America: The Story of the US

- Season 1

(2010)

From Jamestown to Plymouth, early settlers fight for survival. Tobacco sows the seeds of opportunity in the south, the north becomes a powerhouse of trade, and the American spirit is born.

The colonies declare independence, taking on the might of the British Empire. Washington's army is near defeat, but new weapons and battle tactics turn the tide. Forged through revolution, a new nation is born.

Trailblazing pioneers set out to conquer the vast continent west of the mountains, but find the land already claimed. Wagon trains meet danger and hardship on the road to unprecedented riches in California's golden hills.

Commerce and industry thrive across the new nation, now one of the wealthiest on Earth. The Erie Canal brings big risk and bigger reward. In the South, cotton is king but slavery fuels a growing divide.

The Civil War rages. The minie ball is the great equalizer on the battlefield. The formidable Confederate army cannot match the Union's mastery of technology; railroads, supply lines and the telegram become new weapons in a modern war.

The Transcontinental Railroad unites the nation and transforms the Heartland. Native American civilizations decline as farmers settle the continent. Cattle replace wild buffalo as king of the Plains; the Cowboy becomes a new American icon.

Americans conquer a new frontier - the modern city - with Carnegie's empire of steel as its backbone. Skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty are symbols of the American Dream for millions of immigrants.

America strikes oil and the boom time begins. Henry Ford brings the motorcar to the masses; the nation hits the road. Massive engineering projects modernize the West. Intended to cure vice, Prohibition fuels the growth of organized crime.

Boom turns to bust when the stock market crash ushers in the Great Depression. Dust storms blanket the Midwest in darkness. Roosevelt's New Deal signals recovery; thousands find work on projects like the Hoover Dam and Mount Rushmore.

The attack on Pearl Harbor brings America into World War. The war effort revitalizes the nation's economy. American innovation and manufacturing might invigorate the Allies in Europe and in the Pacific, the ultimate piece of technology ends the war.

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 run headlong into a new threat: Communism.

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.