They really changed the Salvatores backstory from Italian Renaissance to civil war era. They took the point of contention between Giuseppe and Damon being him dropping out of university to him not fighting in the civil war anymore. They really changed Bonnie's backstory from being a descendant from Celtic druids to being a descendant from Salem. And for what? So they could talk about the confederacy? Founding founders? The slave trade in Virginia? And the Salem witch trials?