OUR NATION'S ROOTS (26 films)

Duration: 29 min

Year Published: 1957

Creator: New York University

Format: 16mm

Color: B&W

Sound: Sound

Description: 1. CASTLE GARDEN. Presents the historical background of immigration in the United States prior to 1850. Discusses Castle Garden, New York landmark, from its beginnings as a fort to its final use as an immigration depot. 2. REASONS WHY. Explains why immigrants came to the United States. Discusses religious, political, and economic factors as they affected immigration. Shows how American promotional schemes and immigrants in this country influenced others to come to the United States. 3. THE CROSSING. Pictures the scene at the port of embarkation for immigrants coming to colonial America. Attempts to convey the thoughts and feelings of immigrants as they awaited the sailing, after they were on board, and just before landing on strange shores. 4. TO LINK A NATION. Shows the development of canals in America and describes the role of the immigrant in building them. Tells of the hardships, low wages, accidents, and deaths of the immigrants. Discusses the westward expansion due to the new canals. 5. HELL ON WHEELS. Explains the reasons for the coming of the railroads, how they were financed, the type of men who built them, and the troubles with the Indians. 6. BY THE GRACE OF GOD. Discusses the importance of America as a religious haven for those who suffered persecution in Europe. Describes the growth of religious groups, their significance, and the church as a service and welfare organization. 7. MAN OF THE SOIL. Describes the frontier progression of the United States economic and agricultural progress, and immigrant contributions to these developments. Dramatizes the change on the frontier in the 1840's from a wild, unsettled land into farmland and cities. 8. BUILDING AN AGRICULTURAL EMPIRE. Discusses the role of the immigrant farmer in the agricultural expansion of America beyond the Mississippi. Explains how the farmers solved such problems as housing, water, prairie fires, cyclones, Indians, and grasshoppers. 9. BLOOD, SWEAT, AND COAL MINES. Points out the role of the immigrant in the development of the mining industry. Discusses the conditions under which the miners worked and the effects of mining as an economic power in the 19th century. 10. IMMIGRANT CRAFTSMEN. Tells how immigrant craftsmen contributed to the economic growth of America. Explains the need for skilled artisans. Demonstrates the spice grinder and a yarn winder, products of the 19th century. 11. TRIUMPH OF MASS PRODUCTION. Explains the importance of the immigrant in American industry and mass production. Discusses the conditions under which the immigrant laborers worked. Gives a brief history of Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant. 12. IMMIGRANT AND AMERICAN SCIENCE. Considers the contributions made by immigrants to science and invention. Presents biographical sketches of Dr Samuel Waxman, John H. Audubon, Louis Agassiz, Donald McKay and other noted immigrant scientists and inventors. 13. GREAT OUTDOORS. Presents the story of the immigrant contributions to the logging industry in the great Northwest. Explains why the Scandinavians came to this country. Describes general life in a lumber camp. 14. IMMIGRANT SERVES HIS COUNTRY: THE CIVIL WAR. Points out the immigrant's role in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. Dramatizes the reasons for immigrant enlistments. Concludes by taking the immigrant soldier through Indian warfare, the Spanish-American War, and both World Wars. 15. GROWTH OF THE CITY. Discusses the relationship between the immigrant and the development of urban America in the late 1880's. Describes the expansion of such cities as New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago. Points out the forces that drew the immigrant to the cities. 16. LIFE IN THE CITY. Discusses the problems confronting immigrants in adjusting to life in the city. Compares the bright side of city life, which the wealthy enjoyed, with the life led by the immigrants. Describes how immigrants gathered in particular nationality areas resulting in "cities within cities." 17. IMMIGRANTS AND POLITICAL MACHINES. Tells how local politics and politicians helped improve the immigrants' way of life. Discusses the role of the immigrant in "Jacksonian democracy," machine politics during Grant's term of office, and the election of McKinley. 18. IMMIGRANT AS A POLITICAL LEADER. Tells of the political significance of such immigrants as Bourke Cockran, Charles A. Lindbergh, John P. Altgeld, Carl Schurz. Relates the story of the election of 1884 and the issues involved. Describes instances in which the immigrant vote measured in the results of many elections. 19. SEEDS OF NATIVISM. Presents the chapter in American history dealing with the friction between the native born and the immigrants. Portrays a typical nativist of the day. Closes with a discussion of the final decline of nativism. 20. LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE OF OUR IMMIGRANT KINFOLK. Explains how many cultures became one because of the immigrant impact on American life. Tells how the social novel became a feature of American literature. Discusses the influence of the immigrant upon the American language. 21. LABOR MOVEMENT. Tells how unions developed as a result of the growth of industry. Describes labor agitation, the Haymarket Affair, and their effects upon immigrants. Presents biographical sketches of important men who played a part in the rise of labor unions. 22. NEW IMMIGRANT. Discusses the "new immigration" — people from southern and eastern Europe — in the early part of the 20th century. Describes America in 1907 and tells how the events of this year affected the immigrants. Explains how conditions in Europe accounted for much of the immigrant migration. 23. IMMIGRANT FAMILY IN AMERICAN LIFE. Portrays the problems faced by an immigrant Italian family living in New York at the beginning of the 20th century. Stresses one family's viewpoint of America: its hopes, dreams, and fears. 24. FORCE IN AMERICAN CULTURE. Traces the immigrant cultural contribution in music and food. Explains how the Germans introduced pipe organs in churches, formed orchestras, and song-fests; how Irish folk tunes influenced western music; and how Italians brought opera to New Orleans. 25. FIRST GENERATION. Dramatizes the problems confronting the first generation children of an immigrant family. Depicts the conflict between a first generation Polish-American and his father. Closes with a discussion of native born children of immigrant families and their influence in various fields of endeavor. 26. HERE AND NOW. Summarizes the preceding programs in the series. Traces the peak periods of immigration. Explains the need for immigrant labor in the building of canals and railroads. Describes the American Museum of Immigration to be built at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Complete Record: Source: NET Interest level: sh-c-ad Price: rent ea $4.75 Format: sd b&w

Metadata Source:Educational film guide. Supplements (1959-62)