The video uses still and motion visuals, historic documents, statements of eyewitnesses, comments by historians and other experts, and narration to portray the manifestation and rationale for violence in various periods of American history. One theme developed in the video is that white Europeans who came to America, beginning with Columbus, used violence and weaponry to dominate and control groups different from themselves. This theme is shown in the white European domination of Native Americans, new immigrant groups, and African-Americans as both slaves and citizens. As victims of violence and discrimination, minorities themselves become violent, typically inflicting violence on members of their own group. Another theme of the video is that Americans have a tradition of fascination with violent outlaws and gangsters who challenge authority and break the law with their violent behavior. Some outlaws and gangsters profiled are the James brothers of the Old West and Al Capone of the gangster era, as well as Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger. This tradition of violence and guns is advised to be rooted in the institution of the family, where spouse abuse and child abuse have been prevalent throughout American history. Those abused as children become violent as adults, and the cycle of violence is repeated. The narrator advises that if the tradition of violence is to end in America, it must begin with the way children are treated by their parents.