America: The Story of The US - History Channel - All Episodes

America: The Story of Us (also internationally known as America: The Story of the U.S.) is a 12-part, 9-hours documentary-drama television miniseries that premiered on April 25, 2010, on History channel. Produced by Nutopia, the program portrays more than 400 years of American history (with emphasis on how American creation of new technologies has had effects on the nation's history and, by implication, the world). It spans time from the successful English settlement of Jamestown beginning in 1607, through to the present day. Narrated by Liev Schreiber (Danny Webb for the international version), the series recreates many historical events by using actors dressed in the style of the period and computer-generated special effects. The miniseries received mixed reviews by critics; but it attracted the largest audiences of any special aired by the channel to date.America The Story of Us tells the extraordinary story of how America was invented, focusing on moments in which everyday people harnessed technology to advance human progress. HISTORY Classroom has created a series of viewing guides, including a Teacher’s Idea Book, America the Story of Us Activity Guide, a Family Viewing Guide and individual episode guides designed for students.

America: The Story of the US America The Story of the US is an epic 12-hour television event that tells the extraordinary story of how America was invented. With highly realistic CGI animation, dramatic recreations and thoughtful insights from some of America's most respected artists, business leaders, academics and intellectuals, it is the first television event in nearly 40 years to present a comprehensive telling of America's history. Elaborate, ambitious and cinematic, America The Story of US will take you into the moments when Americans harnessed technology to advance human progress, from the rigors of linking the continent by transcontinental railroad--the internet of its day--to triumphing over vertical space through the construction of steel structured buildings to putting a man on the moon. It is an intensive look at the people, places and things that have shaped our nation, and the tough and thrilling adventure that is America's 400-year history.

Episode 1: Rebels

This is the story of how, over seven generations, a group of European settlers survive against all odds, claw themselves up and then turn against their colonial masters. A diverse group of men, women and children are about to become truly American. From Jamestown to Plymouth, early settlers fight for survival. Tobacco sows the seeds of opportunity; the north becomes a powerhouse of trade. Tension, taxation, and resistance causes the American colonists to begin doing what many consider impossible: to successfully rebel against the British Crown.

Episode 2: Revolution

July 9, 1776. The Declaration of Independence is read to crowds in New York. America’s 13 colonies have taken on the might of the world’s leading superpower, and by 1783, America is free.  As the British leave, a new nation, the United States of America, is born. George Washington's army is near defeat, but new weapons and battle tactics turn the tide. The colonies declare independence from the British. Forged through revolution, a new nation is born.

Episode 3: Westward

As the American nation is born, a vast continent lies to the west of the mountains, waiting to be explored and exploited. For the pioneers who set out to confront these lands, following trailblazers like Daniel Boone, the conquest of the West is a story of courage and hardship that forges the character of America. America now stretches from “sea to shining sea.” Trailblazing pioneers set out to conquer the west in the mid-19th century, but find the land already occupied. Wagon trains meet hardship on the road to California's gold. The steamboat ushers in a new era of commerce, industry, and unprecedented wealth.

Episode 4: Division

America becomes a nation at the moment a revolution in commerce and industry sweeps across the western world. This vast new country, rich in resources, experiences a rapid change–in trade, transport and manufacturing–quickly turning America into one of the wealthiest nations on earth. Now two different Americas, united in prosperity, but divided by culture, face each other across a growing gulf. The issue is slavery. Commerce and industry thrive across the new nation, now one of the wealthiest in the world. The Erie Canal brings big risk and bigger reward. In the South, cotton is king but slavery fuels a growing divide. Violence flares across the territories and abolitionists make a stand for freedom. The election of Abraham Lincoln is a catalyst of war.

Episode 5: Civil War

The Civil War rages. It is 20th century technology meeting 18th century tactics and the result is a death toll never before seen on American soil. After General William Sherman’s March to the Sea, the South is definitively crushed, and the industrial might that allows the Union to prevail leaves America poised to explode into the 20th century as a global superpower. The American Civil War rages. The formidable Confederate army cannot match the Union's mastery of technology; railroads, manufacturing capacity, supply lines and the telegraph become new weapons in a modern war.

