Episode

American Experience: Roots of Resistance: The Story of the Underground Railroad

Name: American Experience: Roots of Resistance: The Story of the Underground Railroad
Released: 1990-01-16
Duration: 55 min
Cast: David Ogden Stiers, David McCullough, Michael Murphy, Linda Hunt, Oliver Platt

American ExperienceSeason 21990-01-16

Overview

Men and women, black and white, risked their lives to carve an elaborate network of escape routes out of slavery in the mid 1800s -- trails and backroads, safehouses, river crossings and night trains leading as far north as Canada. Disguises, secret rendezvous and special codes were used to guard the identity of "conductors" and their fugitive "passengers." But flight to free territory didn't guarantee freedom; fugitives could be hunted down and returned.

Details

Series: American Experience
Season: Season 2
Episode: Episode 16
Air date: 1990-01-16
Runtime: 55 min

Episode context

Roots of Resistance: The Story of the Underground Railroad is Episode 16 in Season 2 of American Experience. It aired on 1990-01-16. The runtime is 55 min.

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Episode 15: Battle for Wilderness 1990-01-09 | 55 min The first major battle for wilderness preservation erupted over the building of Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite National Park in 1906. On the one side were the purists who argued that wildlands were to be left as God made them; on the other, those who believed in the wise management of natural resources. President Roosevelt, an ardent conservationist, was caught between the two.

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