New Nation, Expansion & Reform America (1783 - 1860)
by indeetee | created - 14 Sep 2014 | updated - 17 Oct 2021 | PublicFilms & series set at a time when America was establishing its government and expanding its borders. This period also includes the Antebellum Era (1781-1860).
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1. Into the West (2005)
TV-14 | 92 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Tales from the American West in the 19th century, told from the perspective of two families, one of white settlers and one of Native Americans.
Stars: Joseph M. Marshall, Irene Bedard, Gil Birmingham, John Terry
Votes: 7,552
2. Deadwood (2004–2006)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, History
A show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.
Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Brad Dourif
Votes: 117,543
3. Amistad (1997)
R | 155 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 82,727 | Gross: $44.18M
4. Nightjohn (1996 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama
Facing a life of servitude in the Antebellum South, a young slave named Sarny meets Nightjohn. He teaches her to read and write, and together they set to free other slaves - until one planned escape is discovered.
Director: Charles Burnett | Stars: Beau Bridges, Carl Lumbly, Bill Cobbs, Kathleen York
Votes: 438
5. Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad (1994 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, History
A number of slaves risk their lives to escape their masters with their only help coming from the famous secret slave escape network.
Director: Don McBrearty | Stars: Falconer Abraham, Dwight Bacquie, Janet Bailey, Nigel Bennett
Votes: 189
6. Queen (1993)
TV-14 | 282 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A plantation owner's son falls in love with a slave named Easter and together they have a Biracial daughter named Queen. As Queen grows up, she faces the struggle of trying to fit into the ... See full summary »
Stars: Ann-Margret, Patricia Clarkson, Tim Daly, Ossie Davis
Votes: 1,713
7. Champagne Charlie (1989 TV Movie)
190 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
This is the story of the Charles Heidsieck who opened the market for Champagne sales in America just prior to the American Civil War. He is a reluctant French spy and is captured and spends... See full summary »
Director: Allan Eastman | Stars: Hugh Grant, Megan Gallagher, Megan Follows, Stéphane Audran
Votes: 272
8. Belizaire the Cajun (1986)
PG | 103 min | Drama, History, Romance
A Cajun man attempts to save his town.
Director: Glen Pitre | Stars: Armand Assante, Gail Youngs, Michael Schoeffling, Stephen McHattie
Votes: 521 | Gross: $1.44M
9. Hawaii (1966)
Approved | 189 min | Drama
An American missionary and his wife travel to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.
Directors: George Roy Hill, Arthur Hiller | Stars: Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris, Gene Hackman
Votes: 3,552 | Gross: $34.56M
10. The Comancheros (1961)
Approved | 107 min | Drama, Western
Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves dealing with the Comanches known as Comancheros.
Directors: Michael Curtiz, John Wayne | Stars: John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Ina Balin, Nehemiah Persoff
Votes: 10,003
11. The Unforgiven (1960)
Approved | 125 min | Drama, Romance, Western
The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their adopted daughter was stolen from the local Kiowa tribe.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Audie Murphy, John Saxon
Votes: 9,722
12. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Approved | 102 min | Musical, Romance, Western
In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 27,075 | Gross: $9.40M
13. The Man Behind the Gun (1953)
Approved | 82 min | Western
An undercover government agent battles insurrectionists whose want Southern California to secede and become a slave state.
