American Experience
Monday 9:00 PM on PBS Premiered Oct 04, 1988 In Season
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John Brown Gathers His Arsenal
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1/8/13
John Brown put little stock in the idea of abolition through peaceful means. In 1855, he gathered his arsenal and left his home for the slave state of Kansas where he would begin his bloody struggle.moreless -
Brown Dominates His Trial
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1/8/13
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."moreless -
The Emancipation Proclamation
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Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation into effect January 1, 1863. Every slave in the South was then, thenceforward, and forever, free. -
Garrison Burns the Constitution
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1/8/13
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.'"moreless -
Garrison Closes The Liberator
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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.moreless -
The Dred Scott Decision
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In 1857, the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision had the potential to legalize slavery everywhere in the United States. -
The Civil War Begins
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In April 1861, the American Civil War began, reuniting abolitionists who had grown apart in recent years. -
The Massachusetts 54th
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With the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the war merged with the abolitionist cause. The Proclamation had included an unexpected clause: at last, black men could enlist in the armed services of the United States.moreless -
Attack at Harper's Ferry
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1/8/13
In 1859 John Brown seized a federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, but failed to incite a revolution. Authorities found a link between Brown and Frederick Douglass. -
Lincoln Announces Freedom
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
The Pottawatomie Massacre
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1/8/13
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."moreless -
Triumph
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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.moreless -
Douglass Publishes "The North Star"
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
Tragedy Leads to Inspiration
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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.moreless -
One Slave Makes a Difference
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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.moreless -
Abolitionist Allies Fall Out
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1/8/13
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."moreless -
Douglass and Garrison Meet
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
The Burning of Pennsylvania Hall
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
A Powerful Partnership
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1/8/13
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."moreless -
Garrison Gets Attacked
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
Frederick Douglass Finds Freedom
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
Two Abolitionists Unite
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
Angelina Grimke Goes Public
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
Garrison Publishes "The Liberator"
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1/8/13
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."moreless -
Harriet Beecher Stowe Witnesses a Slave Auction
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1/8/13
Having recently moved to Cincinnati with her family, Harriet Beecher crossed over into the slave state of Kentucky in 1832 and happened upon a slave auction. Witnessing a mother and child separated and sold separately would affect her forever.moreless -
Frederick Douglass Begins to Understand Slavery
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1/8/13
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.moreless -
William Lloyd Garrison arrives in Boston
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At 22, William Lloyd Garrison moved to Boston and settles on the abolition of slavery as the cause that will give meaning to his life. -
Angelina Leaves Home
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1/8/13
In the fall of 1829, Angelina Grimke resolved to leave Charleston and the pollutions of slavery, for an uncertain future in the North - Load More
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