Episode one begins in 1609 and chronicles the arrival of the Dutch.

Episode two looks at New York's rise as a burgeoning cultural center and multi-ethnic port.

Episode three turns the spotlight on greed and wealth.

Episode four follows New York into a new century.

Episode five tells the African-American experience and the birth of the new media industries.

For more than thirty years, Eleanor Roosevelt was America's most powerful woman. Millions adored her, but her FBI file was thicker than a stack of phone books. She spoke out fearlessly for civil rights, and the KKK put a price on her head. She helped Franklin D. Roosevelt rise to power and was one of his most valuable political assets, but the media satirized her as an ugly busybody. Drawing on interviews with her closest relatives, friends, and biographers, as well as rare home movie footage, the film reveals the hidden dimensions of one of the century's most influential women. She was born to wealth and power but orphaned at the age of 10. Her private life was marked by tragedy, infidelity, and a never-ending search for intimacy. Yet she persevered, fighting tirelessly for social justice for all and taking a lead role in the United Nations landmark Declaration of Human Rights.

This episode analyzes the reasons for and the consequences of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

Documentary on the life of American abolitionist John Brown.

A group of former slaves tries to save its bankrupt school, Fisk University, by performing concerts as the Jubilee Singers. They toured along the path of the Underground Railroad in the United States, as well as England and throughout Europe.