1 00:00:20,498 --> 00:00:23,408 The ocean floor still holds traces 2 00:00:23,545 --> 00:00:25,235 of the transatlantic slave trade, 3 00:00:25,373 --> 00:00:27,333 but it also tells another story. 4 00:00:30,465 --> 00:00:31,985 There were hundreds of slave rebellions. 5 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:33,899 Stories of uprising and uplifting. 6 00:00:34,034 --> 00:00:36,694 Everybody didn't just hang their head and come over. 7 00:00:38,690 --> 00:00:41,520 You're talking about stories of resilience, 8 00:00:41,650 --> 00:00:43,910 and it wasn't possible for people to make these journeys 9 00:00:44,044 --> 00:00:46,614 unless you had a network of people who were striving 10 00:00:46,742 --> 00:00:48,222 to ensure the freedom of others. 11 00:00:50,615 --> 00:00:52,395 The Africans managed to kill most of them 12 00:00:52,530 --> 00:00:54,920 and they commanded to sail the ship back to Africa 13 00:00:55,055 --> 00:00:57,315 and return them to their homes. 14 00:00:57,448 --> 00:00:58,708 The African American 15 00:00:58,841 --> 00:01:00,931 who were on the edges of the river banks 16 00:01:01,061 --> 00:01:02,931 realized what was happening, 17 00:01:03,063 --> 00:01:04,243 that this was their moment, that they should run, 18 00:01:04,368 --> 00:01:06,718 that they should take that one chance at freedom. 19 00:01:16,076 --> 00:01:18,336 The slaves had songs with hidden meanings, 20 00:01:18,469 --> 00:01:20,379 with double meanings, coded songs. 21 00:01:29,132 --> 00:01:31,612 I know that people on that wreck 22 00:01:31,743 --> 00:01:32,793 made it to freedom. 23 00:01:36,487 --> 00:01:39,317 It's not just a story of victims. 24 00:01:39,447 --> 00:01:41,317 It's a story of heroes. 25 00:02:08,650 --> 00:02:10,740 We're in the shadow of Fort Amsterdam, 26 00:02:10,869 --> 00:02:13,049 which is the first fort where prisoners 27 00:02:13,176 --> 00:02:15,866 were held enslaved in this country. 28 00:02:18,573 --> 00:02:20,403 When we talk about what became the slave trade, 29 00:02:20,531 --> 00:02:23,401 it couldn't have all transpired in peace. 30 00:02:23,534 --> 00:02:25,804 There had to be moments of uprising 31 00:02:25,928 --> 00:02:28,628 and people resisting. 32 00:02:28,757 --> 00:02:31,367 Think about the people who trafficked Africans, 33 00:02:31,499 --> 00:02:33,109 they were so few of them 34 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,590 compared to the number of people they were carrying. 35 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,330 The audacity to think that a few men 36 00:02:38,462 --> 00:02:40,772 could subdue hundreds, 37 00:02:40,899 --> 00:02:41,899 and when they got to plantations, 38 00:02:42,031 --> 00:02:43,731 thousands of enslaved people-- 39 00:02:43,859 --> 00:02:46,299 that required so much violence and fear. 40 00:02:50,648 --> 00:02:53,958 It's amazing that they rise at all. 41 00:02:54,086 --> 00:02:58,126 You've got your wife, your children, your husband. 42 00:02:58,265 --> 00:03:00,395 The other guys have the guns and the police 43 00:03:00,528 --> 00:03:01,748 and the system. 44 00:03:01,877 --> 00:03:03,357 It's very hard to resist. 45 00:03:03,487 --> 00:03:05,007 You can either be whipped 46 00:03:05,141 --> 00:03:08,841 into complacency or fear 47 00:03:08,971 --> 00:03:11,411 or you can be mad as hell when they open that hole 48 00:03:11,539 --> 00:03:13,059 and you come out of there it's like, "Argh." 49 00:03:24,987 --> 00:03:26,597 People were rising up. People were fighting back. 50 00:03:26,728 --> 00:03:27,818 People were making plans. 51 00:03:30,210 --> 00:03:33,520 Africans were not accepting this state of affairs. 52 00:03:33,648 --> 00:03:36,868 And I want to know how much resistance was going on, 53 00:03:36,999 --> 00:03:38,779 what forms did it take and where? 54 00:03:47,270 --> 00:03:49,530 In the United States, for many, 55 00:03:49,664 --> 00:03:52,364 resistance took the form of the Underground Railroad. 56 00:03:57,802 --> 00:04:00,682 On this mission, we're not looking for a slave ship. 57 00:04:00,805 --> 00:04:03,195 We're diving to find something that's pretty much 58 00:04:03,330 --> 00:04:07,120 the exact opposite, ships of freedom. 59 00:04:07,247 --> 00:04:10,077 These were ships that took runaway slaves 60 00:04:10,206 --> 00:04:12,726 from America into Canada, 61 00:04:12,861 --> 00:04:15,341 from slavery to freedom. 62 00:04:18,997 --> 00:04:21,127 So, all of you are going to be diving in an area 63 00:04:21,261 --> 00:04:24,481 that is significant in terms of the Underground Railroad. 64 00:04:24,612 --> 00:04:28,272 There was a network, a network of people 65 00:04:28,398 --> 00:04:32,008 and places that were significant in helping freedom seekers 66 00:04:32,141 --> 00:04:36,621 that were traveling along routes in order to escape plantations. 67 00:04:41,716 --> 00:04:44,586 You're talking about stories of resilience. 68 00:04:44,719 --> 00:04:46,499 People being able to make this journey 69 00:04:46,634 --> 00:04:48,294 from the south to the north, 70 00:04:48,418 --> 00:04:50,768 and it wasn't possible unless you had that network 71 00:04:50,899 --> 00:04:52,769 that was in place. 72 00:04:52,901 --> 00:04:57,041 The way that people communicated was mouth to ear. 73 00:05:00,169 --> 00:05:03,039 People would be able to describe a person 74 00:05:03,172 --> 00:05:06,922 in terms of where they lived at, what area they were going to, 75 00:05:07,045 --> 00:05:09,565 what name that they responded to. 76 00:05:09,700 --> 00:05:12,090 A network of people who were striving 77 00:05:12,224 --> 00:05:14,624 to ensure the freedom of others. 78 00:05:14,749 --> 00:05:18,539 So, they may know that there is a house or shelter 79 00:05:18,666 --> 00:05:20,886 three or four miles up the road, right, 80 00:05:21,016 --> 00:05:23,796 and then once they get there, they figure the rest of it out. 81 00:05:23,932 --> 00:05:26,202 "I have no idea where I'm going 82 00:05:26,326 --> 00:05:28,106 or how I'm going to get there, but I'm going." 83 00:05:31,592 --> 00:05:33,072 At the same time, 84 00:05:33,202 --> 00:05:34,902 there were bounty hunters tracking people 85 00:05:35,030 --> 00:05:37,550 based upon descriptions. 86 00:05:37,685 --> 00:05:41,115 And if you were caught aiding and abetting 87 00:05:41,253 --> 00:05:43,343 a freedom seeker then you can risk 88 00:05:43,473 --> 00:05:47,043 up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine at that time. 89 00:05:47,172 --> 00:05:49,612 How do you even go about figuring out who to ask, 90 00:05:49,740 --> 00:05:51,610 or where to go to? 91 00:05:51,742 --> 00:05:54,442 When you're growing up on a plantation 92 00:05:54,571 --> 00:05:58,661 and you're not allowed to read, you learn how to read people. 93 00:05:58,793 --> 00:06:01,843 It would be an unspoken form of communication, 94 00:06:01,970 --> 00:06:05,320 where they understood that sense of trust in one another. 95 00:06:05,452 --> 00:06:09,632 So, my third great grandfather, Josiah Henson, 96 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,680 he was a slave for 41 years of his life 97 00:06:13,808 --> 00:06:18,638 and he took his four children and made this journey 98 00:06:18,769 --> 00:06:22,339 from Kentucky over 600 miles to Western New York. 99 00:06:22,469 --> 00:06:23,989 Two of his children were so small, 100 00:06:24,122 --> 00:06:26,042 he had to carry them in a knapsack on his back, 101 00:06:26,168 --> 00:06:29,558 the entire journey. 