Episode 6: Heartland

The Transcontinental Railroad doesn’t just change the lives of Americans, it alters the entire ecology of the continent. It’s the railroad that creates a new American icon–the cowboy–who drives cattle thousands of miles to meet the railheads and bring food to the East. In less than a quarter of a century, the heartland is transformed–not by the gun, but by railroad, fence and plough. The Transcontinental Railroad unites the nation and transforms the American Heartland. Native American civilizations decline as farmers settle the continent. Cattle replace wild buffalo as king of the Great Plains. The cowboy becomes a new American icon.

Episode 7: Cities

Between 1880 and 1930, nearly 24 million new immigrants arrive in America. Many go to work building a new frontier: the modern city, one of America’s greatest inventions.  This new urban frontier draws rural migrants and newly arrived immigrant workers. Powered by steel and electricity, the city begins to be tamed and defined by mass transportation, stunning skylines, electric light…and the innovative, industrious American spirit. Americans conquer a new frontier: the modern city, with Andrew Carnegie's empire of steel as its backbone. Skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty are symbols of the American Dream for millions of immigrants. Urban life introduces a new breed of social ills, causing several bold individuals to make a stand.

Episode 8: Boom

In 1910 in California, a column of oil nearly 200 feet high explodes out of a derrick and sets off a chain of events that will turn America into a superpower. Mass production and job opportunities prompted by the First World War draw African Americans to northern cities like Chicago, but racial conflict follows. A popular campaign to ban alcohol succeeds, yet when it comes, Prohibition triggers a wave of organized crime. America strikes oil and the boom time begins. Henry Ford brings the motorcar to the masses and the nation hits the road. Massive engineering projects modernize the American West. Intended to cure vice, Prohibition fuels the growth of organized crime in burgeoning cities, as well as widespread moonshine production and bootlegging in many rural areas, and smuggling around the Great Lakes.

Episode 9: Bust

In October 1929, the economic boom of the 1920s ends with a crash on Wall Street. The American Dream has become a nightmare. The stock market crash coincides with the start of the Great Depression. The New Deal and public works projects aim to save America from despair and destitution.  However, world conflict is brewing in Europe, and it is brought home to Americans by the symbolic boxing match between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. Boom turns to bust when the stock market crashes. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl blanket the nation in darkness. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal signals recovery, while the boxer Joe Louis overcomes racial disputes to help bring America's pride back.

Episode 10: WWII

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brings America into another world war, changing the nation from an isolationist continent to a global player–and ensuring economic prosperity once more. America launches a war effort, and as always, bigger is better. The might of America’s strategy and supplies turns the tide of war. A new world order has been created–and America has changed forever. The attack on Pearl Harbor brings America into World War II. The war effort revitalizes the nation's economy. American innovation and manufacturing invigorate the Allies in Europe and in the Pacific; nuclear weapons help end the war. A new global superpower takes the stage.

Episode 11: Superpower

America becomes a global superpower; technology fuels a boom in the economy and the population. American pioneers conquer new frontiers, from the jet age to the space age, and perceive a new threat: Communism. World War II transforms America into a global superpower. Fueled by technology, the economy booms, and a new age of consumerism is born. More than 20,000 cars roll off production lines daily. Interstate highways connect the country, just as the transcontinental railroad had done more than a century before. After defending their country and their ideals, the Greatest Generation comes home. Like the pioneers before them, they transform virgin territory, ploughing up more than a million acres of land each year to build new suburbs 

Episode 12: Millennium

The Cold War is the first test for the new superpower. The Challenger disaster and 9/11 are tragedies that challenge the nation. From the television to the credit card and the personal computer, technology drives America into the 21st Century. America booms in both population and prosperity. The "baby boomers" become the next generation to reinvent the country. Powerful new technologies sweep the nation. Television brings the world into Americans' living rooms, changing lives and values in unexpected ways. This revolution is not only about entertainment. Just as newspapers helped define America's identity during the Revolution and sense of self during the Civil War, television captures and influences a distant war in Vietnam, shaping Americans' response to their changing society. The country becomes enmeshed in a second Civil War of sorts-until, at long last, the Civil Rights Movement brings the words of the Declaration of Independence home to all Americans. America is united once again, but a new threat is on the horizon: Communism. The conflicts of the late 1960s and 1970s remind America of the rifts that divided the nation before the Civil War, but the boom of the 1980s heralds better times. America’s confidence is rocked by 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, but the country remains the world’s superpower. As the nation launches into the 21st century, what does the future hold?