Ken Burns: American Lives

Ken Burns' American Lives is a collection of outstanding biographies and stories of some of America's most celebrated pioneers and historical figures. The collection includes biographies of Thomas Jefferson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Mark Twain, Horatio Nelson Jackson, Lewis and Clark, and boxer Jack Johnson.

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13 Episodes

Not for Ourselves Alone (1) Revolution
E1
Not for Ourselves Alone (1) RevolutionTells the forgotten story of the women's rights pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, from their births to the historic first Women's Rights Convention in 1848, where the demand for women's right to vote was first made.
Not for Ourselves Alone (2) Failure is Impossible
E2
Not for Ourselves Alone (2) Failure is ImpossibleStanton and Anthony's fight for women's voting rights continues with Anthony's arrest for "illegally" voting in 1872. Finally in 1920 the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote is passed. Neither woman would live to witness it.
Thomas Jefferson: Part 1
E3
Thomas Jefferson: Part 1Revered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, the most sacred document in American history, yet condemned as a lifelong owner of slaves, Thomas Jefferson remains the enigma that is America.
Thomas Jefferson: Part 2
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Thomas Jefferson: Part 2Revered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, the most sacred document in American history, yet condemned as a lifelong owner of slaves, Thomas Jefferson remains the enigma that is America.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Part 1
E5
Frank Lloyd Wright: Part 1He was a master builder, a rebel and a worshiper of nature. Frank Lloyd Wright left behind a legacy of beautiful homes and buildings, and changed America's approach to architecture forever.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Part 2
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Frank Lloyd Wright: Part 2He was a master builder, a rebel and a worshiper of nature. Frank Lloyd Wright left behind a legacy of beautiful homes and buildings, and changed America's approach to architecture forever.
Mark Twain: Part 1
E7
Mark Twain: Part 1Samuel Clemens rose from a hardscrabble boyhood in the backwoods of Missouri to become, as Mark Twain, America's best known and best loved author.
Mark Twain: Part 2
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Mark Twain: Part 2Samuel Clemens rose from a hardscrabble boyhood in the backwoods of Missouri to become, as Mark Twain, America's best known and best loved author.
Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip
E9
Horatio's Drive: America's First Road TripIn the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage."
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
E10
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack JohnsonUnforgivable Blackness tells the story of Jack Johnson, the first African-American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of sports, and his struggle to live his life as a free man.
Unforgivable Blackness: Part 2
E11
Unforgivable Blackness: Part 2Unforgivable Blackness tells the story of Jack Johnson, the first African-American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of sports, and his struggle to live his life as a free man.
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
E12
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of DiscoveryThe most notable expedition in U.S. history was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with soldiers, an African-American slave, a female guide, and Canadian boatmen.
Lewis & Clark: Part 2
E13
Lewis & Clark: Part 2The most notable expedition in U.S. history was led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with soldiers, an African-American slave, a female guide, and Canadian boatmen.