The War of 1812 was a major conflict between the United States and Great Britain for control of the Northern Frontier. Often described as the second war of independence, in reality it was caused in large part by the ineffective foreign policies of two U.S. Presidents.

Running through the 2004 presidential campaign, this program examines the new world order shaped by the demise of the Soviet Union and the rise of global terrorism. The video spotlights the Iran hostage crisis of Jimmy Carter's presidency, the Iran-Contra scandal and the Strategic Defense Initiative of the Ronald Reagan administration, George H. W. Bush's Gulf War, the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal, and the 9/11 attacks, during George W. Bush's...

The Rocky Mountains were "like the stairs of heaven after the last soul has ascended earth," said Fitz Hugh Ludlow. Said Sitting Bull of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, "Our young men rained lead across the river and drove the white braves back. This is the time of the Civil War in the East, the last of the Indian Wars, the final spike in the transcontinental railroad. Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt paint a mythical Eden, while pioneer photographers...

The Battle of the Alamo has become the stuff of legend – when 200 brave Texan fighters took a stand against a Mexican force of thousands. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye.

Covers the growth and expansion of America, from the original thirteen colonies to the fifty states, as well as discusses how America gained land.

It is estimated that millions of Africans died during the Atlantic slave trade. In this program from Tony Brown's Journal, historian Anne Bailey discusses oral histories she has collected oral histories to document the slave trade from both sides of the Atlantic, placing oral records at the center of a historical analysis of slavery.

Explains the events surrounding the Louisiana Purchase, through which President Jefferson acquired enough land to make the United States one of the largest nations in the world.

Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, this epic 'HBO Films' adaptation of Dee Alexander Brown's nonfiction masterpiece intertwines the unique perspectives of three characters--Charles Eastman, Sitting Bull and Senator Henry Dawes--while detailing the sprawl into the American West that tragically affected American Indian culture.

Publisher Annotation: A sweeping and lively history of one of the most dramatic stories never told-of the greatest railroad war of all time, fought by the daring leaders of the Santa Fe and the Rio Grande to seize, control, and create the American West. 352pp., 100K

In peaceful times, the US Armed Forces are well stocked with brave men and women who voluntarily sign up to serve. However, in the event of a third catastrophic global conflict, it is possible for the U.S. government to rapidly recruit from the civilian population, thanks to the Selective Service System. In this video, we will find out where it comes from and how compulsory it really is.