Director: Felix E. Feist | Stars: Randolph Scott, Patrice Wymore, Dick Wesson, Philip Carey
Votes: 797
14. The Flame of New Orleans (1941)
Passed | 79 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music
In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Marlene Dietrich, Bruce Cabot, Roland Young, Mischa Auer
Votes: 1,302
15. Way Down South (1939)
Passed | 61 min | Action, Music
In the pre-Civil War South, a plantation owner dies and leaves all his possessions, including his slaves, to his young son. While the deceased treated his slaves decently, his corrupt ... See full summary »
Directors: Leslie Goodwins, Bernard Vorhaus | Stars: Bobby Breen, Alan Mowbray, Ralph Morgan, Steffi Duna
Votes: 254
16. Zenobia (1939)
Passed | 73 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A visiting circus man calls on a Southern country doctor to cure his sick elephant; afterwards, the grateful beast becomes so attached to the doctor that it starts to follow him everywhere.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Billie Burke, Alice Brady
Votes: 684
17. The Toy Wife (1938)
Passed | 96 min | Drama, History, Romance
The beautiful, frivolous wife of a plantation owner in antebellum Louisiana proves unsatisfactory at running the household, leading her serious-minded husband to enlist the help of her unmarried sister.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Luise Rainer, Melvyn Douglas, Robert Young, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 400
18. Dixiana (1930)
Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
In antebellum New Orleans, two men vie for the affections of a beautiful young girl during Mardi Gras.
Director: Luther Reed | Stars: Bebe Daniels, Everett Marshall, Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey
Votes: 423
19. Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
GP | 108 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Will Geer, Delle Bolton, Josh Albee
Votes: 34,969 | Gross: $47.74M
20. The Journey of August King (1995)
PG-13 | 91 min | Drama
A multi-dimensional drama about a North Carolina farmer in April 1815. August King, a widower, is on his way home after selling his produce and purchasing the stock and goods he will need ... See full summary »
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Jason Patric, Thandiwe Newton, Larry Drake, Sam Waterston
Votes: 1,054
21. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 133 min | Drama, History, Western
A historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.
Director: Yves Simoneau | Stars: Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, August Schellenberg, Anna Paquin
Votes: 7,432
22. Dead Man's Walk (1996)
PG-13 | 272 min | Western
In this prequel to "Lonesome Dove", two young men join the Texas Rangers unit that's on a mission to annex Santa Fe.
Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Keith Carradine, Patricia Childress, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 1,929
23. Tecumseh: The Last Warrior (1995 TV Movie)
92 min | Western
This western began in 1812 when the settlers tried to take away more and more territories from the indians. Tecumseh, who is the leader of the Shawnee indians, tries to do something. He ... See full summary »
Director: Larry Elikann | Stars: Jesse Borrego, David Clennon, Tantoo Cardinal, Gregory Cruz
Votes: 305
24. The Courage to Love (2000 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama, History, Romance
In 19th century New Orleans creole Henriette must choose between love and devotion to the church. Neither choice is going to be easy, as there is great opposition to her ideas of breaking traditions.
Director: Kari Skogland | Stars: Vanessa Williams, Gil Bellows, Karen Williams, Lisa Bronwyn Moore
Votes: 531
25. The Substitute Wife (1994 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama, Romance, Western
In Nebraska, in pioneer days, a woman who knows she is going to die asks a prostitute to replace her with her husband and four children in order to make it possible for them to keep their family farm.
Director: Peter Werner | Stars: Farrah Fawcett, Lea Thompson, Peter Weller, Karis Paige Bryant
Votes: 586
26. The Alamo (2004)
PG-13 | 137 min | Drama, History, War
Based on the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna's forces at the Alamo in San Antonio Texas.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, Emilio Echevarría, Jason Patric
Votes: 22,297 | Gross: $22.41M
27. Canyon Passage (1946)
Passed | 92 min | Western
Businessman Logan Stuart is torn between his love of two very different women in 1850's Oregon and his loyalty to a compulsive gambler friend who goes over the line.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, Patricia Roc
Votes: 2,650
28. Distant Drums (1951)
Approved | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After destroying a Seminole fort, American soldiers and their rescued companions must face the dangerous Everglades and hostile Indians in order to reach safety.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Gary Cooper, Mari Aldon, Richard Webb, Ray Teal
Votes: 2,366
29. The Great Moment (1944)
Passed | 83 min | Biography, Drama
The biography of Dr. W. T. Morgan, a 19th century Boston dentist, during his quest to have anesthesia, in the form of ether, accepted by the public and the medical and dental establishment.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Joel McCrea, Betty Field, Harry Carey, William Demarest
Votes: 1,076
30. The World in His Arms (1952)
Approved | 104 min | Action, Adventure, History
In 1850 San Francisco, a Russian Countess runs away from an arranged marriage to a Russian Prince and falls into the arms of an American sea captain who occasionally poaches seals in Russian Alaska.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth, Anthony Quinn, John McIntire
Votes: 2,333 | Gross: $3.00M
31. Alias Grace (2017)
TV-MA | 45 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Grace, an Irish immigrant in 19th-century Canada, is convicted of the murder of her employer. However, things take a different turn when a psychiatrist arrives to analyze her mental state.
