The film Psywar is a good resource to understand the history of propaganda in the US:
PSYWAR
It begins with one of the earliest applications of propaganda through the news media to effect public perception. After the Ludlow massacre (1914) committed by an anti-striker militia on innocent miners and their families, John D. Rockefeller paid a PR agent Ivy Lee to publish lies about Mother Jones and other union leaders. The repugnant
Sedition Act of 1918 was an example of the wealthy and powerful striving to silence anti-war/anti-corporate speech in favor of their interests.
There's an interesting section on the dispute between the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists, explaining that the elites who drafted the DOI and constitution never intended to create a representative democracy. The elites knew that economic power is political power, something that should not be shared with the common masses. That's the overarching theme of this documentary: propaganda is ALWAYS a tool of the rich to secure their position and agenda.
The author covers many subjects like the work of Edward Bernays, the CIA's mind control program MK-ULTRA, propaganda disseminated in the Gulf War and the Iraq War. I'm sure many people are familiar with most of the information but there are some lesser known gems as well, like the Obama team winning an award for the top advertising campaign that year. Overall it's a purposeful, concise, and well laid out film.