The Civil War rages. The formidable Confederate army cannot match the Union’s mastery of technology as railroads supply lines and the telegram become new weapons in a modern war. The transcontinental railroad unites the nation and transforms the heartland. Farmers settle the continent; their cattle replace wild buffalo as king of the plains. The cowboy becomes a new American icon. It could be said that America was invented not discovered.

AMERICA: THE STORY OF US looks at history from an entirely new viewpoint with untold stories about the men and women – both famous figures and everyday people – who pushed innovation and ingenuity to the very edge of possibility to create a modern world that was unthinkable at its founding. From the taming of the west to the building of our great cities to the conflict that united and divided a nation AMERICA: THE STORY OF US immerses viewers in each moment as it happens.

This DVD contains Episode 5 “Civil War” and Episode 6 “Heartland” of the AMERICA: THE STORY OF US series.