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American Experience Films

Browse the entire American Experience series featuring over 200 films. Watch full films online, download teacher’s guides, go behind the scenes, and learn more about your favorite films.

U.S. History to 1850


Alexander Hamilton

The story of a founding father who laid the groundwork for the nation's modern economy -- including the banking system and Wall Street. He was also a primary author of the Federalist Papers.

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The Gold Rush

Discovery of a precious metal inspired worldwide migration by Forty-Niners, the eager gold-seekers who settled the westernmost state and turned California into a land of opportunity and fierce competition.

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John and Abigail Adams

The second U.S. president, John Adams, was arguably the most influential of the founding fathers. Using letters John and his wife Abigail exchanged, this film explores their tumultuous times.

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Kit Carson

The legendary trapper, scout and soldier helped map the Oregon Trail. The ultimate frontiersman, Carson inspired popular novels before being associated with the "Long Walk" of the Navajo people.

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The Mormons

A complex portrait of Mormonism. From Joseph Smith's discovery of gold tablets to persecution, migration, and settlement in Utah, the film explores the history of the most American of religions.

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Patriots Day

In 1775, local American militias routed the British at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. This film follows the 65 "British soldiers" and 67 "American rebels" who reenact the battle today.

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Remember the Alamo

In the early 1830s Texas was home to more than 20,000 U.S. settlers, and 4,000 Mexican Tejanos. Still ruled by Mexico, the land was about to be mired in war. The Tejanos had to pick a side.

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We Shall Remain

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The story of Native peoples’ valiant resistance to expulsion from their lands and the extinction of their culture -- from the Wampanoags of New England, who used their alliance with the English to weaken rival tribes (episode 1, “After the Mayflower”), to the bold new leaders of the 1970s who harnessed the momentum of the civil rights movement to forge a pan-Indian identity (episode 5, “Wounded Knee”). Also, contemporary Native Americans tell their own stories and NativeNow explores important issues of language, sovereignty and enterprise.

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