102 00:06:35,830 --> 00:06:38,880 And he was able to cross over into Canada 103 00:06:39,007 --> 00:06:41,577 in October of 1830. 104 00:06:41,705 --> 00:06:43,655 Here's the waters. 105 00:06:43,794 --> 00:06:46,064 Here's the terrain that your ancestors cross, 106 00:06:46,188 --> 00:06:48,708 so you can be here, so a lot of us can be here. 107 00:06:48,843 --> 00:06:51,933 We'll try and do you and your ancestor justice. 108 00:07:02,987 --> 00:07:05,077 There's so much about the slave trade 109 00:07:05,207 --> 00:07:07,597 that makes Africans sound like passive captives, 110 00:07:07,731 --> 00:07:09,391 but was there resistance? 111 00:07:09,516 --> 00:07:11,646 Did they ever take matters into their own hands? 112 00:07:11,779 --> 00:07:12,909 Yes, on a lot of occasions, 113 00:07:13,041 --> 00:07:15,091 and actually historians estimate 114 00:07:15,217 --> 00:07:18,127 that as many as one in 10 of the slaving voyages 115 00:07:18,263 --> 00:07:21,793 had at least one episode of rebellion from the captives. 116 00:07:24,444 --> 00:07:27,144 Was it hard to stage a mutiny on a ship like this? 117 00:07:27,272 --> 00:07:30,192 Slave ships were constructed in a very particular way 118 00:07:30,319 --> 00:07:32,709 to minimize the likelihood of rebellion. 119 00:07:35,019 --> 00:07:37,849 Captives would be below several decks, 120 00:07:37,979 --> 00:07:39,279 they would be quite far away 121 00:07:39,415 --> 00:07:41,675 from where the crew might be sleeping. 122 00:07:41,809 --> 00:07:44,379 They would be in such cramped quarters, 123 00:07:44,507 --> 00:07:48,117 it would be hard for them to physically organize themselves. 124 00:07:48,250 --> 00:07:49,600 And there would be armed crew members 125 00:07:49,730 --> 00:07:51,730 on duty around the clock. 126 00:07:51,862 --> 00:07:53,262 The cannons could be turned inwards 127 00:07:53,385 --> 00:07:55,255 and used to shoot at the captives 128 00:07:55,387 --> 00:07:57,217 if there was a rebellion. 129 00:07:57,346 --> 00:08:00,776 The people who were designing ships to use in the slave trade, 130 00:08:00,915 --> 00:08:04,005 tried to make the ships resistance-proof. 131 00:08:04,135 --> 00:08:07,135 It's incredible that people held under such oppressive conditions 132 00:08:07,269 --> 00:08:09,099 could launch rebellions. 133 00:08:09,227 --> 00:08:10,187 Were any of them actually successful? 134 00:08:10,315 --> 00:08:12,005 Yes. 135 00:08:12,143 --> 00:08:14,153 One we know most about was that of the "Amistad." 136 00:08:14,276 --> 00:08:17,926 This was an attempt to transport some captives 137 00:08:18,062 --> 00:08:20,152 from Havana to another part of Cuba. 138 00:08:25,156 --> 00:08:28,286 The crew was very small, so this large number of Africans 139 00:08:28,420 --> 00:08:29,860 managed to kill most of them. 140 00:08:36,733 --> 00:08:39,523 But they kept a couple of them, including the helmsmen alive 141 00:08:39,649 --> 00:08:42,429 and they commanded him to sail the ship back to Africa 142 00:08:42,565 --> 00:08:44,475 and return them to their homes. 143 00:08:44,611 --> 00:08:47,531 And in the end, they were set free, 144 00:08:47,657 --> 00:08:50,917 and a number of them did return to their homes in Africa. 145 00:08:51,052 --> 00:08:54,712 How successful were these rebellions when they happened? 146 00:08:54,838 --> 00:08:56,228 Well, in most cases, 147 00:08:56,361 --> 00:08:57,971 they weren't really very successful at all. 148 00:08:58,102 --> 00:09:00,152 And I suspect many of the captives were aware 149 00:09:00,278 --> 00:09:02,108 that they were not likely to succeed... 150 00:09:04,979 --> 00:09:07,159 But some of them preferred to die fighting, 151 00:09:07,285 --> 00:09:09,105 particularly if they had been warriors 152 00:09:09,244 --> 00:09:10,424 in their earlier lives. 153 00:09:10,550 --> 00:09:13,770 And even those who were aware 154 00:09:13,901 --> 00:09:15,691 that they were not likely to succeed, 155 00:09:15,816 --> 00:09:17,116 preferred suicide. 156 00:09:21,430 --> 00:09:24,090 So, that yearning for freedom could manifest in a rebellion, 157 00:09:24,215 --> 00:09:26,085 or it could manifest in suicide 158 00:09:26,217 --> 00:09:28,087 with the hope that in death you would be free? 159 00:09:28,219 --> 00:09:31,089 We know of one case which happened 160 00:09:31,222 --> 00:09:34,182 at a place called Igbo Landing in Georgia in 1803. 161 00:09:34,312 --> 00:09:36,622 And this was a mass suicide. 162 00:09:36,750 --> 00:09:39,190 The Igbo people are known to be fiercely independent. 163 00:09:39,317 --> 00:09:40,317 Yes. 164 00:09:44,584 --> 00:09:47,334 The entire group of captives from the ship were unloaded. 165 00:09:47,456 --> 00:09:49,326 They looked over the ocean, 166 00:09:49,458 --> 00:09:51,238 they realized how far they were from Africa, 167 00:09:51,373 --> 00:09:53,983 that they would probably never see their loved ones 168 00:09:54,115 --> 00:09:55,545 or homes again, 169 00:09:55,682 --> 00:09:57,952 that whatever was going to happen to them in America 170 00:09:58,075 --> 00:10:00,465 was not likely to be anything they would want to endure. 171 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,430 So, they turned around and walked one after the other, 172 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,209 into the water, and then they drowned. 173 00:10:21,185 --> 00:10:23,925 So, my third great-grandfather, he was Josiah Henson. 174 00:10:24,058 --> 00:10:26,408 Saladin told us that ferry boats on the Great Lakes 175 00:10:26,538 --> 00:10:29,928 often operated secretly as freedom boats. 176 00:10:30,064 --> 00:10:33,204 So, he introduced us to historian John Polacsek, 177 00:10:33,328 --> 00:10:37,328 an expert on sunken ships in the Great Lakes. 178 00:10:37,462 --> 00:10:41,252 John took us out to a very specific spot on Lake Michigan, 179 00:10:41,379 --> 00:10:43,209 where a steamer called "The Niagara" sank. 180 00:10:46,036 --> 00:10:47,466 We're out here on the site. 181 00:10:47,603 --> 00:10:49,913 This is where "The Niagara" is, about 50 feet down below. 182 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,870 "The Niagara" was part of the Reed fleet 183 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,130 which is out of Erie, Pennsylvania. 184 00:10:55,263 --> 00:11:00,143 The Reed family were major abolitionists, 185 00:11:00,268 --> 00:11:04,928 and anytime you wanted to forward a fugitive slave, 186 00:11:05,055 --> 00:11:07,355 you could contact one of the Reed boats. 187 00:11:07,492 --> 00:11:10,452 Once they got on the boat, 188 00:11:10,582 --> 00:11:12,632 the fugitives would blend in as crew members 189 00:11:12,759 --> 00:11:16,149 until they had the opportunity to get to Detroit, 190 00:11:16,284 --> 00:11:18,504 get on the ferry, 191 00:11:18,634 --> 00:11:20,904 go across the mile to Windsor, Canada, 192 00:11:21,028 --> 00:11:23,158 and then they would be free. 193 00:11:30,733 --> 00:11:33,433 Was the "Niagara" a fancy high-end boat? 194 00:11:33,562 --> 00:11:34,522 Yes, it was. 195 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:39,920 There were as many as 300 people 196 00:11:40,047 --> 00:11:41,917 who were bringing their livelihood, 197 00:11:42,049 --> 00:11:44,009 their whole families with them 198 00:11:44,138 --> 00:11:45,838 And we know that the fugitive slaves 199 00:11:45,966 --> 00:11:47,576 worked in the galley? 