Slavery in America

SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA PREMIERES!

"Slavery and the Making of America ... the most powerful and important television work on the subject since 'Roots'..."--4 STARS, DAILY NEWS

The PBS series SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA premiered on the Public Broadcasting Service on Wednesday, February 9, 2004 followed by the second part of the series on Wednesday, February 16. The series drew very strong audiences across America, and reviews were almost universally very positive.

Underwritten by New York Life Insurance Company, the series is part of a broader New York educational initiative that includes this Web site.

This series is narrated by one of America's most honored actors, Morgan Freeman.

The series is produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, which also produced THE RISE AND FALL OF JIM CROW. Making use of recent scholarship, SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA tells the broad story of American slavery in large part through the lives of individual enslaved men, women and children. The four one-hour programs include:

• The Downward Spiral: In 1619, 20 Africans were delivered to the English colony of Virginia. A few years later 11 more Africans were brought by the Dutch who ran the colony of New Amsterdam. Thus began one of the most tragic and misunderstood chapters in American history. Through the lives of Anthony Portuguese, John Punch, Emmanuel Driggus, Frances Driggus, and several others, this hour tells the complicated story of the establishment of slavery in America, the transition from indentured servitude and "half freedom" to African and African-American enslavement for life, the brief but bloody Stono Rebellion of 1739 in South Carolina, and the establishment of the "Black Codes," regulating virtually every aspect of slave life.


• Liberty is in the Air: From 1740 to 1830, slavery became an indispensable feature of the American economic landscape and spread throughout the colonies, eventually taking deepest root in the new territories of the Deep South, created in 1803 by the Louisiana Purchase. At the same time slavery spread, the enslaved found some inspiration in a diverse group of sources, including the wording of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; the Bibles shared with them as they were "Christianized"; and David Walker’s landmark missive Appeal to the Colored People of the World, one of the first expressions of black nationalism and activism. The stories of Jupiter, a slave owned by Thomas Jefferson’s family, the revolutionary Colonel Tye, and abolitionist leader Mariah Stewart are also told, among others.


• Seeds of Destruction: "Slavery was not a side show in American history," says Dr. James Horton of George Washington University; "It was the main event." Slavery’s economic clout transformed the nation in the first half of the 19th century, and with the money came political clout as well. For 50 of the 72 years between the election of George Washington and the election of Abraham Lincoln, a slave-owner occupied the White House. The story of this hour--a story of often unendurable conditions for the enslaved and a widening rift between North and South--is told in part through the lives of Harriet Jacobs, who hid for seven years in a tiny garret before escaping to the North, and Louis Hughes, sold South at the age of eleven.

  Writing A Slave's Diary to Show Understanding of Slave Culture
  In this lesson, students will view the third part of Slavery and the Making of America: Seeds of Destruction, read slave and listen to narratives on the slaveryinamerica.org website and conduct further research on what life was like for slaves. They will take on the persona of a slave, and show their understanding of life through a series of diary entries.
  Target grade levels: High school, grades 7-12
  For use with: Slavery and the Making of America: Seeds of Destruction



• The Challenge of Freedom: African Americans played prominent roles in the Civil War, pressed into service on the Confederate side and fighting enthusiastically for their freedom in the uniforms of the Union. But, when freedom came, what did it mean? How were the promises of the Emancipation Proclamation kept or abandoned? This complex story is told in part through the extraordinary life of Robert Smalls, born into slavery, who hijacked a Confederate ship in Charleston Harbor and presented it to the Union Navy, and who went on to serve in the South Carolina legislature and to purchase the house in which his mother had been enslaved.

By focusing on enslaved individuals, the series presents a new and vivid look at the institution of American slavery. The four hours make it clear that slavery was essential to virtually every aspect of the creation of our nation. These programs will change the way your students look at this vitally important aspect of American history. A companion book by Dr. James Horton will be published this Fall by Oxford University Press.

Like its companion site, Jimcrowhistory.org, this site is being built by teachers for teachers. Over the coming months we will upload new resources. If you would like to participate in creating or reviewing materials for this Web site, click here. All teachers will be paid for their contributions.