History Channel - How the States Got Their Shapes: Series 1 (2013)

How the States Got Their Shapes: Series 1 Explores how the borders of the United States evolved and continue to change in response to religion, transportation, communication, politics, culture clashes and even Mother Nature. Local experts and everyday folks lead host Brian Unger to insights about some of America's most baffling questions. How are flying fish threatening to re-draw the shape of Illinois? What does the use of cell phones by Pennsylvania's Amish have to do with the shape of their state? How is the phrase sold down the river linked to the shape of what might be the 51st state? Why did the invention of air conditioning change how America picks its Presidents? Unger uncovers the answers, hidden in the map. This is no textbook-style documentary series, each episode finds quirky and fun facts to inform and educate, and the comedic style will appeal perfectly to both older and younger consumers, from students to history buffs. Host Brian Unger is well known for his irreverent YouTube online news programme The Young Turks which is the biggest show of its type in the World.

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Part 1: A River Runs Through It
How water has literally shaped the States? There's surprising history hidden in the blue, squiggly lines on the map. Did the founding fathers make a mistake along the Georgia Tennessee border? Can that boundary actually change because of water? Why does Maine have so much water? Why Nevada was left high and dry? – All these answers can be found in the unique shapes of these states.


Part 2: The Great Plains Trains and Automobiles
The history of transportation is hidden in the lines of the map. From canals to trains and cars, how did getting around help draw the American map? Could Chicago have been in Wisconsin? Why are states out West or so big and boxy? And why did we almost have a state called Forgottonia?


Part 3: Force of Nature
How have massive geological events helped create the American map? Long before the Founding Fathers drew the map, Mother Nature shaped some states. How did an asteroid create the border for three states and change history? How did glaciers plow the Great Plains and how did natural disasters continue to alter the map?


Part 4: State of Rebellion
How did the most rebellious states took shape? How did they earn their outsized features and outspoken reputations? For instance, why does Montana looks like it took a bite out of Idaho? Why wasn't Texas broken up into five states? And why exactly do we have not one but two Carolinas?


Part 5: Living on the Edge
What secrets are hiding in our map? What's behind the "blank spots" like Area 51? What possessed the citizens of Key West to throw down their margaritas and secede from Florida? And even in the heartland, there are those living on the edge – in Kansas, old missile bunkers are now five bedroom dream homes. And what about the county in Georgia that was left off the state's quarter?


Part 6: Use It or Lose It
If you thought our borders were set in stone, you'd be wrong. Who stole a corner of Washington, DC? Is Ohio actually a state? And why isn't St. Louis our nation's capital? One thing's for sure – our map could look very different. How did we create order out of so much chaos? With the vote.


Part 7: Church and States
Ever since the Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, what we believe and how we believe has shaped the American map. Could Utah have been bigger than Texas? How did religion shatter New England into such odd little shapes? And did the Civil War actually begin… in Kansas?


Part 8: A Boom with a View
Did money make our map? Through boom and through bust, the sweet smell of profit has drawn and redrawn our states. How did Green Bay help carve our border with Canada? What does football have to do with fur? Is North Carolina the real "Golden State"? And why should we all move to North Dakota?


Part 9: Culture Clash
Will rivalries within our states break them into pieces? Cultures compete against each other all over the map. In extreme cases, they can divide states in two. How did World War II preserve the shape of California? Will part of Maine break off and become Northern Massachusetts? And as new cultures move into Florida, will the state's cowboy tradition get pushed off the map?


Part 10: Mouthing Off
We all live in the same country, so why do we sound do different? It's a matter of where you are on the map. Why didn't the southern accent exist until after the Civil War? How did California athletes end up coining so many new words? Why do we have so many different words for the same things – like pop versus soda? Will one particularly strong accent cause New York to break up and create a 51st state?