Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia outlines the legal cases that preceded the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. Sandford. McCurdy looks at the support, until the 1830s, of the master's side of cases involving slaves suing for freedom following time spent in a free state; the support, beginning in the 1830s, of the slave's side of such cases in free states; the life of Dred Scott prior to the case; and the climbing of the case up the U.S. court system.

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia discusses the ways in which states originally legally established or abolished slavery. He discusses particularly the gradual abolition of slavery (based on age and date of birth of African Americans) in states including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.

Eric Foner of Columbia University looks at antebellum consideration of African colonization as a means to deal with race tensions, focusing on the opposition of most free African Americans to the proposition.

Eric Foner of Columbia University examines the effect of the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court decision on the state of antebellum U.S. politics, focusing particularly on the divisive effects it had within the Democratic party.

To view this clip, select "The Dred Scott Decision and National Politics" under "African-American Experience Video."

Eric Foner of Columbia University outlines the results of the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court case, which institutionalized the exclusion of African Americans from citizenship, and Republican denunciation of the Court's decision (including Abraham Lincoln's opposition to the ruling).

To view this clip, select "The Dred Scott Decision of 1857" under "African-American Experience Video."

Eric Foner of Columbia University discusses the implementation of the Fugitive Slave Law and Northern reactions to it. He also considers the contradiction between Southern support of the Fugitive Slave Law and of state rights, as well as Abraham Lincoln's own political (if not personal) support of the Fugitive Slave Law.

To view this clip, select "Fugitive Slaves and the Compromise of 1850" under "African-American Experience Video."

Eric Foner of Columbia University very briefly discusses the racism that characterized the antebellum American West, and its possible origins.

To view this clip, select "Frontier Settlement and the Vision of an All-White Society" under "African-American Experience Video."

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY-Binghamton examines the participation of African-American women in the radical abolitionist movement headed by William Lloyd Garrison. Sklar focuses particularly on the speaking of these women at abolitionist conventions.

To view this clip, select "Free Black Women in the Anti-Slavery Movement" under "African-American Experience Video."

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY-Binghamton outlines the lives of the Grimke sisters, Angelina and Sarah Grimke, focusing on their entrance into the Quaker religion and the radical abolitionist movement headed by William Lloyd Garrison. Sklar notes how the Grimkes' public speaking in support of abolitionism broke away from common conventions limiting women's public participation and behavior.

James O. Horton of George Washington University discusses the "black codes" put in place to discourage free blacks settling in antebellum Illinois and also examines the thriving urban free black communities which sprang up regardless of these codes.

To view this clip, select "African Americans and Black Codes in the Antebellum North" under "African-American Experience Video."