Stars: Sarah Gadon, Edward Holcroft, Rebecca Liddiard, Zachary Levi
Votes: 37,786
32. Frontier Woman (1956)
80 min | Western
Tennessee, 1838. Polly Crockett, the daughter of the legendary hero Davy Crockett of Alamo, and makes a living from hunting in the forests. These forests are still inhabited by the Indians.... See full summary »
Director: Ron Ormond | Stars: Cindy Carson, Lance Fuller, Ann Kelly, James Clayton
Votes: 34
33. Brimstone (2016)
R | 148 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
From the moment the new Reverend climbs the pulpit, Liz knows that she and her family are in great danger.
Director: Martin Koolhoven | Stars: Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Emilia Jones, Carice van Houten
Votes: 45,128
34. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt
Votes: 740,952 | Gross: $56.67M
35. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
PG-13 | 166 min | Western
A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards
Votes: 348,924 | Gross: $5.32M
36. In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
A recounting of a New England whaling ship's sinking by a giant whale in 1820, an experience that later inspired the great novel Moby-Dick.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw
Votes: 148,695 | Gross: $25.02M
37. The Europeans (1979)
90 min | Drama, Romance
It's the fall of 1850, a few miles outside Boston. The household of the dour Mr. Wentworth receives two unannounced visitors from Europe, Eugenia and Felix, the daughter and son of his half... See full summary »
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Lee Remick, Robin Ellis, Wesley Addy, Tim Choate
Votes: 1,145
38. The Revenant (I) (2015)
R | 156 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson
Votes: 873,751 | Gross: $183.64M
39. Frontier (2016–2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Follows Declan Harp, a half-Irish/half Cree Native-Canadian outlaw who is campaigning to breach the Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly on the fur trade in Canada.
Stars: Jason Momoa, Landon Liboiron, Zoe Boyle, Greg Bryk
Votes: 24,157
40. Red River (1948)
Passed | 133 min | Drama, Western
Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson | Stars: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan
Votes: 34,350
41. Grayeagle (1977)
PG | 104 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In this variant of The Searchers (1956), a tough frontier trapper tracks the young Cheyenne warrior who kidnapped his daughter.
Director: Charles B. Pierce | Stars: Ben Johnson, Iron Eyes Cody, Lana Wood, Jack Elam
Votes: 694
42. Quality Street (1937)
Not Rated | 83 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In the 1810s, an old maid poses as her own niece in order to teach her onetime beau a lesson.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Franchot Tone, Eric Blore, Fay Bainter
Votes: 1,314
43. First Cow (2019)
PG-13 | 122 min | Drama, Western
A skilled cook has traveled west and joined a group of fur trappers in Oregon, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. Soon the two collaborate on a successful business.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Alia Shawkat, John Magaro, Dylan Smith, Ryan Findley
Votes: 21,939
44. Harriet (I) (2019)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.
Director: Kasi Lemmons | Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn
Votes: 30,696
45. Paint Your Wagon (1969)
PG-13 | 164 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.
Director: Joshua Logan | Stars: Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Harve Presnell
Votes: 14,859 | Gross: $31.68M
46. Chapelwaite (2021–2023)
TV-MA | 516 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In the 1850s, Captain Charles Boone relocates his family to his ancestral home in the small, sleepy town of Preacher's Corners. Charles will soon have to confront the secrets of his family's history and fight to end the darkness.
Stars: Adrien Brody, Emily Hampshire, Jennifer Ens, Sirena Gulamgaus
Votes: 12,046
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