Special Features
- Bonus Video: The Abolitionists, Part 1, Chapter 1
- Further Reading: Related Books and Websites
- General Article: The Film's Principal Characters
- Photo Gallery: Significant Abolitionists
- Preview: The Abolitionists Extended Preview
- Teacher's Resources: Teacher's Guides
Premiering January 8, 15 & 22, 2013. Abolitionist allies Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown and Angelina Grimké turned a despised fringe movement against chattel slavery into a force that literally changed the nation.
My American Experience
Share Your Story
What aspect of the abolitionist movement moves you the most? Is there an event you wish you could have witnessed in person? A story you love? A person you admire or can relate to? Share your story with American Experence.
Series Blog
The Characters in The Abolitionists
When we first began the task of tackling the history of abolitionism four years ago, we were faced with a daunting task: the movement spanned decades, the leaders were numerous, the history complicated and the scholarly literature voluminous. And yet there was no book that told the overarching story of the abolitionists, and no guide for capturing the courage and struggles of these remarkable civil rights heroes. We decided that the way to grab the attention of a broad television audience was to focus on a handful of key characters -- that is, to create a character-driven mini-series set against the backdrop of a tumultuous time in American history.