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

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.

The Burning of Pennsylvania Hall

1m 29s

Inside Pennsylvania Hall in 1838, an abolitionist meeting was disrupted when members of an anti-abolitionist mob threw rocks through the windows. The following night, the protestors set fire to the building -- completely destroying Philadelphia's monument to free speech.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

2m 56s

After moving to Brunswick, Maine, Harriet Beecher Stowe was deeply disturbed by the Fugitive Slave Act. In March 1852, Stowe's novel about the evils of slavery sold 10,000 copies in its first week. It is the most popular book and the most influential book in American history.

The Pottawatomie Massacre

1m 26s

On the night of May 24th, 1856, Brown and four of his sons dragged five pro-slavery men from their cabins, and hacked them to pieces with broadswords. "Brown is not simply evening the score in Kansas. He's really also trying to strike terror into the hearts of pro-slavery settlers."

Garrison Burns the Constitution

1m 41s

After fighting for the abolition of slavery for 25 years, William Lloyd Garrison believes the Republic had been corrupted from the start. In Massachusetts, he burns a copy of the constitution. "The Constitution of the United States of America is the source and parent of all the other atrocities: 'a covenant with death, and an agreement with Hell.'"

Lincoln Announces Freedom

2m 3s

On September 22nd, 1862, Lincoln promised to sign an Emancipation Proclamation on New Year's Day. "All persons," Lincoln wrote, "held as slaves within any State in rebellion shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." But abolitionists were unsure whether he would keep his promise.

Brown Dominates His Trial

2m 50s

After surviving his failed siege of the armory at Harper's Ferry, John Brown goes on trial where he dominates the proceedings and the press. "You have the Northern establishment, every newspaper, saying this guy's a hero."

A Powerful Partnership

2m 53s

In 1841 Frederick Douglass agreed to join forces with William Lloyd Garrison to advocate full time for the abolitionism of slavery. It is "an opportunity to strike a blow for the slaves who continue to suffer as we speak."

Abolitionist Allies Fall Out

2m 54s

After the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, the abolition of slavery takes on a new urgency for formerly enslaved people. Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison no longer see eye to eye, and they have a falling out. "Douglass has had that experience. Garrison is a white man in a white man's America."

Douglass and Garrison Meet

2m 37s

In September of 1838, Frederick Douglass traveled to Nantucket to hear the publisher of Boston's "The Liberator" abolitionist newspaper, William Lloyd Garrison, speak. After hearing Douglass tell his story, Garrison realized he had found the man he had been looking for. Garrison approached Douglass with a proposition.

Triumph

1m 59s

The day after Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Garrison was met by 10,000 freed slaves outside the Charleston Citadel. They seized him joyfully and carried him on their shoulders around the square before proceeding a few blocks to Zion's Church, where a mass of humanity pressed in to every available spot.

One Slave Makes a Difference

1m 26s

George Latimer arrived in Boston in the fall of 1842, only to be thrown in jail at the request of a Virginia planter. Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison rallied other local abolitionists to call for Latimer's freedom. It worked, and within months Massachusetts passed the Personal Liberty Act, which would soon have nationwide ramifications.

Failed Protests

2m 55s

In the Spring of 1854, fugitive slave Anthony Burns sat in Boston's city jail. Locals protesting for Burns' release turned violent before the U.S. President Franklin Pierce ordered hundreds of military troops to escort Burns to a ship waiting in the harbor. Though abolitionists were losing hope, they had shifted history.

The Abolitionists

30s

The story of how abolitionist allies William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown and Angelina Grimke turned a despised fringe movement against chattel slavery into a force that literally changed the nation.

Coming this Winter

2m 59s

Watch a short video about what is coming to American Experience this January and February, with a message from Executive Producer Mark Samels. The season kicks off with "The Abolitionists" on January 8, 15, & 22, followed by "Henry Ford" and "Silicon Valley."

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