American History Films
A list of films spanning American History of all periods, including military, social, and cultural history.
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- DirectorXavier KollerStarsAdam BeachMandy PatinkinSheldon Peters WolfchildFictional chronicle of Squanto's life prior to and including the arrival of the "Mayflower" in 1620.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsColin FarrellQ'orianka KilcherChristopher PlummerThe story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
- DirectorLisa Quijano WolfingerStarsNicholas AsburyChristopher HaasKeith BartlettAn in-depth dramatization of the story of the Pilgrims
- 1991–200530m7.7 (32)TV EpisodeDirectorRichard RichStarsU. Jonathan ToppoJames MarchJoe LynchIn 1620, John Carver, William Bradford, Captain Standish and 99 pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower toward America in search of religious freedom. As disease and storms hit they are almost forced to return. William Bradford convinces Captain Standish to press on. Before landing, Bradford suggests everyone sign the Mayflower Contract designed to enact their own laws and elect leaders for a free government. John Carver is elected to govern for one year. The land they choose to build on becomes known as "Plymouth". Immediately, the winter sets in and the pilgrims face the harsh effects of the weather, hunger and disease. By the first signs of spring, half of the pilgrims have died. Soon a lone Indian appears on the horizon. Against Captain Standish's wishes, John Carver and William Bradford befriend Samoset of the Wampanoag tribe. Samoset sends the English-speaking Squanto and Chief Massasoit to the pilgrims who make a peace pact. Chief Massasoit offers gifts to seal the deal. Squanto and Samoset live with the pilgrims and teach them how to live off the land. As John Carver falls ill, he makes Bradford Governor of Plymouth. After the first successful crop, Bradford proposes a "Feast of thanksgiving" to honor God and thank him for his many gifts.
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsDemi MooreGary OldmanRobert DuvallAn affair between a young woman and a pastor has disastrous consequences.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsClifford EvansDeborah KerrDennis ArundellWilliam Penn's heroic deeds, on the European and American continents, are told in this portrait of the founding father of both the Quakers and the Pennsylvania colony. Based on C.E. Vulliamy's biography "William Penn."
- 1980–19942h 51m7.6 (284)TV EpisodeDirectorPhilip LeacockStarsVanessa RedgraveKim HunterPhyllis ThaxterThis is a true story based on transcripts of the Salem Witch Trials. Sarah (Vanessa Redgrave) and her two sisters are put on trial for suspicion of witchcraft. While her sisters are hanged, Sarah is sentenced to a prison term to be served in a box barely large enough for her to lie down in. When she is released, her family name is cleared and all she is given for all she has suffered are three gold sovereigns- coin of the realm at the time. Abby Williams, the preacher's niece, starts getting into fortune telling and such illegal activities, as taught to her by the slave Tituba. Other local girls get into it, and then start acting strange. Abby and the girls eventually start to name local people as 'witches' and blame their sicknesses on witchcraft. Hundreds are accused and sent to jail, though there are many who doubt the truth of the accusations. Among these are three sisters, Mary, Rebecca, and Sarah. All are kept in jail for quite some time, until Mary and Rebecca are found guilty, though they pleaded innocent. They are hanged, and due to over crowding, Sarah is sent to a farm until her hearing. She is kept in utter isolation in a chicken coop, getting very sick and lonely, until family comes to save her. The madness is over, though the clever girls, along with one 'afflicted' mother, first succeeded in giving enough 'evidence' so that 19 people were hanged on the count of witchcraft, and one was pressed to death. The story is told to a court 10 years later by Sarah, wanting to clear the family name. Though they can not immediately decide on guilt, or give her compensation, the three judges do give Sarah 3 symbolic sovereigns, one for each of the lives that had suffered.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsKirstie AlleyHenry CzernyGloria ReubenA masterful work accurately details the current consensus of what exactly occurred to prompt the colonial witch trials.
- DirectorAndrew GardnerStarsHarvey L. BakariOteka BallBill BarkerThe revivals of the Great Awakening shook Britain's North American colonies from spiritual slumber during the 1730s-1750s. In Virginia it touched men and women whose spiritual needs had been too long neglected by the legally established Anglican Church. In homes, meeting houses, and in open fields, rich and poor, black and white, men and women mingled to hear emotional messages of a personal God and salvation. The Great Awakening rattled and cracked the foundations of hierarchal authority and official religion from Georgia to New England, reverberating through the decades to the Revolution and the collapse of British rule.
- DirectorHerschel DaughertyStarsFess ParkerWendell CoreyJoanne DruA young white man who spent his whole life raised by Native Americans is sent to live with his birth family and must learn to fit in with people he was taught to hate.
- DirectorKing VidorJack ConwayW.S. Van DykeStarsSpencer TracyRobert YoungWalter BrennanLangdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsDaniel Day-LewisMadeleine StoweRussell MeansThree trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
- DirectorLinda RandulfeStarsKeith AndersonWillie BaldersonBarbara DuncanDuring the turbulent era of the French and Indian War, the Cherokee people struggled to preserve their independence. Follow Cherokee leader Ostenaco and Virginian Henry Timberlake on their 1762 journey from Chota (the capital of the Cherokee nation) to Williamsburg and Lodo in search of lasting peace.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsClaire TrevorJohn WayneGeorge SandersIn 1759, in Pennsylvania's Allegheny Valley, local settlers and Indian fighters try to persuade the British authorities to ban the trading of alcohol and arms with the marauding Indians.
- StarsLeVar BurtonRobert ReedJohn AmosA dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte's enslavement to his descendants' liberation.
- DirectorDavid HowardStarsGeorge O'BrienHeather AngelJohn CarradineIn 1775, Daniel Boone settles Kentucky, despite menacing Indians and renegade whites.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsClaudette ColbertHenry FondaEdna May OliverNewlyweds Gil and Lana Martin try to establish a farm in the Mohawk Valley but are menaced by Indians and Tories as the Revolutionary War begins.
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsHal StalmasterLuana PattenJeff YorkJohnny Tremain is drawn into the Revolutionary War, and becomes a patriot fighting to free the colonies from England. Along the way he learns about life and about himself.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsTommy Lee JonesSusan BlakelyChad LoweOn the morning of April 19, 1775, the American Revolution began with the "shot heard 'round the world".
- DirectorJoan HensonStarsAndy ClineKatie HaggertyTerri HawkesA dramatization of the story of a typical United Empire Loyalist as told through the eyes of a child.
- DirectorJack RegasStarsIan AbercrombieRussell ArmsBilly Bowles
- DirectorScott BryceStarsKara BurgessDaniel SeigermanBased upon the true story of Sybil Ludington's ride to raise the militia during the American Revolution. In response to the British act of burning the town of Danbury, CT, Sybil heroically rode 40 miles in the rain, through rough terrain filled with British spies, brigands and thieves.
- DirectorPeter H. HuntStarsWilliam DanielsHoward Da SilvaKen HowardA musical retelling of the American Revolution's political struggle in the Continental Congress to declare independence.
- DirectorFielder CookStarsRichard BasehartBarry SniderHarry AndrewsGeorge Washington struggles to hold his army together at a critical point during the Revolutionary War.
- DirectorRobert HarmonStarsJeff DanielsRoger ReesSebastian RochéA dramatization of George Washington's perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the Hessian forces at Trenton.