A deeper historical narrative, including social and political context, critical counterpoints and explicitly optional films.
The Atlantic slave trade, plantation slavery and emancipation evolved differently across empires and societies. The materials in this library emphasize Britain and the United States; the path explicitly notes the underrepresented histories of the Caribbean, Brazil and West and Central Africa.
The transatlantic trade created enduring systems of coercion, family separation and plantation labor. Enslaved people resisted in daily life, escape, revolts and political action.
1750 → 1865
REPRESENTED HISTORY 1750 → 1865
Follows a fictionalized family genealogy from West Africa into enslavement in North America, foregrounding intergenerational trauma and resilience.
Dramatization inspired by Alex Haley’s work; individual genealogical claims and details are disputed.
Season 0 and specials cannot be tracked here.
REPRESENTED HISTORY 1750 → 1877
An influential earlier adaptation allowing a comparison of the portrayal of enslavement across television eras.
A lengthy optional alternative perspective, not an independent historical source.
Season 0 and specials cannot be tracked here.
Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807, but slavery in most British colonies was not abolished until 1833–1834. Rebellion and antislavery organizing also shaped reform.
1782 → 25.03.1807
REPRESENTED HISTORY 1782 → 25.03.1807
Shows campaigning for the 1807 British law ending the transatlantic slave trade.
Emphasizes William Wilberforce and parliamentary elites; the 1807 act was not the abolition of slavery.
Season 0 and specials cannot be tracked here.
REPRESENTED HISTORY 1839 → 1841
Explores resistance aboard a slave ship and subsequent legal battles in the United States.
Dramatized court scenes and secondary characters; center the African captives’ agency beyond the legal drama.
Season 0 and specials cannot be tracked here.
The lived experience of enslavement and the efforts of free and enslaved abolitionists were central to political transformation.
1841 → 01.1853
REPRESENTED HISTORY 1841 → 01.1853
Uses Solomon Northup’s life to examine kidnapping, plantation violence and the struggle to recover freedom.
Based on a firsthand memoir with reconstructed dialogues and scenes.
Season 0 and specials cannot be tracked here.
REPRESENTED HISTORY 1849 → 1863
Shows Harriet Tubman’s liberation and rescue work through the Underground Railroad.
Dramatized biography; not every episode should be read as documentary fact.
Season 0 and specials cannot be tracked here.
US legal abolition culminated in the Thirteenth Amendment of 1865, but racial inequality and coercion continued. Abolition in Brazil and elsewhere occurred on different timetables.
01.01.1865 → 15.04.1865
REPRESENTED HISTORY 01.01.1865 → 15.04.1865
Shows the political struggle over the 1865 constitutional abolition of slavery in the United States.
Legislative focus; does not replace the history of Black antislavery movements or emancipation from below.
Season 0 and specials cannot be tracked here.