It's long been America's strongest cultural bond and its most perilous fault line. For generations, men and women have lived and died for it. Now, consider what it means to be free with this groundbreaking new series, based on the award-winning books by master storyteller Joy Hakim. FREEDOM: A HISTORY OF US chronicles the epic journey of our commitment to liberty and the idea of freedom.
Disc I:
Episode One: Independence
Trouble in the Colonies (1765-1774)
The Shot Heard 'Round the World (1775)
A Congress of Great Men (1775)
"To Begin the World Over Again" (1776)
"All Men Are Created Equal" (1776)
No Turning Back (1776)
Episode Two: Revolution
A People's War (1776-1777)
The World Turned Upside Down (1778-1781)
The Miracle in Philadelphia (1787)
Establishing Precedents (1789-1801)
An Empire for Liberty (1801-1809)
Episode Three: Liberty for All?
The Church and the State (1620-1692)
A "Wall of Separation" (1777-1789)
Westward Ho! (1770s-1830s)
Old Hickory (1812-1839)
Manifest Destiny (1844-1849)
Episode Four: Wake Up, America
The Industrial Revolution (1788-1790)
Highways and Byways (1800-1844)
In Love with Progress (1807-1840)
The Darker Side of Progress (1840-1855)
Liberty for All? (1837-1845)
Disc 2:
Episode One: A Fatal Contradiction
The Slave Trade (1700s)
Plantation Slavery (1800-1820)
Abolition (1830-1850)
Frederick Douglass (1841-1850s)
A Little Giant and a Big Debate (1854-1858)
Splitting Apart (1858-1861)
Episode Two: A War to End Slavery
Americans Against Americans (1861)
"Forever Free" (1861-1863)
To Arms! (1863)
A New Birth of Freedom (November, 1863)
The Final Year (1864-1865)
"A Nation Worth Fighting For" (1865)
Episode Three: What is Freedom?
A Wounded Nation (1865-1866)
Making Changes (1866)
Reconstruction and Rebuilding (1867)
Impeaching a President (1867)
A Failed Revolution (1869-1876)
"Separate But Equal" (1892)
Episode Four: Whose Land is This?
Meanwhile, Out West (1865-1876)
The Final Confrontation (1876-1890)
Freedom Seekers (1880s-1890)
The Strange Case of the Chinese Laundry (1885)
This Land is Your Land (1894-1895)
Disc 3:
Episode One: Working for Freedom
Are You a Citizen if You Can't Vote? (1872-1876)
The Rise of Labor (1885)
Hard Times (1893-1894)
Speaking Out (1912)
Finally a Statesman (1890s-1913)
Episode Two: Yearning to Breathe Free
Lady Liberty (1886-1903)
Telling It Like It Is (1890s-1902)
America the Beautiful (1867-1905)
Raking Muck (1900-1910)
Hull House (1900-1931)
Episode Three: Safe for Democracy
The Birdmen (1903)
The Great War (1915-1917)
Fighting for Freedom (1917-1918)
Contradictions at Home (1920s)
Breaking Barriers (1917-1920s)
Lucky Lindy (1927)
Episode Four: Depression and War
Hard Times (1929-1932)
A New Deal (1932-1933)
Enemies of Freedom (1933-1934)
Pearl Harbor (1941)
D-Day (1944)
The End of an Era (1945)
Unconditional Surrender (1945)
Disc 4:
Episode One: Democracy and Struggles
The Cold War Begins (1945-1946)
Being Fair (1945-1947)
A Major Leaguer (1945-1947)
Fear of Communism (1949)
Separate but Unequal (1952-1954)
Episode Two: Let Freedom Ring
A Change is Gonna Come (1950s)
Central High (1957)
The "Hour of Maximum Danger" (1961)
Freedom Comes to Birmingham (1962)
Ripples of Hope (1962-1963)
I Have a Dream (1963)
Episode Three: Marching to Freedom Land
The Great Society (1961-1964)
"Hey, Hey, LBJ" (1965)
"We Shall Overcome" (1965)
Coming Apart (1967)
"The Promised Land" (1968)
A Dream Deferred (1968)
Episode Four: Becoming Free
Eternal Vigilance (1968)
America Held Hostage (1979-1983)
An Invisible War (1983-1990)
Catastrophe (1990s-2001)
The Land That Has Never Been Yet (2002-2003)