200 00:11:47,707 --> 00:11:52,097 That's right, as waiters and other crew members. 201 00:11:52,233 --> 00:11:55,413 In 1856, when the "Niagara" was coming back to Chicago, 202 00:11:55,540 --> 00:11:59,150 a fire broke out and it sank. 203 00:11:59,283 --> 00:12:02,293 Was there a loss of life on the "Niagara?" 204 00:12:02,417 --> 00:12:04,547 Yes. More than a hundred people. 205 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:07,420 Over the years, a number of divers 206 00:12:07,552 --> 00:12:09,342 have been down on the boat 207 00:12:09,467 --> 00:12:11,557 and they were able to salvage several artifacts 208 00:12:11,687 --> 00:12:14,727 which I've collected. 209 00:12:14,864 --> 00:12:17,524 So, what we have is a spoon which was recovered 210 00:12:17,649 --> 00:12:20,089 back in the 1960s. 211 00:12:20,217 --> 00:12:22,347 At that time, it was legal 212 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,180 to pick up artifacts off of shipwrecks. 213 00:12:25,309 --> 00:12:28,309 One of the other items found was a fork. 214 00:12:28,443 --> 00:12:29,533 It has a wooden handle. 215 00:12:29,661 --> 00:12:31,101 It's in good shape. 216 00:12:31,228 --> 00:12:34,098 It was used to serve the diners. 217 00:12:34,231 --> 00:12:36,411 The fugitive slaves, very likely, 218 00:12:36,538 --> 00:12:37,968 they were out there setting out the silverware. 219 00:12:38,105 --> 00:12:39,975 Yes. 220 00:12:40,107 --> 00:12:42,457 It's going to be interesting diving this ship, 221 00:12:42,587 --> 00:12:45,327 looking at it as a freedom boat and not a luxury ship. 222 00:12:52,641 --> 00:12:54,301 To dive these freezing waters, 223 00:12:54,425 --> 00:12:55,985 we're using these special dry suits 224 00:12:56,123 --> 00:12:59,173 to keep ourselves warm. 225 00:12:59,300 --> 00:13:03,650 Usually people are looking for fancy items left by passengers, 226 00:13:03,783 --> 00:13:07,053 but we're going down to try to recover and find items 227 00:13:07,177 --> 00:13:08,917 that the runaway slaves were using 228 00:13:09,049 --> 00:13:10,219 to serve those passengers. 229 00:13:15,142 --> 00:13:16,672 What we're going to do today 230 00:13:16,796 --> 00:13:18,316 is that we're going to go down 231 00:13:18,449 --> 00:13:19,279 and we're going to look for the galley area 232 00:13:19,407 --> 00:13:21,447 behind the boiler, 233 00:13:21,583 --> 00:13:22,983 because we know that there were fugitive slaves 234 00:13:23,106 --> 00:13:24,536 working in the galley. 235 00:13:24,673 --> 00:13:27,683 So, we can find items that they may have used, touched, 236 00:13:27,807 --> 00:13:29,197 and so it's always a chance we might find something 237 00:13:29,330 --> 00:13:30,940 that no one's seen before. 238 00:13:37,947 --> 00:13:40,427 We go down the shot line to the ship's coordinates. 239 00:13:40,558 --> 00:13:43,208 Mallory brought with her a diagram of the wreckage 240 00:13:43,344 --> 00:13:51,874 so that we have a better chance of identifying the galley. 241 00:13:54,790 --> 00:13:56,050 And there's the wreck. 242 00:14:06,454 --> 00:14:08,284 It's torn to shreds, 243 00:14:08,412 --> 00:14:10,242 probably from the fire that brought it down. 244 00:14:21,643 --> 00:14:24,913 After 160 years we could still see everything... 245 00:14:28,737 --> 00:14:29,997 the giant paddle wheel... 246 00:14:41,968 --> 00:14:43,318 the boiler that powered the engine. 247 00:14:46,711 --> 00:14:49,761 This was a ship that ferried runaways to freedom, 248 00:14:49,889 --> 00:14:52,589 but where's the galley where the fugitives worked? 249 00:15:01,770 --> 00:15:03,380 And then we saw something bright, 250 00:15:03,511 --> 00:15:04,641 something bright in the rubble. 251 00:15:41,288 --> 00:15:42,548 Woo! 252 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:44,680 That was awesome. 253 00:15:48,773 --> 00:15:50,953 So, now, that plate, that's a direct connection 254 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,480 to these lawfully employed but fugitive slaves on board 255 00:15:54,605 --> 00:15:56,255 in the galley, right? 256 00:15:56,390 --> 00:15:58,480 Yes. It's like, that's a material... that's an item 257 00:15:58,609 --> 00:16:00,659 that connects you straight to these people who were working 258 00:16:00,785 --> 00:16:02,785 and living on these boats. 259 00:16:02,918 --> 00:16:06,398 It was cold, it was dark and a little eerie... 260 00:16:06,530 --> 00:16:08,320 Welcome back. 261 00:16:08,445 --> 00:16:11,095 ...but not sad. 262 00:16:11,231 --> 00:16:13,321 It wasn't sad. 263 00:16:13,450 --> 00:16:16,190 I know that in previous journeys, 264 00:16:16,323 --> 00:16:18,593 people on that wreck 265 00:16:18,716 --> 00:16:22,366 made it to freedom somewhere out there. 266 00:16:22,503 --> 00:16:24,773 Their descendants are still alive. 267 00:16:30,076 --> 00:16:32,376 So, John, the "Niagara" didn't take the fugitives 268 00:16:32,513 --> 00:16:34,523 all the way to Canada. 269 00:16:34,645 --> 00:16:36,775 Close, but not all the way. 270 00:16:36,908 --> 00:16:38,868 Can we find a ship that went all the way, 271 00:16:38,998 --> 00:16:41,568 smuggling fugitives, trying to get away to freedom, 272 00:16:41,696 --> 00:16:43,866 to Canada? 273 00:16:44,003 --> 00:16:45,613 Not something that was... 274 00:16:45,743 --> 00:16:47,403 That was going along the lakes, 275 00:16:47,528 --> 00:16:49,138 and they were moving people closer to Canada. 276 00:16:49,269 --> 00:16:50,529 You want to find something 277 00:16:50,661 --> 00:16:52,361 that was actually taking people to, like, freedom. 278 00:16:52,489 --> 00:16:53,489 - Exactly. - Okay. 279 00:16:53,621 --> 00:16:55,011 Yeah. 280 00:16:55,144 --> 00:16:56,364 You're talking about boats which are down 281 00:16:56,493 --> 00:16:57,283 on the bottom of the lake. 282 00:16:57,407 --> 00:16:58,577 Right. 283 00:16:58,713 --> 00:17:00,633 You have to verify the fact 284 00:17:00,758 --> 00:17:02,978 that they actually did carry fugitives. 285 00:17:03,109 --> 00:17:05,939 I have been collecting material for at least 25 years, 286 00:17:06,068 --> 00:17:08,548 so what I'm planning on doing now 287 00:17:08,679 --> 00:17:11,509 is to come up with something out of the file drawer 288 00:17:11,639 --> 00:17:13,029 in the basement, 289 00:17:13,162 --> 00:17:14,732 which will give us the name of a captain 290 00:17:14,859 --> 00:17:16,509 and the history of the vessel. 291 00:17:16,644 --> 00:17:18,044 Just to say that, 292 00:17:18,167 --> 00:17:21,207 "Look, here we have something that's unusual." 293 00:17:21,344 --> 00:17:26,834 And that's what we want. 294 00:17:26,958 --> 00:17:29,308 The struggle for freedom in the United States 295 00:17:29,439 --> 00:17:34,439 eventually led to the Civil War. 296 00:17:34,575 --> 00:17:37,795 More than 150 years ago, on this river, 297 00:17:37,926 --> 00:17:40,836 a daring military operation took place 298 00:17:40,972 --> 00:17:43,852 where African American fought for their freedom. 299 00:17:43,975 --> 00:17:46,405 The Combahee River Raid was the largest 300 00:17:46,543 --> 00:17:49,463 freeing of enslaved people during the Civil War. 301 00:17:49,590 --> 00:17:51,550 And it's a story that particularly here 302 00:17:51,679 --> 00:17:54,119 in South Carolina, that's not told very often. 303 00:17:59,208 --> 00:18:02,598 June the 2nd, 1863, here you had rice fields 304 00:18:02,733 --> 00:18:04,693 on both sides of the river. 