American History

Celebrate the United States of America's Independence Day by taking a journey through its history.

  • Original
    • 41m
    • 95%
    • 4K

    Torch-lit marches down Main Street... at first glance, images like these conjure up some of America's darkest moments. But this wasn't the Klan. These black-clad torch-bearers were the Wide Awakes: a para-military political machine that some say delivered the presidency to Abraham Lincoln.

  • Original
    • 2 episodes
    • 97%

    Danielle Allen explores the bold minds and historical circumstances that resulted in one of the greatest political writings in history.

  • Original
    • 6 episodes
    • 95%
    • 4K

    Rare firsthand accounts bring us inside some of the most daring escape stories from the American Civil War.

    • 45m
    • 97%

    The Moon Landing celebrates the historic 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, in a fresh and distinctive style. This inspiring documentary subverts usual conventions by beginning with the momentous event, before rewinding the clock to explore the preceding dramatic sixty minutes in granular detail.

  • Original
    • 10 episodes
    • 96%

    New York. America’s largest city. Here is how a mostly unseen network of infrastructure systems works in unison to keep the city breathing.

    • E3
    • 26m
    • 93%

    Timing is everything, just look at what happened in 1848. How did the finding of gold in Sutter's Mill make an impact on the development of California and the history of the United States?

  • Original
    • 4 episodes
    • 95%
    • 4K

    NPR’s Peter Sagal takes us on an irreverent romp through American history to reveal how money makes the world go around.

  • Original
    • 37m
    • 98%
    • 4K

    Discovered by an unlikely team of amateur historians 45 feet beneath a Kansas cornfield, the Steamboat Arabia is one of the best-preserved shipwrecks in American history. The treasures contained within painting a vivid picture of western expansion and the treacherous frontier.

  • Original
    • 9 episodes
    • 97%

    An original series that tells the often unknown stories of the men and women who have defined America and its place in the world.

  • Original
    • E36
    • 10m
    • 94%
    • 4K

    The final ship to bring slaves to the United States has been hidden in the swamps of Mobile, Alabama for generations. The search for it is a stark reminder of the past and offers proof of family histories that resonates with the families that still call this small town home.

    • 2 episodes
    • 96%

    The 1929 Wall Street Stock Exchange crash spurs the greatest economic crisis of the 20th century: the Great Depression.

  • Original
    • E4
    • 23m
    • 96%
    • 4K

    Welcome to one of the most important homes in American history. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. We’ll explore inside and out to find out why this unique house was the great passion of Jefferson’s life, and learn about the huge cultural and culinary impact of the enslaved men and women who worked here

  • Original
    • 19m
    • 94%

    At war since 1914, a depleted Europe lay in ruins. Only American intervention in 1917 would turn the tide for the Allies against the Central Powers. A century after the US entered the fray, explore the reasons behind the delayed response by the US, and the impact the US Army had on the war.

    • 48m
    • 89%

    In 2013, Edward Snowden, an IT subcontractor working for the American signals intelligence agency, the NSA, traveled to Hong Kong to leak thousands of classified US documents on domestic data collection to a group of journalists.

  • Original
    • 27m
    • 94%

    It took an extraordinary set of circumstances to bring Abraham Lincoln to the White House. Violence in the streets... and in the U.S. capital. Dueling Newspapers. An unpredictable election with four main candidates, and an obscure frontier lawyer destined for greatness.

  • Original
    • 3 episodes
    • 94%

    From NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to Silicon Valley, from Hollywood to Haight-Ashbury, famous Californians tell the story of their state

  • Original
    • 4 episodes
    • 90%
    • 4K

    4-part series revealing the real history of the Wild West. Beyond gunslingers and lawmen, we meet the diverse pioneers who shaped a country.

  • Original
    • E1
    • 52m
    • 88%
    • 4K

    We look at the men and women who’ve run and, in some cases, won the Oval Office. We meet lawyers, war heroes, and crooks, and discover which POTUS shut down a nuclear plant in meltdown and which was almost eaten. What is the real cost of the top job and why so far have they all been men?

  • Original
    • 23m
    • 97%

    In the closing days of World War II, a daring band of American pilots embarks on a secret mission to capture a revolutionary German aircraft that will change the course of history.

  • Original
    • 6 episodes
    • 92%
    • 4K

    The Naked City’s most notorious crimes of the 20th century, told in the hard-boiled voice of the classic noir stories of the era.

    • 4 episodes
    • 98%

    Government policies and bureaucracy may be the REAL fire starters in the U.S. What brought us to this point? Are there innovative solutions?