Slavery

Historians and experts discuss the importance of the family unit in the lives of enslaved people.

Lincoln develops and enacts a permanent plan to abolish slavery, in this clip from Season 1, "Saving the Union."

America is at the brink of a Civil War as cotton spreads west and threatens to expand slavery into new territories.

John Brown's failed attempt to loot the armory at Harper's Ferry sparks the beginning of abolition.

Born a slave, Harriett Tubman became a famous "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, leading hundreds of slaves to freedom.

Life aboard the ship was agonizing and dangerous; nearly 2 million enslaved Africans would perish on their journey across the Atlantic.

Under threat of punishment, enslaved families found small ways to rebel against an oppressive system.

Slavery became an industry for the first time in history when millions of African men and women were sold as slaves to Europeans.

Slavery is a central paradox of much of American history. In fact, most of the country's founding fathers owned slaves.

Harriet Tubman is known for her legendary efforts to free slaves via the Underground Railroad. And nothing, even the Civil War, would get in the way.

Matthew Pinsker gives a crash course on the Compromise of 1850, the resolution to a dispute over slavery in territory gained after the Mexican-American War.

Harriet Tubman, former slave, is known for her role in the underground railroad, but did you know she served in the union army as a soldier and a spy?

Celebrating Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, but continuing that ritual wasn't always easy, especially for slaves in the New World.

Many find the Electoral College a frustrating system, and its history may force one to question whether it has a place in today's world.

The slave auction was the epitome of the system's dehumanization.

Historians and experts examine the American system of racialized slavery and the hypocrisy it relied on to function.

Professor Eric Foner discusses key people and events in the history of the Underground Railroad.