305 00:18:04,822 --> 00:18:06,612 You would have the enslaved people out working 306 00:18:06,737 --> 00:18:08,387 in pre-dawn hours. 307 00:18:10,828 --> 00:18:12,528 They had lived the years of their lives. 308 00:18:12,656 --> 00:18:14,526 Some of them, 70, 65 years of their lives, 309 00:18:14,658 --> 00:18:16,398 praying and waking up every day, 310 00:18:16,530 --> 00:18:17,660 and I believe praying for freedom. 311 00:18:19,402 --> 00:18:20,712 And the day came. 312 00:18:20,838 --> 00:18:22,708 It's really something to be on this river 313 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,670 where this historic battle took place. 314 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:27,720 I remember seeing a newspaper from the time 315 00:18:27,845 --> 00:18:29,885 where they focused on a former slave 316 00:18:30,021 --> 00:18:32,071 who came back as a Union soldier 317 00:18:32,198 --> 00:18:33,718 on one of the boats that took part in the raid. 318 00:18:35,766 --> 00:18:37,586 What exactly happened here? 319 00:18:37,725 --> 00:18:41,335 Imagine two gunboats came up this very river. 320 00:18:44,645 --> 00:18:45,945 This Federal Army raid 321 00:18:46,081 --> 00:18:48,561 had been carefully planned in advance. 322 00:18:48,692 --> 00:18:52,572 300 Union soldiers set out to liberate 323 00:18:52,696 --> 00:18:54,696 their brothers and sisters who were enslaved here. 324 00:18:56,787 --> 00:18:58,957 The liberators would have been a very unique sight, 325 00:18:59,094 --> 00:19:01,884 including escaped slaves from this area 326 00:19:02,010 --> 00:19:03,450 that became Union soldiers. 327 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:07,490 There are lots of heroes in that regiment 328 00:19:07,624 --> 00:19:09,634 and they don't get their due at all. 329 00:19:09,757 --> 00:19:12,367 It took a lot of will to decide to cross that red line. 330 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,330 They didn't have a military background. 331 00:19:16,459 --> 00:19:17,769 They were field hands. 332 00:19:17,895 --> 00:19:20,635 They worked these rice fields. 333 00:19:20,768 --> 00:19:24,028 Some of them had only been in the army for a few weeks. 334 00:19:24,163 --> 00:19:25,473 So, these are brave people? 335 00:19:25,599 --> 00:19:26,599 These are brave people. 336 00:19:30,908 --> 00:19:34,088 The all-Black regiment disembarked from the gunboats. 337 00:19:34,216 --> 00:19:38,046 And when it was time to strike, began torching the plantations 338 00:19:38,177 --> 00:19:41,477 and helping the slaves make their break for freedom. 339 00:19:41,615 --> 00:19:43,915 You have plumes of smoke that could be seen 340 00:19:44,052 --> 00:19:45,622 from the railroad. 341 00:19:45,749 --> 00:19:47,619 And they didn't know what was going on. 342 00:19:47,751 --> 00:19:49,411 People are streaming to the gun boat. 343 00:19:53,192 --> 00:19:55,802 The African American who were on the edges of the river banks 344 00:19:55,933 --> 00:19:57,503 realize what was happening, 345 00:19:57,631 --> 00:19:59,151 that this was their moment, that they should run, 346 00:19:59,285 --> 00:20:00,675 that they should take that one chance at freedom 347 00:20:00,808 --> 00:20:01,638 and go for it. 348 00:20:10,731 --> 00:20:12,911 In the midst of the chaos, escaped slaves would be greeted 349 00:20:13,037 --> 00:20:15,737 by another shocking sight, 350 00:20:15,866 --> 00:20:17,686 the small but powerful African American woman, 351 00:20:17,825 --> 00:20:19,255 Harriet Tubman. 352 00:20:22,656 --> 00:20:24,216 Harriet had escaped from slavery 353 00:20:24,353 --> 00:20:28,103 and became a famed conductor on the Underground Railroad. 354 00:20:28,227 --> 00:20:31,137 She risked her life numerous times to lead escaped slaves 355 00:20:31,273 --> 00:20:33,623 on a dangerous journey to freedom, 356 00:20:33,754 --> 00:20:37,024 as far north as Canada. 357 00:20:37,148 --> 00:20:39,498 As the people were coming to get onto the boat, 358 00:20:39,629 --> 00:20:42,199 here she was calming them down, 359 00:20:42,328 --> 00:20:45,158 guiding them, helping them in all the confusion. 360 00:20:45,287 --> 00:20:48,247 Now, your great-great-grandfather, 361 00:20:48,377 --> 00:20:50,857 he was one of those soldiers on this river 362 00:20:50,988 --> 00:20:53,898 fighting to liberate other African American. 363 00:20:54,035 --> 00:20:56,555 Yeah. Yeah. It's an amazing feeling. 364 00:20:56,690 --> 00:20:58,080 His name is Private Shedrick Manego. 365 00:20:58,213 --> 00:21:01,523 He was in Company E. I'm super proud of him. 366 00:21:01,651 --> 00:21:03,521 He made the decision to follow through 367 00:21:03,653 --> 00:21:06,093 and be a soldier and drill and work hard 368 00:21:06,221 --> 00:21:08,401 and be a liberator. 369 00:21:11,139 --> 00:21:13,139 In this raid, in one fell swoop, 370 00:21:13,272 --> 00:21:15,322 they freed over 700 people. 371 00:21:22,237 --> 00:21:23,927 If we want to find the freedom ship 372 00:21:24,065 --> 00:21:25,975 that ferried runaway slaves on the final leg 373 00:21:26,110 --> 00:21:29,030 of the Underground Railroad all the way to Canada, 374 00:21:29,157 --> 00:21:30,937 first, we have to go to the archives. 375 00:21:31,072 --> 00:21:32,682 I just hope we can find something 376 00:21:32,813 --> 00:21:33,773 that actually locks in. 377 00:21:33,901 --> 00:21:34,681 Yeah. 378 00:21:39,385 --> 00:21:41,595 For the past few weeks, John has been searching 379 00:21:41,735 --> 00:21:44,905 for records of 19th century commercial ships 380 00:21:45,042 --> 00:21:47,132 that would sail across the Great Lakes 381 00:21:47,262 --> 00:21:48,742 while secretly ferrying enslaved Africans. 382 00:21:56,271 --> 00:21:58,061 - Hi, John. - You made it? 383 00:21:58,186 --> 00:22:00,316 - It's so good to see you. - Yes indeed. 384 00:22:00,449 --> 00:22:02,839 Good to see you again. Yeah. So, what do you have? 385 00:22:02,973 --> 00:22:05,543 I had a whole bunch of files and I was going through. 386 00:22:05,672 --> 00:22:07,332 The problem ends up being when you look at 387 00:22:07,456 --> 00:22:09,586 a Underground Railroad boat or a freedom boat, 388 00:22:09,719 --> 00:22:11,979 you got to figure out what happened to the boat. 389 00:22:12,113 --> 00:22:14,943 Some of them were abandoned, some of them burned, 390 00:22:15,072 --> 00:22:16,942 and what I'm just trying to do is narrow it down 391 00:22:17,074 --> 00:22:18,734 so that what we come up with 392 00:22:18,859 --> 00:22:21,079 is a boat that's still out there. 393 00:22:21,209 --> 00:22:22,649 And then I came across this schooner 394 00:22:22,776 --> 00:22:23,946 which is a possibility. 395 00:22:24,081 --> 00:22:25,211 What's it called? 396 00:22:25,344 --> 00:22:32,614 It's called "The Schooner Home." 397 00:22:32,742 --> 00:22:34,532 It was a vessel coming from Buffalo, 398 00:22:34,657 --> 00:22:35,617 to Sandusky. 399 00:22:35,745 --> 00:22:38,705 However it ran 400 00:22:38,835 --> 00:22:42,705 for a number of months 401 00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:44,359 unaccounted for. 402 00:22:47,844 --> 00:22:49,724 What does that mean? 403 00:22:49,846 --> 00:22:53,016 Well, when we look at the papers here from the port of Buffalo, 404 00:22:53,154 --> 00:22:54,904 they have arrivals and clearances 405 00:22:55,025 --> 00:22:57,025 to the custom house. 406 00:22:57,158 --> 00:23:01,378 Right now, there's kind of a gap in its history. 