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Complete History of U.S. Wars

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War has always been part of the American experience. From the time the first colonists set foot upon North America's shores, they were in conflict with the Native inhabitants. One hundred years later the colonies suddenly found themselves an extension of the conflicts in Europe. Less than a century later, the Revolutionary War freed the fledgling United States from its British overlords and European entanglements. Born and nurtured in war, America grew in strength and power until at the beginning of the 21st century it was the foremost military power in the world. Join George Kennedy as he takes us on this 300-year saga of The Complete History of U.S. Wars.

Episodes:

• Manifest Destiny Wars

  MANIFEST DESTINY WARS: In this program we look at the 50 years between the Revolutionary War and the Alamo. This period was the beginning of the United States' push westward...what would ultimately be called Manifest Destiny. 1797 - U.S.S. Constitution is Launched. 1811 - Battle of Tippecanoe. 1814 - Washington D.C. is Captured and Burned by the British. 1814 - Star Spangled Banner is Written. 1815 - Battle of New Orleans. 1832 - Black Hawk War Ends with Massacre at Bad Axe River. 1836 - Alamo Falls.

  Length:	00:26:46
  Usage rights:	Expires 6/30/2029

• The Civil War

  THE CIVIL WAR: In our fourth program we look at the years 1846 to 1865. The two wars America fought in this period could not have been more different. The Mexican American War of 1846 was a brief, almost light-hearted campaign that ended quickly and brought vast new territory to the nation. Fifteen years later, the ultimate pain of war fell directly upon the country for the first time. These were the darkest years militarily for the Republic...a time when Americans turned new, more lethal, weapons on each other in the Civil War. 1846 - United States Declares War on Mexico. 1861 - Eleven States Comprise the Confederacy. 1862 - Emancipation Proclamation. 1863 - Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address. 1863 - The Fall of Vicksburg. 1865 - Lee Surrenders at Appomattox.

  Length:	00:28:42
  Usage rights:	Expires 6/30/2029

• The Cold War

  THE COLD WAR: By the middle of the 20th-century, a completely new kind of war emerged. It was a war whose battles did not allow for direct confrontation between the two main combatants, the United States and the Soviet Union. This was because direct confrontation with atomic weapons would have led to the total annihilation of both adversaries. In the seventh program we look at the years from 1952 to 1969. These were the principal years of the Cold War battles between America and the Soviet Union. 1952 - The Marshall Plan Wins the Battle for Western Europe. 1954 - John Foster Dulles Becomes Eisenhower's Cold War Warrior. 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis. 1964 - Vietnam War: Congress Passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. 1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive.

  Length:	00:27:43
  Usage rights:	Expires 6/30/2029

• The Global Wars

  THE GLOBAL WARS: After World War I the 19th century's old balance of power vanished. Once more world domination through military conquest loomed as an actual possibility. In the sixth program, the global wars, we look at the years 1939 to 1953 as America spread it's military across half the planet and took command of the fight against totalitarianism in World War II and communism in the Korean War. 1941 - Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbor. 1944 - D-Day "Operation Overlord". 1945 - The Air Force Drops an Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. 1950 - President Truman Sends American Troops to the Aid of South Korea. 1950 - 1953 The Korean War.

  Length:	00:29:24
  Usage rights:	Expires 6/30/2029

• The Imperial Wars

  THE IMPERIAL WARS: In the fifth program we look at the years 1868 to 1918. With the Civil War over, the call of Manifest Destiny turned Americans westward once more, and very quickly the United States became engaged in its longest running war, The Plains Indians War, from 1868 to 1890. We also see America's brief flirtation with Imperialism, as the U.S. for first time took its growing military might onto the world stage in the Spanish-American War and then again in World War One. 1750- Native American Horse Cultures Dominate the Great Plains. 1876- Battle at the Little Big Horn. 1890- Battle at Wounded Knee. 1898 - Sinking of the Maine. 1914 - 1917 - America Prepares for World War I. 1917 - America Enters World War I.

  Length:	00:29:16
  Usage rights:	Expires 6/30/2029

• The Police Wars

  THE POLICE WARS: As the Vietnam War drew to a close, it became clear that the American military had experienced a devastating defeat to a communist adversary. It was the first loss in U.S. history. Ironically, at the same time the danger from the greater nemesis of global communism was on the decline. In this program we look at the years 1973 to 2004...a time when the American military would reach an all-time low only to reemerge as the world's single superpower with a new role as the world's policeman. 1973 - Vietnam War: Cease-Fire Ends War. 1983 - The Grenada Conflict. 1990 - The Gulf War. 1991--End of the Cold War. 2003 - Gulf War II.

  Length:	00:26:53
  Usage rights:	Expires 6/30/2029

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