This two-part program brings an understanding of the regional issues relating to antebellum slavery and the antislavery movement that helped shape the western Underground Railroad. Slaves, with the help of stationmasters and conductors, had to dodge professional slave catchers, federal marshals, and slaveholders on a grueling thousand-mile journey to freedom. Viewer will learn how the Kansas/Missouri political conditions created the opportunity for the perhaps less known escape route along the western frontier. This film uses primary source documents, historians, interviews with slave descendants, moving readings and dramatic depictions to tell exciting stories of Underground Railroad activities.
This two-part program brings an understanding of the regional issues relating to antebellum slavery and the antislavery movement that helped shape the western Underground Railroad. Slaves, with the help of stationmasters and conductors, had to dodge professional slave catchers, federal marshals, and slaveholders on a grueling thousand-mile journey to freedom. Viewer will learn how the Kansas/Missouri political conditions created the opportunity for the perhaps less known escape route along the western frontier. This film uses primary source documents, historians, interviews with slave descendants, moving readings and dramatic depictions to tell exciting stories of Underground Railroad activities.
General Note
Originally released by Film Ideas, 2012.
Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on April 17, 2019.
Content Note
Lawrence Stories: Dr. John Doy (6:27); --Reverend John Stewart (4:01); -- Quindaro Stories (3:56); -- Abelard Guthrie (4:51); -- John Brown: Last Train to Canada (7:05); -- Ball and Chain Story (3:08); -- Steamship Pass Forgeries (2:37); -- Freedom's Pathway (3:45); -- Credits: Freedom Seekers: Stories From The Western Underground Railroad Part II (1:37); .