[37]
d Beginning with the 1999–00 season, teams received one point for losing a regular season game in overtime.[38]
e The season was canceled because of the 2004–05 NHL lockout.[39]
f Before the 2005–06 season, the NHL instituted a penalty shootout for regular season games that remained tied after a five-minute overtime period, which prevented ties.[40]
g The NHL added 4 expansion teams prior to the 1998–99 season and split the Eastern Conference into three divisions: Northeast, Atlantic, and Southeast. Washington was moved into the new Southeast division.[41]
h The season was shortened to 48 games because of the 2012–13 NHL lockout.[42]
i The NHL realigned prior to the 2013–14 season. Washington was placed in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference.[43]