Department of History

Everything You Thought You Knew About Slavery Is About To Be Challenged. Did you know only half of the over 20 million Africans kidnapped into slavery survived the torturous trip to the New World? That slaves were promised freedom to fight for Britain in the Revolutionary War? That many Europeans came to America as bonded labor? That a country founded on freedom justified the enslavement of human beings? Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery is the groundbreaking four-part series that makes history by sharing it from a new perspective. Nearly ten years in the making, this landmark six-hour film series exposes the truth through surprising revelations, dramatic recreations, rare archival photography and riveting first-person accounts. Africans in America helps define the reality of slavery's past through the insighful commentatry of a wide range of voices including General Colin Powell, authors John Edgar Wideman and Barry Unsworth, and leading scholars. Narrated by Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett (Waiting to Exhale)it offers unparalleled understanding - from slavery's birth in the early 1600s through the violent onset of civil war in 1860.