THE ABOLITIONISTS (AMERICAN EXPERIENCE)

Details

• Release Year: 2013
• Genre: Documentary, Drama
• Plot: Radicals. Agitators. Troublemakers. Liberators. Called by many names, the abolitionists tore the nation apart in order to make a more perfect union. Men and women, black and white, Northerners and Southerners, poor and wealthy, these passionate antislavery activists fought body and soul in the most important civil rights crusade in American history. What began as a pacifist movement fueled by persuasion and prayer became a fiery and furious struggle that forever changed the nation.; ; Bringing to life the intertwined stories of Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown, The Abolitionists takes place during some of the most violent and contentious decades in American history, amid white-hot religious passions that set souls on fire, and bitter debates over the meaning of the Constitution and the nature of race. The documentary reveals how the movement shaped history by exposing the fatal flaw of a republic founded on liberty for some and bondage for others, setting the nation on a collision course. In the face of personal risks -- beatings, imprisonment, even death -- abolitionists held fast to their cause, laying the civil rights groundwork for the future and raising weighty constitutional and moral questions that are with us still.; ; Directed by Rob Rapley, The Abolitionists iterweaves drama with traditional documentary storytelling, and stars Richard Brooks, Neal Huff, Jeanine Serralles, Kate Lyn Sheil, and T. Ryder Smith, vividly bringing to life the epic struggles of the men and women who ended slavery.
• Cast: Oliver Platt, T. Ryder Smith, Carol Berkin, Lois Brown, Manisha Sinha, David W. Blight, James Brewer Stewart, Julie Roy Jeffrey, W. Caleb McDaniel, John Stauffer, Erica Armstrong Dunbar, R. Blakeslee Gilpin, Richard Brooks, Neal Huff, Jeanine Serralles, Kate Lyn Sheil, Kwabena Ampofo, Steve Annan, Ingrid Alli, Lynn Bandoria, Scott Carter, Wendy Carter, Leiv Clegg, Thomas Coleman, Trina Comissiong, Crystal Cupp, Denyse Ellington, Brian Elder, Virginia Fields, Kacy Gabbert, Montrece Hill, Anthony Michael Hobbs, Natalie Racoosin, Jeff Wilhelm, Shaun Woodland, Aaron Angus, Kevin Inouye, Kevin Lawrence O'Donnell, Daniel Sheets, Paul Stober, Keith Tyree, Jake Brennan, Alan Davis, Matthew Gooley, Dolores Hillgrube, Shawn Everett Jones, William Kaffenberger, Dorry Marie, Robert Lucas Nelson, Martha Newman, Matt Nicholas, Roger Novak, Melissa Panos, Melondy Phillips, Jon Douglas Rainey, Rob Rapley, Paul Taylor
• Director: Rob Rapley
• Runtime: 2:40
• Company: WGBH Boston
• Media Format: Series