This groundbreaking series chronicles the institution of American slavery from its origins in 1619-when English settlers in Virginia purchased 20 Africans from Dutch traders-through the arrival of the first 11 slaves in the northern colonies (in Dutch New Amsterdam), the American Revolution, the Civil War, the adoption of the 13th Amendment, and Reconstruction. With such unprecedented breadth come entirely new perspectives on and facts about slavery. These new perspectives challenge many long-held notions (such as the idea that slavery was strictly a southern institution) and highlight the contradictions of a country that was founded on the principle of liberty and justice for all but embraced slavery. Morgan Freeman narrates.