A documentary series on the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies through the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. Narrated by **Oscar**-winner Morgan Freeman, SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA examines the integral role slavery played in shaping the new country and challenges the long held notion that it was exclusively a Southern enterprise. The remarkable stories of individual slaves offer fresh perspectives...

In the 1620s, there were no limitations imposed on slaves. But by the early 18th century, the expanding slave trade caused many colonies to adopt strict "black codes," transforming the social system into one of legal racial oppression.

The complexities of the Civil War and Reconstruction are chronicled through the experience of slave Robert Smalls. The rise of militant groups and new segregation laws show that slavery's eradication had not ended black oppression.

The number one New York Times bestselling authors of Vanderbilt return with another riveting history of a legendary American family, the Astors, and how they built and lavished their fortune. The story of the Astors is a quintessentially American story-of ambition, invention, destruction, and reinvention. From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, was...