A Biography of America presents history not simply as a series of irrefutable facts to be memorized, but as a living narrative. Prominent historians -- Donald L. Miller, Pauline Maier, Louis P. Masur, Waldo E. Martin, Jr., Douglas Brinkley, and Virginia Scharff -- present America's story as something that is best understood from a variety of perspectives. Thought-provoking debates and lectures encourage critical analysis of the forces that have shaped America. First-person narratives, photos, film footage, and documents reveal the human side of American history -- how historical figures affected events, and the impact of these events on citizens' lives.

New World Encounters

A Biography Of America, Part One

English Settlement

A Biography Of America, Part Two

Growth and Empire

A Biography Of America, Part Three

The Coming of Independence
A Biography Of America, Part Four

A New System of Government

A Biography Of America, Part Five

Art Of The Western World

The Classical Ideal

Traces the origins of humanism and the immortal classical style to Ancient Greece. The genius of Roman engineering and architecture was used to build an empire, while portrait sculpture exalted its rulers.

A White Garment of Churches—Romanesque and Gothic

With the fall of the Roman empire, Christianity flourished with the Church as patron of monumental Romanesque architecture and sculpture. Part II: The origin of Gothic architecture is found in the choir of the Abbey Church of St. Denis and the Chartres Cathedral serves as a model of High Gothic style.

Out Of The Past

A humanistic approach to archaeology and anthropology to make connections between past civilizations and modern societies, looking at how societies function and change.
 

New Worlds
The Age of Discovery 500 years ago revealed a broad range of cultures, from the vast empires of the Aztecs and the Incas to roving bands of hunter-gatherers. This provided irrefutable evidence that cultures, like biological species, have evolved independently and on a global scale
 

Collapse
The decline and fall of civilizations captures our interest. Could we be next, going the way of the Sumerians, the Romans, the Maya? The collapse of Copan, brought on by overpopulation and overexploitation of resources, is explored along with other ancient cultures that have faced the problems we confront today.

Primary Sources

History teachers explore the use of primary-source documents in the research and interpretation of American history. The programs feature informal lectures by prominent historians on pivotal events from the settlement of Jamestown to the Korean conflict and the Cold War. The teachers are led in discussions, debates, interviews, and role-playing as they investigate the original documents that “transmit the voices of America’s past.” Teachers will find that the activities in this workshop can be adapted and used in their own classrooms.

Women in a New Industrial Society
with Louis Masur, City College of New York

In the earliest days of American industry, the Boston Manufacturing Company created an innovative, single-location manufacturing enterprise at Lowell that depended on the recruitment of female mill workers. This workshop debates the impact of this new form of employment on workers — for better or for worse. Participants investigate the workers’ experiences first-hand — through diaries, letters, published accounts, and official mill postings

Concerning Emancipation: Who Freed the Slaves?
with Louis P. Masur, City College of New York

This workshop examines the role of the enslaved in bringing about the end of slavery in the United States. Through analysis of President Lincoln’s attitudes and actions before and during the Civil War, and correspondence, speeches, legislative orders, newspaper articles, and letters written by African Americans — enslaved and free — workshop participants debate the influences prompting Emancipation.

Common Sense and the American Revolution: The Power of the Printed Word
with Pauline Maier, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This workshop explores the power and importance of America’s first "best-seller." Using the language of ordinary people, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense called for revolution, challenging many assumptions about government and the colonies’ relationship with England. This workshop contrasts the declarations of local communities with Common Sense to see how support for American independence rose up in the colonies

The Virginia Company: America’s Corporate Beginnings
with Pauline Maier, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

How can primary sources illuminate historical events? This workshop tells the story of Jamestown, a less-than-successful example of America’s capitalist beginnings and a colony as a business operation. Drawing on contemporary accounts, workshop participants assume the roles of colonists and shareholders to argue the future of the Virginia Company’s settlement at Jamestown.

Western Civilization To The Fall Of The Byzantines

Covering the ancient world through the rise of Christianity to the collapse of the Byzantine Empire.  This illustrated lecture by Eugen Weber presents a tapestry of political and social events woven with many strands — religion, industry, agriculture, demography, government, economics, and art. A visual feast of over 2,700 images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art portrays key events that shaped the development of Western thought, culture, and tradition.

The Dawn of History
The origins of the human race are traced from anthropoid ancestors to the agricultural revolution

The Ancient Egyptians
Egyptian irrigation created one of the first great civilizations.

Mesopotamia
Settlements in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to the great river civilizations of the Middle East.

From Bronze to Iron
Metals revolutionized tools, as well as societies, in the empires of Assyria, Persia, and Neo-Babylonia.

The Rise of Greek Civilization
Democracy and philosophy arose from Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.

Greek Thought
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the foundation of Western intellectual thought

Alexander the Great
Alexander's conquests quadrupled the size of the world known to the Greeks

The Hellenistic Age
Hellenistic kingdoms extended Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean.

The Rise of Rome
Through its army, Rome built an empire that shaped the West.

The Roman Empire
Rome's civil engineering contributed as much to the empire as did its weapons.

Early Christianity
Christianity spread despite contempt and persecution from Rome.

The Rise of the Church
The old heresy became the Roman empire's official religion under the Emperor Constantine.

The Decline of Rome
While enemies slashed at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroyed the empire from within.

The Fall of Rome
Despite the success of emperors such as Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, Rome fell victim to barbarian invasions.

The Byzantine Empire
From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carried on the traditions of Greece and Rome.

The Fall of Byzantium
Nearly a thousand years after Rome's fall, Constantinople was conquered by the forces of Islam

Bridging World History

Bridging World History looks at global patterns through time — seeing history as an integrated whole. Topics are studied in a general chronological order, but each is examined through a thematic lens, showing how people and societies experience both integration and differences.  The videos feature interviews with leading world history textbook authors and nationally known historians.
 

Maps, Time, and World History
What tools do world historians use in the study of history? This unit begins the study of world history by examining its use of geographical and chronological frameworks: how they have shaped the understanding of world history and have been used to chart the past.

Human Migrations
How did the many paths of human migration people the planet? From their origins on the African continent, humans have spread across the globe. This unit explores how and why early humans moved across Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas, based on recent studies in archaeology and linguistics

Agricultural and Urban Revolutions
What do historians know about the earliest farmers and herders, and the evolution of cities? Newly emerging evidence about the “cradles of civilization” is examined in light of the social, technological, and cultural complexity of recently discovered settlements and cities.

The Constitution Of The United States, The Delicate Balance

Constitutional issues come to life in this Emmy Award-winning series. Key political, legal, and media professionals engage in spontaneous and heated debates on controversial issues such as campaign spending, the right to die, school prayer, and immigration reform. This series will deepen understanding of the life and power of this enduring document and its impact on history and current affairs, while bringing biases and misconceptions to light.

Produced by Columbia University Seminars on Media and Society. 1984.

Executive Privilege and Delegation of Powers
Can the President's conversations with advisors remain secret when Congress demands to know what was said? Congresswoman Barbara Mikulski, former President Gerald Ford, and Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox bring first-hand experience to this topic.

War Powers and Covert Action
If the president, as commander in chief, decides to declare war, can Congress restrain him? Debating the issue are Gerald Ford, former CIA deputy director Bobby Inman, former secretary of state Edmund Muskie, and others.

Nomination, Election, and Succession of the President
A tangled web of issues is involved in electing a president. Edmund Muskie, former presidential press secretary Jody Powell, party officials, and others discuss the role of political parties, the electoral college, and what to do if a president becomes disabled.