407 00:23:01,510 --> 00:23:05,510 If it doesn't show up in the port for say six months, 408 00:23:05,645 --> 00:23:07,385 where was it going? 409 00:23:07,516 --> 00:23:09,866 Do you suspect that because it was missing 410 00:23:09,997 --> 00:23:12,777 that maybe it was smuggling fugitive Africans? 411 00:23:12,913 --> 00:23:14,873 That's a good possibility. 412 00:23:15,002 --> 00:23:18,092 I mean, knowing that Sandusky was full of abolitionists. 413 00:23:18,222 --> 00:23:19,922 So, are you saying there's a possibility "The Home" 414 00:23:20,050 --> 00:23:21,700 was going to Canada? 415 00:23:21,835 --> 00:23:23,965 You would say that, yes. 416 00:23:27,536 --> 00:23:28,836 What do we know about the captain of "The Home?" 417 00:23:32,846 --> 00:23:36,326 Well, it was James Nugent who was the captain. 418 00:23:36,458 --> 00:23:39,238 He was an immigrant from Ireland. 419 00:23:39,374 --> 00:23:41,774 He lived in Sandusky. 420 00:23:41,898 --> 00:23:46,028 And it's a good possibility that he was an abolitionist, 421 00:23:46,163 --> 00:23:47,733 simply because of the people 422 00:23:47,861 --> 00:23:50,781 +he was running around with, in Sandusky. 423 00:23:50,907 --> 00:23:52,997 So, we needed to find out more about the captain then. 424 00:23:53,127 --> 00:23:55,827 So, why don't you check out Captain Nugent, 425 00:23:55,956 --> 00:23:58,826 and I'll check out the missing months of "The Home's" routes. 426 00:23:58,959 --> 00:23:59,959 Sounds like a plan. 427 00:24:02,963 --> 00:24:04,053 Let's take it from the top. 428 00:24:12,059 --> 00:24:14,099 Founded 150 years ago, 429 00:24:14,235 --> 00:24:16,365 the Jubilee Singers were among the first 430 00:24:16,498 --> 00:24:18,808 to introduce African American music 431 00:24:18,935 --> 00:24:20,935 to a general audience. 432 00:24:39,565 --> 00:24:43,385 We're here to find out the use of song in resistance, 433 00:24:43,525 --> 00:24:46,175 the use of song in liberation 434 00:24:46,310 --> 00:24:48,750 and what it meant and how it worked. 435 00:24:48,878 --> 00:24:50,838 Then we are referring to songs that people 436 00:24:50,967 --> 00:24:53,797 like Harriet Tubman used 437 00:24:53,927 --> 00:24:55,227 during the Underground Railroad system. 438 00:25:13,424 --> 00:25:15,514 They had different meanings to the songs, 439 00:25:15,644 --> 00:25:18,654 songs with hidden meanings or songs with double meanings 440 00:25:18,778 --> 00:25:20,778 or Coded song. 441 00:25:20,910 --> 00:25:22,390 For example, the song "Wade in the Water." 442 00:25:33,009 --> 00:25:36,399 Who would think that just saying "wade in the water" 443 00:25:36,535 --> 00:25:39,185 did not mean anything more than "go to the water." 444 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,150 But there was a reason they would use that song 445 00:25:42,279 --> 00:25:45,019 to give direction to the slaves 446 00:25:45,152 --> 00:25:47,152 as they travel to the north. 447 00:25:47,284 --> 00:25:50,034 Because most times as they were running away, 448 00:25:50,157 --> 00:25:52,197 they were being chased by dogs. 449 00:25:52,333 --> 00:25:55,253 So, the message was go through the water 450 00:25:55,379 --> 00:25:58,249 and then the dogs would not be able to follow you. 451 00:26:03,126 --> 00:26:07,296 Harriet Tubman used these songs 452 00:26:07,435 --> 00:26:10,305 to communicate with the slaves. 453 00:26:10,438 --> 00:26:12,828 For example, the song "Go Down, Moses." 454 00:26:38,684 --> 00:26:41,034 Moses, of course, was the one who was sent 455 00:26:41,164 --> 00:26:44,254 to lead the Israelites out of captivity. 456 00:26:44,385 --> 00:26:48,165 So, Harriet Tubman, whenever she sang this song, 457 00:26:48,302 --> 00:26:50,962 was saying to the people, 458 00:26:51,087 --> 00:26:53,437 "If you want to go into freedom, you can go with me." 459 00:26:56,789 --> 00:26:59,309 The church played a key role when enslaved African American 460 00:26:59,443 --> 00:27:00,883 struggled for freedom. 461 00:27:01,010 --> 00:27:03,490 They had figured out ways to sing songs 462 00:27:03,622 --> 00:27:05,362 that are actually, you know, very revolutionary 463 00:27:05,493 --> 00:27:06,323 in their meanings. 464 00:27:06,450 --> 00:27:08,320 Right. 465 00:27:08,452 --> 00:27:11,022 So, are we able to identify where these songs came from? 466 00:27:11,151 --> 00:27:13,851 We know that while the slaves were on the plantations... 467 00:27:13,980 --> 00:27:15,630 - Mm-hmm - They would also go to 468 00:27:15,764 --> 00:27:18,074 church sometimes with their slave masters. 469 00:27:18,201 --> 00:27:19,461 Really? 470 00:27:19,594 --> 00:27:22,084 And I'm sure that's where they learned 471 00:27:22,205 --> 00:27:24,075 much of the stories from the Bible... 472 00:27:24,207 --> 00:27:25,947 - Mm-hmm - But were able to relate 473 00:27:26,079 --> 00:27:28,209 the stories to their own situations, 474 00:27:28,342 --> 00:27:30,262 and therefore created the songs. 475 00:27:30,387 --> 00:27:32,087 Well, you know, the Old Testament 476 00:27:32,215 --> 00:27:33,905 in a way is a playbook for liberation, 477 00:27:34,043 --> 00:27:36,053 trying to bring an explanation 478 00:27:36,176 --> 00:27:39,956 to living in an absurd situation. 479 00:27:40,093 --> 00:27:41,963 Because you got to admit the last 400 years here 480 00:27:42,095 --> 00:27:44,175 had been quite absurd if your skin is brown. 481 00:27:44,314 --> 00:27:46,234 So, you've always been trying to make sense out of it 482 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:47,320 in your own way. 483 00:27:47,448 --> 00:27:49,098 We're Jim Crow babies. 484 00:27:49,232 --> 00:27:50,452 So, when we grew up in Chattanooga 485 00:27:50,581 --> 00:27:52,241 during the civil rights movement, 486 00:27:52,366 --> 00:27:54,276 we began to hear the protest songs, 487 00:27:54,411 --> 00:27:56,071 the freedom singers. 488 00:27:56,196 --> 00:27:58,066 There was a Black folk singing tradition also 489 00:27:58,198 --> 00:27:59,588 that we were exposed to. 490 00:27:59,721 --> 00:28:01,461 Yeah, because we were musicians 491 00:28:01,592 --> 00:28:03,332 and we had different kinds of experiences 492 00:28:03,464 --> 00:28:05,954 that a lot of our contemporaries didn't have. 493 00:28:06,075 --> 00:28:08,245 A lot of those protest songs that we used then 494 00:28:08,382 --> 00:28:10,172 were basically spirituals. 495 00:28:10,297 --> 00:28:11,557 " I ain't gonna let nobody turn me around." 496 00:28:11,690 --> 00:28:13,300 Can you sing that for me? 497 00:28:43,504 --> 00:28:44,944 We're headed to Sandusky, 498 00:28:45,071 --> 00:28:47,121 which was a major center of abolition, 499 00:28:47,247 --> 00:28:49,637 to find out if James Nugent, captain of "The Home" 500 00:28:49,771 --> 00:28:52,301 was involved in ferrying runaway slaves to freedom. 501 00:28:55,777 --> 00:28:57,337 On the way, we're stopping in Cleveland 502 00:28:57,474 --> 00:29:00,094 to see firsthand one of the shelters 503 00:29:00,216 --> 00:29:02,306 that was used by freedom seekers in the Underground Railroad. 504 00:29:07,615 --> 00:29:11,225 The building that we're standing in was built in 1838. 505 00:29:11,358 --> 00:29:13,268 And from its beginning, it's kind of had this 506 00:29:13,403 --> 00:29:15,623 social justice lean. 507 00:29:15,754 --> 00:29:18,414 St. John's was a stop on the Underground Railroad. 