This program reviews the changes brought by the Pilgrims, how the colonists established Williamsburg, and how settlers advanced into the West. More Details

This program is about how rules are linked to safety, that they are designed to support fairness and that there are consequences for breaking them. This helps the students see that the rules of their classroom community are just as important as the rules in their town. More Details

An environmental scientist who provides clean water to the city of Philadelphia explains how this water is used in homes, parks, and swimming pools and to fight fires. More Details

A family doctor explains that all kinds of people visit him in the medical center for check-ups and referrals to specialists. More Details

A firefighter named Kevin talks about his job, detailing his training as a young man to his present day-to-day activities. More Details

This program illustrates how the history of different geographic communities and the jobs that people do there are directly related to the environment. More Details

A pharmacist and a professor of pharmacy tell viewers what they need to know about medicines and drugstores. More Details

An enthusiastic recycling coordinator takes viewers through the recycling process for cans, plastics, and newspapers, emphasizing the useful products and hundreds of jobs that are created by recycling. More Details

A second-grade teacher explains that she loves observing how her students change over the course of the year. Her students relate why they love her and how she helps them learn. More Details

This program defines community in a global context that includes all the countries of the world and both urban and rural populations and stresses that diversity is the fundamental strength of all communities. More Details

Answering the question, "Why do people work?" this program introduces key economic concepts such as wants, needs, money, economy, goods, services, importing, and exporting. More Details

Featuring an emotional reading of the complete Gettysburg Address, this program dramatizes how Abraham Lincoln reconciled the horrors of this battle. The underlying conflicts and the progress of the battle provide the background for one of Lincoln’s most lasting legacies. More Details

This program introduces viewers to the background and major events of this crucial period in American history. It emphasizes the importance of George Washington's leadership in ensuring the Colonial Army’s victory in the Revolutionary War after the hardships at Valley Forge. More Details

"That all men are created equal" are perhaps the most revolutionary words in history. Viewers will learn how Thomas Jefferson was chosen by the Continental Congress to write them, how the Declaration of Independence was amended from Jefferson’s original document, and how it failed to deal with America's most difficult issue, slavery. More Details

Ben Franklin's ideas and actions seem to be the essence of the American character. Using many of the sites and artifacts associated with him in his adopted city of Philadelphia, this summary of his seemingly infinite pursuits will help young viewers understand Franklin’s many achievements. More Details

Betsy Ross, a patriot of the American Revolution, made many sacrifices: two of her husbands died in the war, she made pouches for soldiers to carry their gunpowder, and she even had to tolerate British occupation of her house. But she is most remembered for sewing the first American flag. This program discusses the symbolism and importance of flags. More Details

The Underground Railroad was neither literally underground nor a railroad, but a network of people who helped slaves escape from the South to the North. Thousands of slaves made their dangerous journey to freedom with their help. Harriet Tubman was one of the Underground Railroad's most courageous conductors, and viewers will learn why she was called "Moses of her people." More Details

The new nation requires a new kind of leader who will uphold the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This program chronicles American democracy's beginnings and the creation of the Constitution. More Details

The character of America's first president was revealed during the Revolutionary War and the Constitutional Convention. This program examines his historic legacies, including his voluntary relinquishing of power to a successor. More Details

George Washington's two successors each put their own characteristic stamp on the presidency. This program surveys the pivotal events of their terms, including the rise of political parties, the XYZ Affair, Marbury v. Madison, and the Louisiana Purchase. More Details

Madison and Monroe were the last Presidential veterans of the Revolutionary War. Such vital issues as foreign relations, economic independence, and slavery mark their presidencies. The War of 1812 and the Monroe Doctrine are also discussed. More Details

America continues to expand with the Eerie Canal, and one term president Adams is succeeded by Andrew Jackson, who is followed by his disciple, Martin Van Buren. Injustices to African and Native Americans cannot stem westward expansion. More Details

Spanning the presidencies of William H. Harrison, John Tyler, Jams K. Polk, and Zachary Taylor, this program addresses Harrison's dishonest campaign, westward expansion, and growing tensions between Northern and Southern states over slavery. More Details

The presidencies of Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan are marked by growing tensions in the nation over slavery. Covered are such pivotal events of this period as the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott decision, and John Brown's raid. More Details

Devoted to one of America's most revered presidents, this program shows the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Gettysburg Address, and concludes with Lincoln's assassination by John Wilkes Booth. More Details

Reconstruction damages the presidency, with Johnson's impeachment, Grant's corruption scandal, and Hayes' election fraud. It is also a Gilded Age of economic expansion, Edison's inventions, and the beginnings of mass immigration. More Details

After President Garfield's assassination, few expected Arthur to become a strong reformer. Problems brought on by industrialization, urbanization, and immigration plague Cleveland, leading to his defeat by Harrison, an expansionist. More Details

Cleveland was reelected, but economic problems plagued his tenure. McKinley was lucky to become president during an economic upturn, and he and Roosevelt used growing American wealth to project military, even imperialistic, power around the world. Roosevelt also became a social reformer, economic developer, and conservationist, expanding presidential popularity and power. More Details

With the new century comes World War I, the League of Nations, and the Great Depression. Wilson becomes the first Democratic president of the 20th century. His Republican successors promote the business boom of the 1920s. More Details

The Great Depression and World War II are supreme tests of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. This program examines how his character and that of his wife, Eleanor, impacted this era. More Details

