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Official Trailer

This is the story of a man who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom.

08/14/2021

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story

Official Trailer

Preview | 30s

This is the story of a man who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom.

Underground Railroad: The William Still Story is the story of a humble Philadelphia clerk who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom in the tumultuous years leading up to America's Civil War. William Still was the director of a complex network of abolitionists, sympathizers and safe houses that stretched from Philadelphia to what is now Southern Ontario.

08/14/2021

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Underground Railroad: The William Still Story is made possible by CN Railway, the Rogers Cable Network, Canada Media Fund, The Rogers Documentary Fund, and by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Official Trailer

Preview | 30s | This is the story of a man who risked his life shepherding runaway slaves to freedom. (30s)

William Still's Place in History

Video has Closed Captions

Clip | 2m 18s | William Still earned the name "The Father of the Underground Railroad". (2m 18s)

Slavery and Freedom

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Clip | 3m 16s | In the 1850s many Americans believed that slaves were incapable of surviving on their own. (3m 16s)

Punishment

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Clip | 1m 46s | Slaves who ran away from their masters and were re-captured suffered terrible punishments. (1m 46s)

Origin of the name Underground Railroad

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Clip | 1m 19s | Historians have never been able to pin down how the Underground Railroad got its name. (1m 19s)

Coded Spirituals

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Clip | 2m 27s | Well-known Negro Spirituals of the mid-1800s are much more complex than they first appear. (2m 27s)

Sydney Still's Run for Freedom

Video has Closed Captions

Clip | 3m 15s | Program Segment for PBS Learning Media (3m 15s)

The Fugitive Slave Act Classroom Segment

Video has Closed Captions

Clip | 2m 45s | Program segment for PBS Learning Media (2m 45s)

Freedom's Land

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Clip | 5m 26s | Program segment for PBS Learning Media. (5m 26s)

Epilogue

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Clip | 4m 28s | Program segment for PBS Learning Media (4m 28s)

Chief Conductor

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Clip | 1m 18s | Program segment for PBS Learning Media. (1m 18s)

Fugitive Slave Act

Video has Closed Captions

Clip | 2m 15s | The Fugitive Slave Act was an attempt by the government to appease southern slave states. (2m 15s)

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Underground Railroad: The William Still Story is made possible by CN Railway, the Rogers Cable Network, Canada Media Fund, The Rogers Documentary Fund, and by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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