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Constitutional history United States Constitutional law United States History Courts United States United States Constitution United States Economic conditions United States History 18th century United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 United States History Study and teaching United States Politics and government United States Politics and government 1783-1865Summary: A government of the people, by the people, and for the people isn’t possible without the laborious process of nominating and electing candidates, in a manner fair and free to all citizens. How did this process begin and how has it evolved over the course of American history? Does it even remotely resemble—for better or for worse—the manner in which the Founding Fathers gained high office? Using...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Ideas, issues, events, and individuals come to life as Emmy award-winning journalist Bill Moyers reports on the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Filmed at Independence Hall and filled with historical images and passages from the diaries, letters, and records of the Framers themselves, this two-part set is an indispensable tool for teaching the Constitution. All 76 clips (2:35 each), culled...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Many equate it with the Presidency, but the Executive branch of our government is far more complex than that. Containing departments and agencies that directly affect the health, safety, security, and prosperity of the American public, the Executive branch is an administrative mountain with the White House at its peak. This program expands on that description, familiarizing students with the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The second part of United States v. Burr.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Why do written documents figure so prominently in the early history of the United States? There are plenty of explanations, but they all boil down to the philosophical ideas that drove the American colonies to declare their independence—and a profound awareness that those ideas should be inseparable from the rule of law. This program explores the origins, outbreak, and outcome of the American...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: This is a compelling account of the events leading up to the creation of the Constitution. Conforming to civics and history curriculums, the program puts key events into historical perspective by examining the pressures faced by Loyalists, Patriots, and average colonists. Richly textured with historical art, compelling video footage, and insightful commentary, it explores a fascinating mix of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: September 24th, 1789—the First United States Congress establishes the basic structure of the Federal Judiciary. With this act, the American legal system becomes an entity entwined with our fundamental notions of democracy and fair government, equal in power and authority to the Executive and Legislative branches. This program guides viewers through the history of the Judiciary and illustrates...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: At last, the federal convention has begun! Eleven days late, in the middle of a downpour, a quorum of 29 delegates from seven states are finally getting down to business in Philadelphia… This is the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and Emmy award-winning journalist Bill Moyers is reporting the story. Filmed at Independence Hall and filled with historical images and passages from the diaries,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The only case in this series not decided by the Supreme Court, this John Marshall decision was handed down in Federal Circuit Court in Richmond, Virginia, in 1807. Once again, it placed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in direct opposition to President Thomas Jefferson. Former Vice President Aaron Burr was being tried for treason; although the evidence against Burr was tenuous, Jefferson,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Although the office of the President personifies American leadership, the Legislative branch was actually designed to hold at least as much power as the Executive, if not more. Many Founding Fathers envisioned Congress as the primary governing body, given its closeness, politically speaking, to the people. This program examines the origins, history, and activities of the U.S. House of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The conclusion of United States v. Burr.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: A young Thomas Jefferson from the Virginia wilderness is transformed by the fire of the Enlightenment into his country's most articulate voice for human liberty. Torn between serene family life at Monticello and his passion for politics, Jefferson suffers heartrending personal loss, even as he gives voice to a new era of democratic government. He then journeys to Paris as U.S. Minister to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1997
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Summary: The episode begins by examining how the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, sparked a renewed focus on freedom. The program then takes us back to the summer of 1776. The thirteen colonies stake everything on an armed struggle for freedom and the chance to build a new kind of nation. Beginning with a look at the decision to declare independence, the film explores the escalating conflict with...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2002
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Summary: Picking up with the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, this classic program completes the story of a visionary who advanced the cause of freedom everywhere and changed the course of human events: Returning from France, Jefferson strives to preserve the new, fragile American government and helps create the Democratic-Republican Party to temper the policies of the Federalists. As third president of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1997
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Summary: The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American Revolutionary War and is generally regarded as a turning point in the war. During this program viewers face the questions that could win or lose the battle from the viewpoint of the general himself.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: Influential founding father, third President of the United States, lawyer, architect, and violinist: Thomas Jefferson has long fascinated students of American history. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "all men are created equal, and entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Yet Jefferson himself was a lifelong slaveholder and one of the first Americans...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: Of all the legendary figures in American history, George Washington is in a class by himself. So many trials and triumphs lie behind that face on the dollar bill-expeditions in the French and Indian War, command of the Continental Army, and leadership as America's first president under the Constitution. But many facts of his life are not common knowledge, and researchers are discovering that...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Martha Ballard was a midwife and mother living in the wilds of Maine during the chaotic decades following the American Revolution. Her diary is an up-close view of the poverty, disease, and day-to-day hardships of a struggling young nation. Some two hundred years later, in a quest to understand 18th-century America through a woman's eyes, historian and author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich spent eight...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1997
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Summary: The first sparks of rebellion against the British Crown, the Declaration of Independence, and the unfolding drama of the American Revolution are examined in this program. Taking on the might of the Empire is no small task, and on numerous occasions the Continental army hovers near defeat. But new allies and battlefield tactics turn the tide, and Washington's eventual triumph paves the way for a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: This episode of The Revolution follows George Washington as he completes his eight-day trip from his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, to New York City for his inauguration as the first president of the world's newest nation: the United States of America. The former Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army now steps up to lead the independent country.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: The story of the American nation begins with the founding of the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies, interactions with Native American peoples, the hardships and dangers that faced the colonists, the origins of the slave trade and a slave-dependent economy, and the tensions that developed between Britain and her New World territories as the colonies grew stronger and more self-sufficient.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: A tour through the world of the colonial farmer in the year 1777, when most of the 13 original colonies were still one vast forest. Farms consisted of small, rough clearings cultivated by hand or with primitive tools. Farm animals were smaller, wilder, and tougher than they are today. There were few roads of any kind. Historian Burt Kummerow shares his extensive and enthusiastic knowledge of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: In its time, their journey equaled a voyage to the moon. It took place before the American west became known as "the frontier," when Europeans understood little about what lay within the continent. Courageous in spirit and unyielding in their dedication to the mission, Meriweather Lewis and William Clark led 31 people from the mouth of the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and back. In doing...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: By 1750, the American colonies had a population of approximately 1.5 million with the majority of blacks enslaved in the South while white colonists began to agitate for freedom from Britain. This program follows the fight for independence through interviews with historians and luminaries such as General Colin Powell, dramatic re-creations of important events, and archival photography, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1998