High

Program 7: Civil Rights - Ralph Bunche wins the Nobel Peace Prize; Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first black recipient of the Pulitzer Prize; Brown v.

Covering the period from 1619 through 1739, this first volume spotlights the origins of slavery in America. Focusing on Dutch New Amesterdam (later New York City), this chapter illustrates how slavery in the early years was a loosely defined labor source similar to indentured servitude. Slaves had some limited rights.

Spanning from the 1740s through the 1830s, this second hour explores the continued expansion of slavery in the colonies, the evolution of a distinct African American culture and the roots of the emancipation movement. This volume reveals the many ways the enslaved resisted their oppression including their role on both sides of the Revolutionary War.

The third volume of the series looks at the period from 1800 through the start of the Civil War when slavery saw an enormous expansion and entered its final decades. As the nation expanded west, the question of slavery became an overriding political issue. These years saw an increasingly militant abolitionist movement and a widening rift between the North and South.

The final volume of the series takes viewers through the Civil War, the Reconstruction and beyond as it follows the life of Robert Smalls. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves under the control of the Confederate government. Once the South was defeated in 1865, the nation adopted the 13th Amendment, effectively ending slavery.

Students will explore how society uses the Earth's resources to meet our most basic needs for food, water and shelter, and how those same resources influence how and where we live. Through our use and misuse of technology, students will see how we impact the world around us and conversely, how the forces of the ever-changing Earth shape our lives as well.

Imagine that someone from another country has asked you to describe the United States in a single sentence -- not an easy task! However, dividing America into regions and comparing and contrasting them can help explain our nation's unique natural, physical and cultural features.

Why do people settle where they do? Why do populations move from one place to another? In Human Systems, students will appreciate the role that the physical characteristics of Earth have played in determining where and how people live, and explore the notion that where and how we live has a huge impact on our planet.

Earth is a vast, diverse and complicated place, but breaking it down into regions allows us to simplify the whole. In Places & Regions, students will understand the physical and human characteristics that combine to form the areas we create to interpret our planet's complexity.

In this program, students will learn about cartography and technologies such as GIS, GPS and databases that geographers use to help us see the regular and recurring patterns in Earth's physical and human systems. These tools not only help us see and understand the world's patterns, but also help to make our planet a more comprehensible and fascinating place.

Examines the creation of the court and follows it through the brink of the Civil War, paying particular attention to the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court - John Marshall - and to his successor, Roger Taney. Volume 1

Explores the issues before the court from the aftermath of the Civil War through the 1930s. This was a period of unprecedented economic growth as the nation industrialized, but was also a time of unregulated work conditions - the court found itself squarely in the middle of what was almost class warfare. Volume 2

Focuses on the court's reaction to state and federal legislation on Bill of Rights freedoms, with special attention to the explosion of civil rights cases from the early 1940s to the present. Volume 3

Details the court from the election of President Richard Nixon - who appointed 4 new justices in less than two years - through to the more recent Court of today. During this period one man put his stamp on the institution and solidified and enhanced the power of the Court in the modern area - William H. Rehnquist. Volume 4

Features the first four of ten documentaries on major events in American history and includes the Pequot War, Shay's Rebellion, the California gold rush, and the Battle of Antietam