American History
The Mayflower Pilgrims
and the Founding of America
They left everything behind for the freedom to worship God as they chose.
A storm-tossed voyage across the Atlantic landed them on a barren shore in the dead of winter. Half did not survive the year.
Yet from their courage, their compact, and their fragile alliance with the land’s first peoples grew the first roots
of self-government—and the founding spirit of America.
The Statue of Liberty
- A Gift to America
Her official name is "Liberty Enlightening the World" but we all know her as the Statue of Liberty - a beacon of freedom who has inspired and awed countless Americans, immigrants and visitors.
Whose idea was she? Who built her? What does she represent? Let's find out!
The Origins of
American Independence
In 1763, American colonists cheered Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War.
Twelve years later they were fighting the same empire for their freedom.
This is the story of how taxes, tea, and tyranny turned loyalty into revolution—and how ordinary colonists, fiery orators, and quiet organizers lit the fuse that became the United States.
In the Footsteps of George Washington
At sixteen, George Washington crossed the Blue Ridge into the untamed Shenandoah Valley—surveying wild lands, sleeping under the stars, facing swollen rivers, rattlesnakes, and a war party of Indians. He learned the hard skills of the frontier, the value of self-reliance, and the vast promise of the West.
That month in the wilderness forged the surveyor, the soldier, and the leader who would one day command an army and a nation.
Shenandoah River
Samuel Adams -
Mastermind of the Revolution
Massachusetts led the thirteen colonies.
Boston led Massachusetts.
Sam Adams led Boston.
From his bold Harvard thesis defending resistance to tyranny, Sam Adams was at the forefront of the Stamp Act protests, organizing the Sons of Liberty and the Boston Tea Party and calling for an independent American commonwealth. He was the tireless organizer and mastermind who turned colonial grievances into a revolution.
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Paul Revere
- Invaluable Team Player
Famous for his midnight ride, Revere was also an organizer of the Sons of Liberty, a cartoonist, engraver, a reliable and trusted messenger, and hurled boxes of tea into Boston Harbor on a chilly December night. He was an invaluable asset in America's fight for independence.
Henry Knox
- At Washington's Side
When newly appointed General George Washington arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts to take command of the ragtag Continental Army, he was horrified by the lack of weapons and ammunition.
Then a 25-year-old artillery officer stepped forward with a suggestion.
Taking only his teenaged brother, Henry Knox made a 600-mile winter journey to Fort Ticonderoga to bring the armaments stored there to Boston.
Throughout the Revolution, Knox was at Washington's side.
John Trumbull
- George Washington's Favorite Spy
Trumbull's enduring legacy, and his gift to countless generations of Americans, are his paintings of the Revolution's crucial moments and the brave patriots who made those moments happen.
Today, four of his paintings hang in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol.
Towards the end of his life, Trumbull founded America's first university art gallery at Yale.
The New York Yankees
- Building a Brilliant Brand
When Jacob Ruppert bought the Yankees in 1914, the team was languishing at the bottom of the League. Ruppert transformed the Yankees into
the world's most valuable sport franchise.
How did he do it? What can we learn from him?
Visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
The Founding of Washington, D.C.
It's a well-worn myth that Congress established America's capitol on the banks of the Potomac River
in honor of George Washington.
As you'll see, nothing could be farther from the truth. This unlikely story started with a band of soldiers marching to Philadelphia to demand back pay from Congress at gunpoint!
Reagan's Journey
- Lessons from a Remarkable Career
Ronald Reagan’s early life was a rollercoaster of new towns, new homes and new schools. His father was an alcoholic who could barely hold onto a job.
Forced to look outside his family for role models, Ronald Reagan found heroes in books, at church, at school and at work.
Thanks to a mentor, within months of graduating from college at the bottom of the Depression, Reagan was on his way to spectacular success in his dream career. How did he do that? What can we learn from him?
