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Ken Burns's The West, 3, The Speck of the Future
written by Ken Burns, 1953-; directed by Stephen Ives, fl. 1988-2017; produced by Stephen Ives, fl. 1988-2017, in Ken Burns's The West, 3 (Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service, 1996), 1 hour 26 mins
By 1848, the United States claimed virtually all of the West. The Louisiana Purchase, the annexation of Texas and Oregon, and the war with Mexico had stretched the nation's boundaries all the way to the Pacific. But the West was American in name only. Few people east of the Mississippi were anxious to venture into...
Sample
written by Ken Burns, 1953-; directed by Stephen Ives, fl. 1988-2017; produced by Stephen Ives, fl. 1988-2017, in Ken Burns's The West, 3 (Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service, 1996), 1 hour 26 mins
Description
By 1848, the United States claimed virtually all of the West. The Louisiana Purchase, the annexation of Texas and Oregon, and the war with Mexico had stretched the nation's boundaries all the way to the Pacific. But the West was American in name only. Few people east of the Mississippi were anxious to venture into its forbidding interior. It still seemed too distant, too mysterious, too dangerous. Then gold was discovered in California, and every...
By 1848, the United States claimed virtually all of the West. The Louisiana Purchase, the annexation of Texas and Oregon, and the war with Mexico had stretched the nation's boundaries all the way to the Pacific. But the West was American in name only. Few people east of the Mississippi were anxious to venture into its forbidding interior. It still seemed too distant, too mysterious, too dangerous. Then gold was discovered in California, and everything changed -- for the West, and for the country. Suddenly, gold-seekers rushed in from every corner of the globe: Chinese peasants, pursuing tales of a 'gold mountain' across the ocean, Mexican farmers and clerks from London, tailors from Eastern Europe and South American aristocrats fallen on hard times. The thin stream of American emigrants crossing the continent became a torrent -- thousands upon thousands of optimistic but inexperienced prospectors, willing to leave their homes and families, and set out on the long trail for California, hoping to strike it rich and return in glory. It had taken half a century for the United States to encompass the vast spaces of the West. Now, the lust for gold would animate the nation to begin to fill them up.
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Field of Study
American History
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Stephen Ives, fl. 1988-2017, Peter Coyote, 1941-
Author / Creator
Ken Burns, 1953-, Stephen Ives, fl. 1988-2017
Date Published / Released
1996
Publisher
Public Broadcasting Service
Series
Ken Burns's The West
Speaker / Narrator
Peter Coyote, 1941-
Person Discussed
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, 1808-1890, William Swain, 1822-
Topic / Theme
American Indians, Chinese people, Gold, Gold mines and mining, Migration, Miners, Mining communities, Mining industry, Mining towns, Pioneers, Sioux people, California Gold Rush, 1849, American History, Expansion & Sectionalism (1829–1859), Chinese, Dakota, Russians, Ukrainians, Rusyn, Industrialization and Western Global Hegemony (1750–1914)
Copyright Message
© 1996 The West Film Project, Inc./Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, Inc.
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Westray
directed by Paul Cowan, fl. 1975; produced by Kent Martin, fl. 2001, National Film Board of Canada (Montreal, QC: National Film Board of Canada, 2001), 1 hour 20 mins
May 9, 1992. The Westray mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, explodes, instantly killing all 26 men working underground. Mining coal in Pictou County is notoriously dangerous. It claimed the lives of 650 men in the last 100 years, the same number that died fighting in both world wars. But Westray was supposed to b...
Sample
directed by Paul Cowan, fl. 1975; produced by Kent Martin, fl. 2001, National Film Board of Canada (Montreal, QC: National Film Board of Canada, 2001), 1 hour 20 mins
Description
May 9, 1992. The Westray mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, explodes, instantly killing all 26 men working underground. Mining coal in Pictou County is notoriously dangerous. It claimed the lives of 650 men in the last 100 years, the same number that died fighting in both world wars. But Westray was supposed to be different: a high-tech operation that would finally make coal mining safe. Westray is a brilliant, innovative documentary that re-cre...
May 9, 1992. The Westray mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, explodes, instantly killing all 26 men working underground. Mining coal in Pictou County is notoriously dangerous. It claimed the lives of 650 men in the last 100 years, the same number that died fighting in both world wars. But Westray was supposed to be different: a high-tech operation that would finally make coal mining safe. Westray is a brilliant, innovative documentary that re-creates some of the Westray disaster's most harrowing moments. It focuses on the lives of three widows and three miners lucky enough not to be underground that day when the methane and coal dust ignited. But their lives were torn apart by the events. Meet some of the working men, who felt they had no option but to stay on at Westray. And wives, who heard the rumours, saw their men sometimes bloodied from accidents, and stood by them, hoping it would all turn out all right. This film reaches beyond Westray. It's also about working people everywhere--whose lives are often entrusted to companies that violate the most fundamental rules of safety and decency in the name of profit.
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Field of Study
Criminal Justice & Public Safety
Content Type
Documentary
Contributor
Kent Martin, fl. 2001, National Film Board of Canada, Katie Malloch, Michael Jones
Author / Creator
Paul Cowan, fl. 1975
Date Published / Released
2001-09-14
Publisher
National Film Board of Canada
Speaker / Narrator
Katie Malloch, Michael Jones
Topic / Theme
Mining communities, Coal mines and mining, Death, Humanities
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2001 by the National Film Board of Canada
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