508 00:29:18,539 --> 00:29:20,279 In that time, the Underground Railroad 509 00:29:20,410 --> 00:29:23,590 had code names to describe the people and the places 510 00:29:23,718 --> 00:29:25,808 that they were traveling to keep secret, 511 00:29:25,938 --> 00:29:28,588 but also so that they would know where they were going next. 512 00:29:28,723 --> 00:29:30,773 And Cleveland was known as Station Hope. 513 00:29:30,899 --> 00:29:33,419 That was because if you made it to Station Hope, 514 00:29:33,554 --> 00:29:36,174 you most likely would make it to freedom. 515 00:29:36,296 --> 00:29:39,166 And where we think people hid, is actually the bell tower. 516 00:29:39,299 --> 00:29:41,389 And that at the time 517 00:29:41,518 --> 00:29:43,348 was the tallest structure in the city, 518 00:29:43,477 --> 00:29:45,997 and so people who were fleeing slavery 519 00:29:46,132 --> 00:29:47,742 would hide in the bell tower 520 00:29:47,873 --> 00:29:50,093 and they could look out to two places, 521 00:29:50,223 --> 00:29:52,183 the Cuyahoga River, 522 00:29:52,312 --> 00:29:55,362 and to Lake Erie, bodies of water. 523 00:29:55,489 --> 00:29:58,709 People could catch onto boats and then be taken to Lake Erie, 524 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:00,540 where they would then hop on ships. 525 00:30:03,410 --> 00:30:04,630 So, now where we're going to go is up to the tower 526 00:30:04,759 --> 00:30:07,239 where people hid. 527 00:30:07,370 --> 00:30:09,420 And it's really dusty and rickety, 528 00:30:09,546 --> 00:30:12,326 so just be careful. 529 00:30:12,462 --> 00:30:14,072 Just make sure one person on the stairs at a time. 530 00:30:16,727 --> 00:30:17,767 So, as you enter, this space, 531 00:30:17,903 --> 00:30:20,383 this is the main frame of the tower. 532 00:30:20,514 --> 00:30:24,344 And as you can see, it's structurally being held up 533 00:30:24,474 --> 00:30:28,614 by some of these metal pieces, but also it weaves its way up. 534 00:30:28,739 --> 00:30:32,439 Ladders, a landing, and another ladder, 535 00:30:32,569 --> 00:30:34,659 and it just keeps going up. 536 00:30:34,789 --> 00:30:35,959 Can we go up there and take a look? 537 00:30:36,095 --> 00:30:37,485 Yes. 538 00:30:37,618 --> 00:30:39,138 How about Kinga and I go up and then Kramer, 539 00:30:39,272 --> 00:30:42,322 since you're just a bit taller and stronger than us 540 00:30:42,449 --> 00:30:44,759 maybe hanging out here and we'll come back down? 541 00:30:44,886 --> 00:30:46,576 - Is that okay? - That's fine. 542 00:30:46,714 --> 00:30:48,464 But I prefer for you to stay around the edges. 543 00:30:48,585 --> 00:30:50,065 More solid? Okay. 544 00:30:53,460 --> 00:30:55,070 Often when people traveled the Underground Railroad 545 00:30:55,201 --> 00:30:56,551 it was at dawn or dusk. 546 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:57,640 You didn't travel during the day 547 00:30:57,768 --> 00:30:59,548 because people would see you. 548 00:30:59,683 --> 00:31:00,993 Step on the outside of the stairs, 549 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:02,690 not in the center. 550 00:31:02,817 --> 00:31:04,647 It's nice to have a friend who's a former firefighter. 551 00:31:04,775 --> 00:31:06,385 Oh, watch your head. 552 00:31:06,516 --> 00:31:08,386 There was a system in place to help these people 553 00:31:08,518 --> 00:31:10,828 make it to safety. 554 00:31:10,956 --> 00:31:15,346 And so with light signals from the river or the lake, 555 00:31:15,482 --> 00:31:17,922 people would know when it was safe to come down 556 00:31:18,050 --> 00:31:21,310 from the tower and either run or walk to get on a boat, 557 00:31:21,444 --> 00:31:23,714 or they would sometimes be put in the back 558 00:31:23,838 --> 00:31:25,408 of horse-drawn carriages and then covered up. 559 00:31:30,671 --> 00:31:32,851 So, those are the rooms. 560 00:31:32,978 --> 00:31:36,458 Kramer, there are these two rooms right here 561 00:31:36,590 --> 00:31:39,460 on either side and they just go deep in 562 00:31:39,593 --> 00:31:41,603 and it's really dark, you actually can't see inside. 563 00:31:41,725 --> 00:31:43,465 But this is probably where people would have hidden. 564 00:31:43,597 --> 00:31:45,117 - Yes. - Is that right? 565 00:31:45,251 --> 00:31:46,381 There's another one just in front of us, 566 00:31:46,513 --> 00:31:48,653 and another one up above. 567 00:31:48,776 --> 00:31:51,426 I would love to go around and take a look in that room. 568 00:31:51,561 --> 00:31:54,481 Yeah. Let's at least take a very safe and quick peek. 569 00:31:54,608 --> 00:31:57,178 I think this is a no step. 570 00:31:57,306 --> 00:32:00,216 Be careful. Hold on to the rails, not the stairs. 571 00:32:00,353 --> 00:32:02,493 We're just going to go around here and take a look. 572 00:32:15,803 --> 00:32:17,593 Oh, my gosh, that's amazing. 573 00:32:17,718 --> 00:32:19,548 Kramer, can you hear me? 574 00:32:19,676 --> 00:32:21,416 Yeah. 575 00:32:21,548 --> 00:32:22,938 So, one of these rooms with a little bit of light 576 00:32:23,071 --> 00:32:26,071 is where you can imagine one, two, three people 577 00:32:26,205 --> 00:32:27,725 could have stayed. 578 00:32:27,858 --> 00:32:29,638 This is your last leg of the journey, 579 00:32:29,773 --> 00:32:31,733 and you're in this church steeple. 580 00:32:31,862 --> 00:32:33,652 And at night you would probably come out 581 00:32:33,777 --> 00:32:35,907 and look through these windows here because the signal 582 00:32:36,041 --> 00:32:37,611 would have been a lantern, so you would have been able 583 00:32:37,738 --> 00:32:39,308 to see it at night. 584 00:32:39,435 --> 00:32:42,525 People who were staying here waiting for that signal, 585 00:32:42,656 --> 00:32:44,176 that signal might've come from "The Home." 586 00:32:58,541 --> 00:33:00,941 We've made it to Sandusky, a small town on Lake Erie 587 00:33:01,066 --> 00:33:04,546 where 170 years ago, James Nugent, 588 00:33:04,678 --> 00:33:06,378 captain of "The Home" 589 00:33:06,506 --> 00:33:08,636 would regularly load his boat with cargo 590 00:33:08,769 --> 00:33:10,549 and head out to other destinations 591 00:33:10,684 --> 00:33:13,904 on the Great Lakes. 592 00:33:14,035 --> 00:33:16,115 But did he also ferry runaway slaves 593 00:33:16,255 --> 00:33:17,815 all the way to freedom? 594 00:33:17,952 --> 00:33:19,392 We're here to find out. 595 00:33:25,394 --> 00:33:28,274 Sandusky was the great northern depot 596 00:33:28,397 --> 00:33:31,747 and was also named Station Hope, 597 00:33:31,879 --> 00:33:35,709 because of the strong possibility 598 00:33:35,839 --> 00:33:38,409 of reaching Canada from here 599 00:33:38,538 --> 00:33:40,368 without being captured. 600 00:33:40,496 --> 00:33:42,236 For a lot of people, this was the final location 601 00:33:42,368 --> 00:33:43,278 before they went to Canada. 602 00:33:43,412 --> 00:33:44,242 Right. 603 00:33:46,459 --> 00:33:48,679 There are several houses that are still standing 604 00:33:48,809 --> 00:33:51,859 where active abolitionists would provide a shelter, 605 00:33:51,986 --> 00:33:55,896 food, clothing, a place to rest 606 00:33:56,034 --> 00:33:59,174 before it was time to come down to the waterfront 607 00:33:59,298 --> 00:34:00,998 and board the ships. 608 00:34:01,126 --> 00:34:04,826 The whole area, and maybe even the whole state, 609 00:34:04,955 --> 00:34:07,695 there were active abolitionists. 610 00:34:07,828 --> 00:34:11,438 There were a number of attorneys and judges 611 00:34:11,571 --> 00:34:15,361 that were in cahoots as abolitionists. 612 00:34:15,488 --> 00:34:16,398 All rise. 613 00:34:21,842 --> 00:34:25,282 There was the Honorable Rush R. Sloane. 