Africans in America (1998)

Genres - Historical Film  |   Sub-Genres - Social History, Race & Ethnicity  |   Run Time - 90 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Sarah Welsh

Volume Two of this landmark television series covers the period of 1750 to 1805, exploring the experience of second-generation slavery in the midst of revolution. Born in the tobacco fields and farms of North America rather than in Africa, the new generation's identity and sense of community was defined by the realities of life in the New World. Slaves bore biblical names, visited Christian churches, and, despite their subhuman status, developed an attachment to the only country they had ever known. This documentary tells their story (including figures such as Crispus Attucks), and it also tells the real stories of the revolutionary heroes you might have thought you knew: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other writers of a Constitution that protected slavery. See how moral ambivalence, paradoxical philosophies, and broken promises of "freedom for all" impacted the lives of African-Americans and influenced the fate of the young United States. Features first-person narratives from Abigail Adams and Phyllis Wheatley, and a modern-day perspective from General Colin Powell.

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Keywords

Black [race], Constitution, freedom, history, revolution, slavery