The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross

The Age of Slavery

The Age of Slavery illustrates how black lives changed dramatically in the aftermath of the American Revolution. For free black people, these years were a time of opportunity, but for most African Americans, the era represented a new nadir. Yet as slavery intensified, so did resistance.

The Age of Slavery (1800-1860) - Preview

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The Age of Slavery illustrates how black lives changed in the aftermath of the American Revolution. For free black people in places like Philadelphia, these years were a time of tremendous opportunity. But for most African Americans, this era represented a new nadir. King Cotton fueled the rapid expansion of slavery into new territories, forcibly relocating African Americans into the Deep South.

Previews + Extras

  • The Cotton Economy and Slavery: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Cotton Economy and Slavery

    S1 E2 - 3m

    Many stakeholders benefited from the cotton economy that fueled slavery's expansion. It increased the number of slaves in America and led to cotton plantations spreading across the Deep South to Texas. As African Americans were uprooted from the Upper South to the Deep South, this created the second largest forced migration in America's history. Learn more in "The Age of Slavery," episode two.

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