American Experience

History Series / 15 Seasons

American Experience, TV's most-watched history series, brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

52m 54s

Fugitive Slave Act

2m 19s

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made the hunting down of escaped slaves, even in free states, fully legal. To abolitionists, this represented a huge blow to their efforts. Not only had the federal government endorsed slavery, but it had also committed to preserving the institution indefinitely.

Garrison Introduces Douglass

2m 16s

William Lloyd Garrison speaks to a crowd of abolitionists in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He introduces the self-emancipated Frederick Douglass, soon leading to a powerful partnership with a common cause -- immediate abolition of slavery.

Frederick Douglass Begins to Understand Slavery

2m 10s

At six years old, Frederick Douglass had just begun his life as a slave when he witnessed his aunt get beaten brutally by her master. "It was the bloodstained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery," he would later write.

Angelina Grimke Goes Public

2m 59s

After reading reports of pro-slavery violence, Angelina Grimke decided she could remain silent no longer. She published a letter in "The Liberator" and wrote "An Appeal to the Women of the South," urging them to work for the downfall of slavery.

Burning Abolitionist Literature

1m 58s

The Anti-Slavery Society's great postal campaign of 1835 flooded the South with abolitionist literature. Instead of bringing about the end of slavery, it triggered a wave of repression. In Charleston, SC, 3,000 people gathered in Post Office square to destroy anti-slavery materials and burn Garrison in effigy.

Garrison Publishes "The Liberator"

2m 21s

William Lloyd Garrison published the first issue of "The Liberator" on January 1, 1831 with financial support from both black and white abolitionists. "There shall be no neutrals," he declared. "Men shall either like or dislike me."

Harriet Beecher Stowe Visits a Slave State

2m 21s

Having recently moved to Cincinnati with her family, Harriet Beecher visited the slave state of Kentucky in 1833, staying here at the Marshall Key House. While in Kentucky, she witnessed slavery up close for the first time. The house now operates as the Harriet Beecher Stowe, Slavery to Freedom Museum.

Two Abolitionists Unite

2m 49s

Abolitionist activists Angelina Grimke and Theodore Weld declared their love for one another and got married in 1838. Both a black and a white minister officiated and mixed-race guests intermingled freely. News of the event caused a stir in Philadelphia.

Frederick Douglass Finds Freedom

49s

After having escaped to New York, Frederick Douglass and his wife Anna moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Douglass did hard manual labor to provide for his family for three years before making a fateful trip to Nantucket.

Douglass Publishes "The North Star"

2m 24s

In Rochester, New York, the last stop on the Underground Railroad, Frederick Douglass published abolitionist newspaper "The North Star," naming it after the icon followed by so many escaping slaves on their quest to freedom.

Garrison Gets Attacked

1m 59s

On October 21, 1835, William Lloyd Garrison was headed to give an anti-slavery lecture at the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. An anti-abolitionist mob dragged him out of hiding and threatened his life, but two burly men took pity on Garrison and he ended up spending the night in jail for his own protection.

Garrison Closes The Liberator

1m 17s

After four decades and 1,803 issues, William Lloyd Garrison closed The Liberator after the 13th Amendment was added to the constitution. He could continue to fight for equal rights, dying in 1879 at age 73.

Tragedy Leads to Inspiration

2m 52s

An 1849 Cholera outbreak in Cincinnati claims Harriet Beecher Stowe's beloved son Charlie. "I learned what a poor slave mother may feel when her child is torn away from her." Stowe would go on to write Uncle Tom's Cabin a few years later from her new home in Brunswick, Maine.

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