On July 4, 2026, the American Republic turns 250.

In anticipation of this remarkable event, HISTORY250 is building out an exceptional resource for teachers and students: a collection of original short documentary films on the most important events in American history. Each film introduces viewers to a formative change in the life of America, related changes that followed in the wake of the event, and evidence around us today of what happened in the past. All of the films together form a continuous narrative.

HISTORY250 employs no cartoons but only beautiful imagery in the form of portraits, photos, maps, and film clips. Nor do we indulge political agendas; we only follow the liberal discipline of history as exercised by our greatest practitioners of narrative history.

HISTORY250’s approach to the past is the liberal approach articulated in History Forgotten and Remembered: observational and sympathetic, not anachronistic or moralistic; narrative and fully contextual, not fragmentary; unitive, not divisive. By liberal we mean free as in the freedom achieved through a genuinely liberal education. The liberal discipline of history frees students to see the past clearly: in its pastness, for the past is different from the present, and in its relation to the present and future since, without our past and the wisdom it affords us, we cannot fulfill our responsibility for maintaining society for ourselves and future generations.

Many of the events covered in HISTORY250 reflect narrative history’s emphasis on politics. Others are cultural: formative religious events; great works of art, literature, and film and the individuals who created them; and standouts in American sports. Others are economic such as the discovery of oil, the auto production boom, homesteading, and the spread of electricity.

HISTORY250 does not shy away from failures: American slavery and segregation, the Trail of Tears, and the internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII, to name several on which Americans agree.

At the same time, we do not reduce America’s history to the failures of our forebears. The courage of others who suffered and sacrificed; the hard work, creativity, and discovery by those who made our life possible; and the great loves that have united each generation form the meaningful center of the American story. In the mode of Lincoln in his “Gettysburg Address” and King in his “I Have a Dream” speech, we take wise bearings for our actions now and genuine hope for the future from the good our forebears achieved.

In support of the film collection, HISTORY250 equips teachers with other top quality resources:

A series of podcasts with leading historians
A catalog of historical documents
A bank of historical maps

The David McCullough quotation is taken from “Appreciation: The Citizen Chronicler,” Jefferson Lecture 2003, National Endowment for the Humanities. All photos used are in the U.S. Public Domain.