African Heritage Celebration Film Festival

Slavery and the Making of America narrated by Morgan Freeman

Monday, March 27 - 10:30 am until 4:30 pm - Little Theatre

All classes Welcome

‘SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA chronicles the institution of American slavery from its origins in 1619 - when English settlers in Virginia purchased 20 Africans from Dutch traders - through the arrival of the first 11 slaves in New Amsterdam, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the adoption of the 13th Amendment and Reconstruction. With such unprecedented breadth comes entirely new perspectives on and facts about slavery. These new perspectives challenge many long-held notions (such as the idea that slavery was strictly a Southern institution; it was, in fact, a national institution, including New York City) and highlight the contradictions of a country that was founded on the principle of "liberty and justice for all" but embraced slavery. Acclaimed actor Morgan Freeman narrates the series, which features a score by Michael Whalen and Ellis Hall III’.

10:30
The Downward Spiral 60 min

Covering the period from 1619 through 1739, this first volume spotlights the origins of slavery in American. Focusing on Dutch New Amsterdam (later New York City), this chapter illustrates how slavery in its early years was a loosely defined labor source similar to indentured servitude. African and others of mixed race and / or mixed ethnicity had some legal rights.

11:45
Liberty in the Air 60 min.

Spanning from the 1740s through the 1830s, this second hour explores the continued, the evaluation of a distinct African American culture movement. This volume reveals the many ways the enslaved resisted their oppression including their role on both sides of the Revolutionary War.

1:00
Seeds of Destruction 60 min.

The third hour looks at the period from 1800 through the start of the Civil War when slavery became the overriding political issues. These years saw an increasingly militant abolitionist movement and a widening rift between the North -which had largely outlawed slavery but still reaped the vast economic benefits of the system.

2:15
The Challenge of Freedom 60 min.

The final volume of this series takes viewers through the Civil War, the Reconstruction and beyond as it follows the life of Robert Smalls. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves under the control of the Confederated in government. Once the South was defeated in 1865 the nation adopted the 13th Amendment effectively ending slavery.