The Patriot (2000) begins just before the war in 1775 and ends shortly after in 1783. Much like Gibson's previous film Braveheart, the movie is historically inaccurate and contains tons of anachronistic details that would exist long after the film's general timeframe.
- None of Martin's children appear to age, despite the film taking place over seven years.
- Great Danes were not known by that name until the late 19th century. Before that they were called "Boar Hounds". Further, the Great Danes in question, purportedly sent to Cornwallis as a gift from the King, have had their ears pricked. This is not done anywhere but in the modern USA, and certainly not at that time in Britain. They are also stated to be "boys", yet the black one is clearly female.
- The British soldiers are referred to as "Redcoats," though this was not actually a term applied to British soldiers until the 1870s (this is a common historical error). The most common term used by American colonists in those days was "lobster" or "lobsterback".
- Martin shoots a soldier on horseback at approximately 100 yards using a flintlock pistol. This would be extremely difficult using even a modern pistol, much less a period pistol, which had a maximum effective range of twenty feet.
- When Tavington is after Martin's children at Charlotte's plantation, Susan is seen looking out a window covered with a venetian blind. Venetian blinds weren't invented till the late 1800s – 100 years after the time period of the movie. The most accepted "invention" of blinds was by a man from Chile named Hernando de Venuto on May 20, 1857. Clearly, in the home used, they forgot to remove one set.
- When Tavington is searching for the child hiding under the table his boots are clearly visible and certainly of the "Left-Right" variety. All but the most expensive boots were made on straight lasts until the 1800s.
- When Charlotte and the kids are hiding from the redcoats in the root cellar, they creep past a basket full of bread wrapped in cellophane. Cellophane was invented in 1906.
- In the first shot of the film, two of the children are seen playing with alphabet cards. These famous "Hotch Potch, posture master" cards weren't printed until 1782, while the scene takes place in 1776.
- The music performed at the party scene was the Gavotte from Bach's Orchestral Suite # 3. This music was unknown until its rediscovery as part of the Bach renaissance started by Felix Mendelssohn in 1850. This piece was first performed in the United States at the Cincinnati May Festival on May 7, 1873.
- When the militia are about to be hanged, the method is to be a New Drop-type trapdoor gallows first used in 1813.
- Aunt Charlotte Selton and Captain Wilkins have reverse suntans (raccoon eyes), obviously from wearing sunglasses out in the sun. The weight of the glasses left actual imprints on the side of her nose, which are easily seen in several close-ups. Although James Ayscough began experimenting with tinted spectacles in 1752, they were meant to correct specific vision impairments, not protection from sunlight. While amber- and brown-tinted glasses were prescribed to sufferers of syphilis in the late 19th century (light sensitivity is a symptom of the disease), sunglasses did not reach their modern form until 1929.
- Martin is shown several times melting down his dead son's lead soldiers to make musket balls. The model soldiers look to be wearing uniforms dating from about the late 19th Century.
- In the final scene showing the new home for the Martins, it is going up with balloon framing. This type of construction was not in practice until the early 1800s. The framing should have been of 17th century post and lintel type.
- Lord Cornwallis is portrayed as a much older man. This is incorrect as the real General Charles Lord Cornwallis was only in his early forties during the war. He was, in fact, born in 1738, making him six years younger than George Washington.
- At Gabriel's wedding Charlotte Selton responds "It's a free country" to Benjamin's request to sit. This phrase, used in this manner, did not come into use until the late 19th century.
- At the burning of the church, the shutters are closed, and when tested by the people in the church moments later hold against their pushing. Such shutters were designed to be secured from the inside. There were no fittings on the exterior for this (which would make no sense, since they were intended to keep attackers out). It would have taken a notable amount of time for the shutters to be secured (possibly with metal nails, which were rare) soundly enough to keep people inside.
- Speaking of the burning of the church, this was taken from something the Nazis did to a French village (Oradour-sur-Glane) four days after D-Day. If a British officer had done something like this, it would've been a serious scandal at home and could've resulted in the collapse of the government.
- The French ships near the end appear to be painted in Nelson Chequer – yellow and black stripes and black gunports. This pattern was predominantly British and did not come into use until its use by Admiral Nelson in 1803, and did not become popular in the fleet until much later. French ships of the era were painted either black and white or natural wood colour.
- The prisoner gambit would never have worked in real life. The way the British Officer Corps was structured at the time would have Lord Cornwallis personally acquainted with a good number of them, particularly the colonels and the majors with whom he would have been dining regularly, and at least familiar with who the captains and some of the lieutenants are. In fact, it may be more the case in the Revolutionary War where the British Army was experiencing an officer shortage and lower ranked officers would have answered to him directly. So if anyone was captured, he would have known who they were even with Martin's refusal to give names (never mind that he would've known if any such thing have happened either from reports or from whenever he has the officers assemble). The kind of distance implied in the film would be normal in more modern armies, with their greater sizes and consequentially more complex organizational structures.
- The general assembly in Charleston as depicted at the start of the film makes it look like the Revolutionary War had barely begun, with Martin saying that they should try petitioning the king and one of the assemblymen saying that South Carolina will not be involved. This scene is set in 1776, well into the war with the Olive Branch Petition already sent and rejected in the previous year and South Carolina already having militia groups in the field under both loyalist and continental flags.
