10 Days That Unexpectedly
Changed America
The most ambitious original programming event in the THC history, 10 Days
That Unexpectedly Changed America encompasses 10 days in American history as
envisioned through 10 powerful documentaries that will be written, produced and
directed by 10 award-winning filmmakers. Expansive in scope, the goal is not to
countdown or list the “most important” days in U.S. history, but to select days
that represent the broad themes that ultimately shaped America’s people, culture
and history.
To own the DVD click here
For a look at behind the scenes video
click Here
for Quicktime or
Here for
Windows Media
 Massacre at Mystic – The first time the English settlers engaged in the slaughter of Native
Americans after years of relative peaceful coexistence. Known as the Pequot
War, this massacre in Mystic, Connecticut set the pattern of the taking of
Indian land throughout the country. [Sunday, April 9]
 Shays’
Rebellion: America’s First Civil War
– A violent protest against debt collection and
taxation practices motivated
George Washington to come out of retirement to help
strengthen the fragile new nation. This was the spark that led to the writing
of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. [Thursday, April 13]
 Gold
Rush – The explosive
effects of gold being discovered spurred tremendous financial and physical
growth throughout the West. For the first time in history, individuals – not
kings or sultans – could have gold for the taking, spurring tens of thousands of
immigrants to make the arduous journey West. [Tuesday, April 11]
 Antietam – The
bloodiest day in American history, both sides paid a terrible price during this
Civil War battle that resulted in 23,000 casualties. President
Abraham Lincoln
needed this victory to insure that no foreign country would support the
Confederates, and issue the Emancipation Proclamation. [Sunday, April 9]
 The
Homestead Strike –
Harsh working conditions and long hours In
Carnegie’s Homestead steel mill led
to a union strike. The battle fought between management and labor signaled an
end to workers believing they had an ownership stake in their jobs, and widen
the divide between management and labor. [Wednesday, April 12]
 Murder
at the Fair: The Assassination of William McKinley
-- Set against the backdrop of the 1901 World’s Fair and the dawning of the new
century, the assassination of President
William McKinley ushered in a new
Progressive Era under the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt. [Monday, April 10]
 Scopes: The Battle Over America’s Soul
-- The sensational courtroom battle between two giants – three-time presidential
candidate and populist
William Jennings Bryan and big city criminal defense
lawyer Clarence Darrow – over the teaching of evolution in a small Tennessee
town. The trial underscored a deep schism within the American psyche --
religion versus science, church and state, elitism versus populism. [Wednesday,
April 12]
 Einstein’s Letter –
Albert Einstein’s letter to
FDR that launched the development of the atomic
bomb. The result, known as the Manhattan Project, brought government and
science together in a project to build the bomb and change the world forever. [Monday,
April 10]
For a video clip,
click here.
 When
America Was Rocked
-- Elvis Presley’s appearance on The
Ed Sullivan Show on September 9,
1956, signified a whole new culture that involved teenage independence,
sexuality, race relations and a new form of music. [Tuesday, April 11]
 Freedom
Summer --
There was a time when trying to register to vote in Mississippi could get one
killed. When two white and one black Civil Rights workers went missing,
national attention turned to the violence in Mississippi, which eventually led
to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. [Thursday, April 13]
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