American Government: DVDs

To this day, nobody knows what prompted Martin Luther King Jr. to depart from his prepared remarks during the August 28, 1963, March on Washington and deliver what is probably the most famous impromptu speech in American history. Was it the realization that the 40-year-old preacher from Atlanta hadn't yet connected with his audience? Was it the manifest destiny he felt as a child, that one day he would have me some big words like the preacher of his own church?

What is democracy and what does it truly mean to be free? Americans often take their freedom for granted because it is all they have ever known.

This DVD explains the origin of democracy in America and throughout the world, from Great Britain's Magna Carta to America's Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. In this program, we examine how American democracy has spread like wildfire to almost every region on earth. Freedom is not a right; it is a privilege that has been paid for through countless wars and demonstrations. Democracy is a constant struggle and freedom is its just reward.

The “History and Function” series exams how politics and honor have co-existed to strengthen our government. Over time and across years, changes in the spirit and practice of government offices have moved from development and cohesion to enlightenment and understanding. The preservation of balances has long been pursued in the course of evolving offices. The Supreme Court of the United States is the most powerful judicial body in the United States, if not in the World. In this video, we look at the early days of the Court and its landmark cases up to the present day. Alexander Hamilton claimed that the Supreme Court was "the weakest department of power." However through benchmark cases such as Marbury v. Madison, Dred Scott v. Sanford and Brown v. Board of Education, the Court has distinguished itself. Learn about these facts and more in this DVD.