Faces of America S01E02 · Becoming American

Overview

Becoming American explores the many journeys to becoming American that defined the “Century of Immigration” (1820s – 1924) and transformed the United States from a sleepy agrarian country into a booming industrial power. Stephen Colbert’s Irish great-great-grandfather escaped poverty and religious oppression in Limerick and never looked back, whereas Mario Batali’s great-grandfather, who left the place where his family had lived for centuries, struggled to survive in the quartz mines of Montana. Her Majesty Queen Noor’s Syrian great-grandfather quickly found his footing in New York’s first Arab American community, while Kristi Yamaguchi’s grandfather faced exclusionary laws and racially-defined barriers to citizenship for decades. The obstacles, short-cuts, tragedies and successes encountered or created by the guests’ ancestors from around the world reveal the complexity of our shared history and identity as Americans.

Torrents

Subtitles

Episodes

1. 1 1. Our American Stories2010-02-10 · 1h 0mDirector Mike Nichols' family escapes Nazi Germany; Japanese Americans were imprisoned, including forebears of skater Kristi Yamaguchi; an encounter changes the life of cellist Yo-
2. 2 2. Becoming American2010-02-17 · 1h 0mBecoming American explores the many journeys to becoming American that defined the “Century of Immigration” (1820s – 1924) and transformed the United States from a sleepy agrarian
3. 3 3. Making America2010-02-24 · 1h 0mMaking America tells the story of the peopling of the New World, of how land came to define the settling and identity of America, and of how the guests’ ancestors were part of this
4. 4 4. Know Thyself2010-03-03 · 1h 0mKnow Thyself takes up the search for the guests’ ancestries where the historical record leaves off and links their distinctive family histories to the broader history of “the famil