614 00:34:31,025 --> 00:34:34,545 One time, there were seven runaways in a group together. 615 00:34:34,681 --> 00:34:37,811 They were hounded by slave catchers 616 00:34:37,945 --> 00:34:40,855 and Rush Sloane asked for documentation 617 00:34:40,991 --> 00:34:45,561 of these dark-skinned people. 618 00:34:45,692 --> 00:34:47,742 Documentation meaning that the slave catchers 619 00:34:47,868 --> 00:34:49,738 could prove that these were escaped slaves. 620 00:34:49,870 --> 00:34:51,480 Right. 621 00:34:51,611 --> 00:34:53,441 The slave catchers didn't have documentation. 622 00:34:53,569 --> 00:34:56,009 So, Rush Sloane said, 623 00:34:56,137 --> 00:35:00,097 "There's no reason for you to be held here." 624 00:35:00,228 --> 00:35:04,058 So, a group of citizens rushed the runaways 625 00:35:04,189 --> 00:35:07,929 to the waterfront for transport to Canada. 626 00:35:08,062 --> 00:35:09,762 While the slave catchers are still in the courtroom, 627 00:35:09,890 --> 00:35:11,200 they rushed them out. 628 00:35:11,326 --> 00:35:12,586 - Yes. - Wow. 629 00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:13,849 So, what happened to Sloane because of that? 630 00:35:13,981 --> 00:35:16,421 Well, later on he was charged 631 00:35:16,549 --> 00:35:19,809 with aiding and abetting the runaways to get away 632 00:35:19,943 --> 00:35:22,643 was found guilty, 633 00:35:22,772 --> 00:35:26,342 was charged $3,000. 634 00:35:26,472 --> 00:35:28,262 That was so much money back in the day. 635 00:35:28,387 --> 00:35:29,777 $3,000. 636 00:35:29,910 --> 00:35:32,520 There were court costs that were $1,000, 637 00:35:32,652 --> 00:35:35,052 and then the rest of it was 638 00:35:35,176 --> 00:35:37,736 equal the value of the runaways. 639 00:35:37,874 --> 00:35:39,794 So, he had to pay for the property 640 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:40,920 that he let escape. 641 00:35:41,051 --> 00:35:42,661 - Yes. - Wow. 642 00:35:42,792 --> 00:35:44,492 And he was able to pay that? 643 00:35:44,620 --> 00:35:47,360 The other abolitionists in town contributed 644 00:35:47,493 --> 00:35:50,933 towards the amount that he was charged. 645 00:35:51,061 --> 00:35:53,931 Rush R. Sloane was a prominent figure 646 00:35:54,064 --> 00:35:55,414 in the Underground Railroad Movement 647 00:35:55,544 --> 00:35:57,464 in Sandusky. 648 00:35:57,590 --> 00:35:59,810 Our research speaks of a Captain Nugent 649 00:35:59,940 --> 00:36:01,990 who was involved here in Sandusky. 650 00:36:02,116 --> 00:36:04,466 Do you have any records or any knowledge 651 00:36:04,597 --> 00:36:05,597 about a Captain Nugent? 652 00:36:05,728 --> 00:36:07,298 Yes. 653 00:36:15,129 --> 00:36:16,479 What are we looking at here? 654 00:36:16,609 --> 00:36:19,569 This is the testimony 655 00:36:19,699 --> 00:36:22,009 of the type of person that Nugent was. 656 00:36:22,136 --> 00:36:23,826 Whose testimony is this? 657 00:36:23,964 --> 00:36:25,924 The mayor of Clyde. 658 00:36:26,053 --> 00:36:28,233 Clyde is a small town near Sandusky? 659 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:29,970 Yes. 660 00:36:30,100 --> 00:36:34,760 The mayor of Clyde witnessed this liberation 661 00:36:34,888 --> 00:36:38,588 of the seven slaves by Rush Sloane. 662 00:36:38,718 --> 00:36:42,198 "That party of fugitive slaves was carried to Canada," 663 00:36:42,330 --> 00:36:44,030 "concealed in a hold of a sailing vessel" 664 00:36:44,158 --> 00:36:46,068 "by a lake captain" 665 00:36:46,204 --> 00:36:49,124 "then and now a robust Democrat in politics," 666 00:36:49,250 --> 00:36:52,470 "a man with a conscience and a heart," 667 00:36:52,601 --> 00:36:54,911 "resident of one of the lake cities." 668 00:36:55,038 --> 00:36:57,168 So, he was there, he witnessed their release 669 00:36:57,302 --> 00:36:58,782 and he knows that there was a captain 670 00:36:58,912 --> 00:36:59,572 that took him away on a boat. 671 00:36:59,695 --> 00:37:01,605 Yes. 672 00:37:01,741 --> 00:37:04,741 "But my lips are sealed for the lifetime of my informant." 673 00:37:04,874 --> 00:37:08,754 He was sworn to secrecy not to tell the name 674 00:37:08,878 --> 00:37:13,188 of the captain that took the seven slaves to Canada. 675 00:37:13,318 --> 00:37:15,758 I'm sorry. Could you look at this? 676 00:37:15,885 --> 00:37:19,105 Here they list the names of the slaves that were-- 677 00:37:19,237 --> 00:37:20,757 "Liberated. The seven." 678 00:37:20,890 --> 00:37:22,110 Liberated and escape. Yeah. 679 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:24,500 "George Bracken, Emily Bracken, Ellen Bracken--" 680 00:37:24,633 --> 00:37:25,983 Family. 681 00:37:26,113 --> 00:37:27,773 "Robert Pritt, Matilda Pritt and Eliza Pritt" 682 00:37:27,897 --> 00:37:28,807 "and Thomas Pritt." 683 00:37:28,942 --> 00:37:30,642 So, two families. 684 00:37:30,770 --> 00:37:33,380 So, we have the names of the people who were freed. 685 00:37:33,512 --> 00:37:34,772 Oh, my gosh. 686 00:37:34,904 --> 00:37:37,044 The mayor says his lips are sealed 687 00:37:37,167 --> 00:37:38,427 about the identity of the captain 688 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:39,870 who took them to Canada. 689 00:37:39,996 --> 00:37:41,956 So, how do you know it's Nugent? 690 00:37:42,085 --> 00:37:47,785 Look what Rush R. Sloane had to say about Captain Nugent. 691 00:37:47,917 --> 00:37:50,007 "These fugitives were at the same night received" 692 00:37:50,137 --> 00:37:53,137 "from the small boat the next day by Captain James Nugent," 693 00:37:53,271 --> 00:37:56,491 "a noble man now dead, then living at Sandusky" 694 00:37:56,622 --> 00:37:58,152 "and secreted on board the vessel" 695 00:37:58,276 --> 00:38:00,966 "he commanded these seven, and on the second day after" 696 00:38:01,104 --> 00:38:02,674 "were safely landed in Canada." 697 00:38:13,029 --> 00:38:15,119 We have documented proof now 698 00:38:15,249 --> 00:38:17,029 that he was involved as an abolitionist, 699 00:38:17,164 --> 00:38:19,514 that he ferried these seven Africans 700 00:38:19,645 --> 00:38:22,255 away to Canada. 701 00:38:22,387 --> 00:38:26,517 So, not only did he ferry these seven slaves in 1854 702 00:38:26,652 --> 00:38:27,782 when this happened, 703 00:38:27,914 --> 00:38:30,614 it's safe to assume then that in 1848, 704 00:38:30,743 --> 00:38:32,833 when those missing months happened on "The Home", 705 00:38:32,962 --> 00:38:34,922 he was also ferrying fugitives. 706 00:38:35,051 --> 00:38:36,661 - That's perfect sense. - Makes sense. 707 00:38:36,792 --> 00:38:38,102 Yvette, you did it. 708 00:38:38,228 --> 00:38:40,668 You did it. 709 00:38:46,149 --> 00:38:47,719 Ghana, the Gold Coast, 710 00:38:47,847 --> 00:38:49,807 was at the center of the slave trade 711 00:38:49,936 --> 00:38:52,106 for hundreds of years. 712 00:38:52,242 --> 00:38:55,812 In this exact spot, over a century ago, 713 00:38:55,942 --> 00:39:00,162 an Ashanti warrior queen engaged in a mystical ceremony 714 00:39:00,294 --> 00:39:02,434 to prepare herself for battle. 715 00:39:31,804 --> 00:39:34,204 The Ashanti leader known as Queen Mother, 716 00:39:34,328 --> 00:39:37,938 came here to strengthen herself and her fighters 717 00:39:38,071 --> 00:39:41,511 before the last rebellion against the British occupiers. 718 00:40:17,763 --> 00:40:19,163 You need spiritual armor. 719 00:40:19,286 --> 00:40:20,546 Precisely. 