This program concisely overviews three important presidencies. The end of World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Space Race, the Civil Rights movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Kennedy's assassination are covered. More Details

The tumultuous '60s see both triumph (the Voting Rights Act), and tragedies (the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy). Scandal-plagued Nixon becomes the first president forced to resign. Ford's pardon helps to heal the nation. More Details

Key events of the Carter, Reagan, and Bush presidencies are covered, including the Camp David Peace Accord, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the Iran Contra Scandal, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Persian Gulf War, and the 1992 L.A. riots. More Details

The two terms of 42nd president Bill Clinton see the expansion of social programs and progress, but also bi-partisan struggles, and personal scandal leading to the nation's second impeachment. The 2000 Election controversy of G.W. Bush and Al Gore is covered, as are the September 11th attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A hopeful nation elects Barack Obama, our 44th and America's first African American president. More Details

This eleven-part series shows seven of the helpers on whom communities depend. Each community helper discusses his or her role and how it relates to children's lives. Five programs show how history, size, and geography reveal differences and similarities in communities and how rules and work help communities serve most people's needs. More Details

This series dramatizes how six of our most important citizens and heroes, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Betsy Ross from the Revolutionary War period, and Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Tubman from the Civil War era, affected the course of American history. More Details

Co-produced with NBC News, this comprehensive series covers all 43 American presidents. Period graphics and artwork, exclusive NBC News footage, and illuminating narration etch a vivid portrait of the presidency. More Details

A question is raised whether disenfranchisement threatens American democracy, especially with the declining level of voters in the age of 18-24. This program shows why America needs its citizens to fully participate in the voting booths. More Details

The program shows major political movements, women's suffrage, civil rights movement, and the Vietnam anti-war protest, how these events effect the involvement of American citizen in democracy. More Details

This program examines the political and social causes of citizen disengagment and the reinvention of democracy across America. More Details

Young Americans are more alienated from civic life than ever before in the nation's history, voting less and rarely participating in the affairs of their community. The relationship between representative and participatory democracy in U.S. history, the necessity of combining self interest with civic virtue, and other issues related to democracy are explored in this timely series. More Details

Nine year old Amy shares her pride as an American, by telling about the history of the flag, the symbols' meaning, why we need to pay respect to the flag. More Details

The history of America's democracy voting act, including the right to vote for women and minorities. Narrated by Kevin, a third grader who experience this voting system in his school. More Details

This program shows the process of how Matthew's step-father become a U.S. Citizens, including America’s history and the rights and responsibilities of becoming a citizen. More Details

The stories and background behind famous patriotic anthems such as, "My Country ‘Tis of Thee," "America the Beautiful," "God Bless America," and "This Land is Your Land" More Details

This program shows the history behind the pledge and its meaning. David and his brother and sister visit Valley Forge lo learn more about the Pledge of Allegiance. More Details

Erin shares her experience when she goes to Philadelphia and visits historical sites. This program helps to understand what symbols such as the Statue of Liberty, the bald eagle, and Washington D.C.’s buildings and monuments means. More Details

The history and meaning behind America's National holidays, such as Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Presidents’ Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Thanksgiving. More Details

In this series elementary students guide viewers through voting, being or becoming a citizen, national holidays, pledging allegiance, songs of liberty, and America's symbols and flags. More Details

The Mayflower Pilgrims and the Jamestown colony revealed some of the first conflicts between the European and Native American views of freedom. Introduction of slavery and the Puritan attempts to form theocracies. More Details

Up and down the Atlantic seaboard, colonists resist to their British oppressors, culminating in the battles at Lexington and Concord. The values of freedom have come to America even before nationhood. More Details

Thomas Paine, inspiring colonial men, as well as women and some slaves, to become Revolutionary freedom fighters. The fervor integral to this unexpected victory set in motion the growing civil rights movements of the next two centuries. More Details

The new constitutional government's power brings order but is kept in check by the personal liberties granted by our Bill of Rights. New kinds of Americans begin exploring and exploiting the natural world and increase the desires for liberty. More Details

How slavery was revived by the growth of the cotton industry. European Americans increased their westward movement, expanding their own freedoms, often at the expense of Native Americans’ they believe they are divinely destined to dominate. More Details

The liberation demand especially from the Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls. Lincoln's dedication to the justice and liberty promised by the American experiment propels him and the country into the tragedy of civil war. More Details

The Gilded Age, where huge wealth is amassed by "robber barons" and middle class living standards begin to increase after the transcontinental railroad is completed. But the frontier soon closes, Native Americans surrender to reservations, most African Americans resign themselves to poverty, and immigrants pack into fetid slums. More Details

Teddy Roosevelt's patrician reforms, Henry Ford's well-paid automobile assembly workers, and pacifist Wilson's intervention in World War I. Women marched until they got the vote. Booming economic prosperity lasted until 1929, when the crash threatened everyone's freedom. More Details

McCarthy’s political witch hunts evoke the Salem witch trials. At the same time, the civil rights movement begins, which reaches its mythic summit with Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, and its political peak with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. More Details

This Reader's Digest-produced series dramatizes our common history pursuing that ideal. Its theme is that while our history is about conflicting and contradictory movements, our historical momentum is leading us toward more freedoms for all. More Details

This program reveals incidents and eras which increased freedoms for some groups were often accompanied by forces suppressing liberty for others. The quest for freedom is the real American Dream. More Details