Cavalcade of America
"Cavalcade of America" documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds.
- 1952-1957
- 5 seasons
- ABC
- Drama
"Cavalcade of America" documented historical events using stories of individual courage, initiative and achievement, often with feel-good dramatizations of the human spirit's triumph against all odds.
Season 1 Episode Guide
20 Episodes 1952 - 1953
Episode 1
Poor Richard
Wed, Oct 1, 1952
A dramatization of how Benjamin Franklin delayed a conference between Lord Howe and John Adams until the spring rainy season commenced, allowing General Washington to extricate his troops from Long Island under the cover of a storm.
Episode 2
All's Well with Lydia
Wed, Oct 15, 1952
The Revolutionary War story of Lydia Darragh, American patriot and Philadelphia widow, who by her cleverness gained information instrumental in an American victory.
Episode 3
The Man Who Took a Chance
Wed, Oct 29, 1952 30 mins
The story of cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney and the beginning of interchangeable parts for rifles.
Episode 4
A Romance to Remember
Wed, Nov 12, 1952 30 mins
Young Nathaniel Hawthorne is prodded to greater literary efforts by an ambitious woman.
Episode 5
What God Hath Wrought
Wed, Nov 26, 1952 30 mins
The story of how Samuel Morse, after many hardships, gained recognition for the first telegraph.
Episode 6
No Greater Love
Wed, Dec 10, 1952 30 mins
Nurse Clara Louis Maas volunteers to be bitten by a dreaded mosquito so that the research on yellow fever can go on.
Episode 7
In This Crisis
Wed, Dec 24, 1952 30 mins
John Honeyman, American patriot, pretends to be a Tory in order to gain information that will mean Washingtons victory over the Hessians.
Episode 8
The Arrow and the Bow
Wed, Jan 7, 1953
The career of Andrew Johnson, who, starting as a tailor, became the 17th President of the United States.
Episode 9
What Might Have Been
Wed, Jan 21, 1953 30 mins
The story of Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederacy, and Sarah Taylor, daughter of the future president of the United States. Their love was fated to end in tragedy.
Episode 10
New Salem Story
Wed, Feb 4, 1953 30 mins
Story of Abe Lincoln and his love for Ann Rutledge.
Episode 11
A Matter of Honor
Wed, Feb 18, 1953 30 mins
A historical drama portraying the misunderstanding between Sam Houston and his wife, Eliza, which resulted in Houston's resignation of the governorship of Tennessee.
Episode 12
Experiment at Monticello
Wed, Mar 4, 1953 30 mins
Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, uses himself as a guinea pig and is inoculated with the germs of small pox in a heroic effort to establish control of the disease.
Episode 13
Mightier Than the Sword
Wed, Mar 18, 1953 30 mins
A pre-Revolutionary War drama. The freedom of the press is upheld through the trial and acquittal of John Peter Zenger, a New York newspaper publisher imprisoned for printing the truth about corruption of the British administration.
Episode 14
The Indomitable Blacksmith
Wed, Apr 1, 1953
A story about Thomas Davenport, a blacksmith, and his long struggle to invent and perfect the electric motor. Setting: Brandon, Vt., in the 1830's.
Episode 15
The Gingerbread Man
Wed, Apr 15, 1953 30 mins
A comedy-drama about an elderly German baker who persuades 123 Hessian soldiers to desert the British Army during the American Revolution.
Episode 16
Night Strike
Wed, Apr 29, 1953
John Paul Jones undertakes the first hostile invasion of England since 1066 as he endeavors to prove to all the world that the American Navy and the American government are to be reckoned with.
Episode 17
Slater's Dream
Wed, May 13, 1953
English law in 1790 forbade taking written information on the cotton spinning machine from the country. Samuel Slater, however, memorized the plans and went to America to try to build a machine from memory.
Episode 18
The Pirate's Choice
Wed, May 27, 1953
Dramatizes the events which led to the decision of the pirate Jean Lafitte to join Andrew Jackson in the defense of New Orleans against the English forces in 1814.
Episode 19
John Yankee
Wed, Jun 10, 1953
Dramatizes John Adams' difficult and unpopular decision to defend eight English soldiers who participated in a Boston riot prior to the Revolution.
Episode 20
The Tenderfoot
Wed, Jun 24, 1953
In 1866, Teddy Roosevelt goes west to begin anew after great personal tragedies and, undaunted by a blizzard, pursues and captures three outlaws in the Dakota Bad Lands.