Manchester-by-the-Sea Public Library

How the states got their shapes, the History Channel ; producer, director, and writer, Ann Carroll ; produced by Half Yard Productions for the History Channel

eng

videorecording

How the states got their shapes

611597156

the History Channel ; producer, director, and writer, Ann Carroll ; produced by Half Yard Productions for the History Channel

100

We are so familiar with the map of the United States that our state borders seem as much a part of nature as mountains and rivers. But every edge of the familiar wooden jigsaw pieces of our childhood represents a revealing moment of history and of, well, humans drawing lines in the sand. This film looks at why our state lines are where they are. Every line on the U.S. map tells a great story: California's border was bent to claw onto lucrative gold deposits ... Oklahoma's panhandle reflects a shifting national barometer for legal slavery ... Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia's shared border traces the scar of a meteor impact. Packed with oddities and trivia, this entertaining guide also reveals the major fault lines of American history, from ideological intrigues and religious intolerance to major territorial acquisitions. Adding the fresh lens of local geographic disputes, military skirmishes, and land grabs, the segments reveal the larger story of what makes America unique: a range of natural resources, a history of social experimentation, and a thriving democracy, while showing how the seemingly haphazard puzzle pieces of our nation fit together perfectly

Introduction -- Bitter rivals -- New England -- The lost states -- The great divide -- Big states -- Gold states -- The grid -- Notches and heels -- Borderlands

live action