From the very beginning, America is a nation shaped by adversity. These are the stories of the challenges that helped shape a nation. How our forebears survive the "starving time" of the first colonies; battle their mother country for independence; head out to the frontier and west into the unknown; and spark a resistance to slavery that brings the United States to the brink of civil war.

America is forged in the fires of adversity. These stories chart the challenges that helped shape a nation. In the mid-1800s, America faces its darkest hour yet. Abraham Lincoln is elected President of a United States on the brink of Civil War; the nation that emerges now creates great wealth--but not for everyone; Teddy Roosevelt steps forward, bringing fierce leadership on behalf of the working man--his aim: to hold the nation together.