Abolitionists Movies & TV

Abolitionists Movies & TV

Nat Turner, A Troublesome Property (2003)

Dramatic reenactments bring to life the story of a slave preacher who planned and executed the largest slave rebellion in American history.

The Underground Railroad (1999)

Alfre Woodard hosts this History Channel documentary about one of the most misunderstood elements of the abolitionist movement, the Underground Railroad. This film focuses on the individuals—white and Black—who formed the complex network that helped usher slaves into the free North.

Amistad (1997)

Steven Spielberg directs and Morgan Freeman stars in this epic film based on the true story of the 1839 mutiny aboard an African slave ship headed to the United States from Cuba and the abolitionist lawyer—John Quincy Adams—who advocated for the rebels' freedom.

Frederick Douglass, When the Lion Wrote History (1994)

Actress Alfre Woodard narrates this intimate documentary about a man who escaped slavery to become a respected orator, a prolific writer, a leader in the abolitionist movement, and a passionate advocate for women's suffrage.

Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927)

Early African-American actor James B. Lowe stars as Uncle Tom in this, one of the most famous screen adaptations of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 abolitionist novel. Seven decades after the book's publication, Stowe's tale about the injustices of slavery takes on new meanings.