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Slavery and the Making of America

The Challenge of Freedom (Season 1, Episode 4)
TV-PG
TV Episode | 55 min | History

Episode four looks at Civil War and Reconstruction through the experiences of South Carolina slave Robert Smalls. It chronicles Smalls' daring escape to freedom, his military service, and his tenure as a congressman after the war. As the ...See moreEpisode four looks at Civil War and Reconstruction through the experiences of South Carolina slave Robert Smalls. It chronicles Smalls' daring escape to freedom, his military service, and his tenure as a congressman after the war. As the events of Smalls' life unfold, the complexities of this period in American history are revealed. The episode shows the transformation of the war from a struggle for union to a battle over slavery. It examines the black contribution to the war effort and traces the gains and losses of newly freed African Americans during Reconstruction. The 13th amendment abolished slavery in 1865, the 14th and 15th amendments guaranteed black civil rights, and the Freedmen's Bureau offered aid to former slaves throughout the 1870s. Watch a preview Yet simultaneously, the formation of militant groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan threatened the future of racial equality and segregation laws began to appear across the country. Slavery's eradication had not brought an end to black oppression. Written by PBS See less
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Edit Released
Updated Dec 31, 2005

Release date
2005 (United States)
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Cast

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147 cast members
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Joe T. Akin
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Mike Allen
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Mazie L. Baltimore
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Barbara B. Barksdale
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Christopher Barksdale
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Janelle Barksdale
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Sonya Barksdale
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Ezekiel Bey
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Jeffery Bischoff
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Dominic Bomitatis
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Cherla Brooks
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Leon B. Brooks
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Marques Brooks
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Caleb Brown
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Jordan Brown
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P.J. Brown
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Rodney 'Curtis' Brown
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Thia Coleman Brown
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Clayron C. Carelock
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Phillip A. Chetwynd
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Byron W. Childress
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Debra Curry Christian
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Elliott Christian
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Joshia Evan Christian
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Joy Mariah Christian
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Mark Christopher
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Nicholas Chukinas
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Jeffrey Cohen
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Arthur Collins
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Darlene A. Colón
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Richard Comerford
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Brian S. Daniels
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Thomas Gregory Davis
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Nathan Day
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Lonnie Dodd
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Albert El
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Timothy Essig
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Carolyn Evans
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John Evans
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Patrick E. Fairbairn
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LaFrance M. Ferguson
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Darrah Fleck
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April Frantz
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Morgan Freeman
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Phil Gilson
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Allen D. Goldschein
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Eric Goldschein
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Nikki Goldschein
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Richard Goodenough
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Christopher J. Guido
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LuAnn Guiles-Swonger
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David Harris
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Larry Harris
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Sharon Harris
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Jerry Ann Hayes
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Jessica Hayes
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Michelle L. Heath
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Chauncey Herring III
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Chauncey Herring
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Kenithea S. Hodges
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Joe Holt
Robert Smalls Robert Smalls   See fewer
Darren Houck
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Robert F. Houston
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Calobe Jackson
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Ida Frances Jones
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Amanda Kleintop
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Bill Kleintop
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Gary Knight
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Maasai Kush
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Kenneth A. Landin
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Mark Landis
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Alexis Lear
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Joseph H. Lee
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Jerald Lewis
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Judy Moody Lewis
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Marie D. Lewis
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Daniel T. Lingle
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Kay Lingle
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George T. Lomas
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Adam MacBeth
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Brenda MacBeth
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Katelyn MacBeth
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Scott MacBeth
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Kinsler B. Mack
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Gyasi Mann
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Clifford Marbut
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Norman S. Marcelle
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Daniel A. Martzall
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Frederic L. Minus
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Deirde Montgomery
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Maurice Montgomery
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Edith Moss
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Janet D. Nash
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Patricia E. Nauman
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Richard Nauman
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Cobb Northway
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William O'Brien
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Charles Palmer
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Bryce Parker
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Don Pentz
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Kendra Phelps
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Adrienne D. Powell
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Joe Pulaski
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George Rabbal
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Douglas W. Ranson
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Wendell V. Roberson
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Leslie J. Roldan
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Angela Russo
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Ducarmel Sagesse
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Leslie W. Salsbury
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Stanley D. Saperstein
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Joe Schott
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Joseph Francis Seliga
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DaQuan Smiley
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Glenda N. Smiley
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Lawrence J. Smiley
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Denise L. Smith
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Elisabeth Somer
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Lamont Swittenberg
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Elmor R. Taylor
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John Toronto
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Daryl M. Vincent
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James L. Walker
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P. David Walker
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Algernon Ward Jr.
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Aja Shukura Ward
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Richard Weinberg
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Sierra L. White
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Thomas Woolen
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Michael Yeomans
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Kyle Zober
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