720 00:41:14,254 --> 00:41:16,954 So, a European would have come and just seen dance. 721 00:41:17,083 --> 00:41:19,743 Africans were looking at this and getting life lessons. 722 00:41:19,868 --> 00:41:21,698 Yes. 723 00:41:48,244 --> 00:41:49,774 Queen Mother and her warriors 724 00:41:49,898 --> 00:41:51,858 managed to fend off the might of the British 725 00:41:51,987 --> 00:41:53,287 for a whole year 726 00:41:53,423 --> 00:41:54,953 before the rebellion was crushed. 727 00:41:58,951 --> 00:42:00,521 Queen Mother wasn't alone. 728 00:42:00,648 --> 00:42:03,698 Practically all revolutionaries in places such as Haiti, 729 00:42:03,825 --> 00:42:06,305 Jamaica and Grenada 730 00:42:06,436 --> 00:42:08,996 turned to the religion of their ancestors 731 00:42:09,135 --> 00:42:11,395 to find the courage to fight, to endure, 732 00:42:11,529 --> 00:42:13,139 to struggle for freedom. 733 00:42:29,503 --> 00:42:31,163 - Beautiful here. - Yeah. 734 00:42:31,287 --> 00:42:33,067 How are you? 735 00:42:33,202 --> 00:42:35,382 Glad to see you here on the shores of Lake Ontario. 736 00:42:35,509 --> 00:42:36,209 - Hi, guys. - So, good to see you. 737 00:42:36,336 --> 00:42:37,986 Good to see you again. 738 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:40,690 The reason why we're here is actually out in the slip. 739 00:42:40,819 --> 00:42:42,119 That beautiful ship. 740 00:42:42,255 --> 00:42:43,815 Yeah. 741 00:42:43,952 --> 00:42:47,352 More or less a recreation of "The Home." 742 00:42:47,477 --> 00:42:49,037 That's amazing. 743 00:42:49,175 --> 00:42:51,345 We actually found out that Captain Nugent 744 00:42:51,481 --> 00:42:52,831 was an abolitionist. 745 00:42:52,961 --> 00:42:54,221 100%. 746 00:42:54,354 --> 00:42:55,704 We even have the names of seven people 747 00:42:55,834 --> 00:42:57,234 that he brought to Canada. 748 00:43:01,579 --> 00:43:04,539 So, the "Empire Sandy" is similar to "The Home." 749 00:43:04,669 --> 00:43:07,239 It's a schooner sailing the Great Lakes. 750 00:43:07,367 --> 00:43:09,497 So, it gives us a visual of what it was 751 00:43:09,630 --> 00:43:10,760 that was actually taking place. 752 00:43:10,892 --> 00:43:12,422 That's right. 753 00:43:12,546 --> 00:43:14,896 And you've done your research on Captain Nugent, 754 00:43:15,027 --> 00:43:17,857 and I also got my part of the story. 755 00:43:17,986 --> 00:43:19,726 This is one of the areas that "The Home" 756 00:43:19,858 --> 00:43:21,248 would have sailed through. 757 00:43:21,381 --> 00:43:22,991 And the reason for that is something that we found 758 00:43:23,122 --> 00:43:25,042 in the Sandusky newspaper. 759 00:43:29,128 --> 00:43:32,438 This is a 1848 copy 760 00:43:32,566 --> 00:43:35,086 of The Sandusky Clarion, 761 00:43:35,221 --> 00:43:36,961 which is the year that Captain Nugent 762 00:43:37,092 --> 00:43:38,752 was on "The Home." 763 00:43:38,877 --> 00:43:41,397 Down here, it says- 764 00:43:41,531 --> 00:43:43,271 - Port of Sandusky. - Port of Sandusky, right. 765 00:43:43,403 --> 00:43:46,933 Arrived June 8th, "Schooner Home," Nugent. 766 00:43:47,059 --> 00:43:49,059 So, it went to Sandusky. 767 00:43:49,191 --> 00:43:51,111 You need to read a little bit more. 768 00:43:51,237 --> 00:43:54,017 Nugent, Oswego. 769 00:43:54,153 --> 00:43:56,553 So, what does this mean, John? 770 00:43:56,677 --> 00:43:59,157 It was coming back from Oswego, New York. 771 00:43:59,288 --> 00:44:00,938 Okay. 772 00:44:01,073 --> 00:44:02,993 So, it's coming from New York to Sandusky, Ohio. 773 00:44:03,118 --> 00:44:04,208 That's right. 774 00:44:04,337 --> 00:44:06,597 But in order to get to Oswego, 775 00:44:06,731 --> 00:44:09,301 it had to go through the Welland Canal, 776 00:44:09,429 --> 00:44:11,869 which is in Canada. 777 00:44:11,997 --> 00:44:13,957 The Welland Canal had been enlarged 778 00:44:14,086 --> 00:44:17,306 and it allowed "The Home" to go through it. 779 00:44:17,437 --> 00:44:19,437 This is the period of time "The Home" was missing. 780 00:44:19,569 --> 00:44:20,959 "The Home" was missing. 781 00:44:21,093 --> 00:44:23,443 The four-month gap, everyone assumed it 782 00:44:23,573 --> 00:44:26,973 was just going back and forth to Buffalo. 783 00:44:27,099 --> 00:44:29,279 I'd like to show you now how Captain Nugent 784 00:44:29,405 --> 00:44:33,625 most probably took the runaways to freedom. 785 00:44:33,758 --> 00:44:35,368 We're just coming off of Lake Ontario. 786 00:44:35,498 --> 00:44:39,328 - So, we're in Canada? - Yes. Both sides are Canada. 787 00:44:43,463 --> 00:44:45,993 We're at one of the oldest sections lock 27. 788 00:44:46,118 --> 00:44:49,428 In one month, they'll put about 140 boats through it. 789 00:44:49,556 --> 00:44:54,296 So, when you come here, you're 200 feet above Lake Ontario, 790 00:44:54,430 --> 00:44:58,260 and you have to drop down 27 locks. 791 00:44:58,391 --> 00:45:01,091 So, it's time-intensive. 792 00:45:01,220 --> 00:45:02,830 And this must have been the moment of truth 793 00:45:02,961 --> 00:45:04,401 for the fugitives. 794 00:45:04,527 --> 00:45:06,087 The boat is tied there. 795 00:45:06,225 --> 00:45:08,525 It comes to a certain level. 796 00:45:08,662 --> 00:45:10,802 You could walk off without too much of a problem. 797 00:45:16,496 --> 00:45:18,626 At what point during the course of this journey, 798 00:45:18,759 --> 00:45:21,849 do I finally get a chance to exhale and say, 799 00:45:21,980 --> 00:45:23,590 "I've made it?" 800 00:45:23,721 --> 00:45:26,901 Just down the ways is the village of St. Catharines, 801 00:45:27,028 --> 00:45:31,208 and it had a number of fugitives 802 00:45:31,337 --> 00:45:33,947 who were there and had made a settlement. 803 00:45:34,079 --> 00:45:36,469 There were also a number of people there 804 00:45:36,603 --> 00:45:39,613 who were involved with their welfare. 805 00:45:39,737 --> 00:45:42,257 One of the men was Mr. Merritt, 806 00:45:42,391 --> 00:45:46,401 who's the one who actually designed the Welland Canal. 807 00:45:46,526 --> 00:45:48,476 - Really? - Oh, wow. 808 00:45:48,615 --> 00:45:50,005 So, these are all people who were part 809 00:45:50,138 --> 00:45:53,098 of the Fugitive Aid Society. 810 00:45:53,228 --> 00:45:55,268 That's incredible. 811 00:45:55,404 --> 00:45:58,974 So, you ended up in St. Catharines, 812 00:45:59,104 --> 00:46:01,064 you built your life there. 813 00:46:01,193 --> 00:46:03,023 There are a number of people who settled there also. 814 00:46:03,151 --> 00:46:05,111 -One of them was Harriet Tubman. -Mm-hmm 815 00:46:05,240 --> 00:46:07,460 She brought a number of people from the south 816 00:46:07,590 --> 00:46:11,030 to St. Catharines to live. 817 00:46:11,159 --> 00:46:12,939 So, "The Home" went through this lock? 818 00:46:13,074 --> 00:46:15,824 I would say so. 819 00:46:15,947 --> 00:46:20,167 All the evidence points to "The Home" being a freedom boat. 820 00:46:20,299 --> 00:46:22,129 Let's dive in and pay our respects. 821 00:46:27,132 --> 00:46:29,312 As it turns out in 1858, 822 00:46:29,438 --> 00:46:31,398 several years after Captain Nugent 823 00:46:31,527 --> 00:46:33,827 ferried runaways to Canada, 824 00:46:33,965 --> 00:46:37,005 "The Home" sunk during a collision on Lake Michigan. 825 00:46:39,448 --> 00:46:42,358 In 1981, "The Home" was discovered and Catalogued 826 00:46:42,495 --> 00:46:45,585 among the hundreds of wrecks in Lake Michigan. 827 00:46:45,715 --> 00:46:47,495 This dive will be the first time 828 00:46:47,630 --> 00:46:49,150 that a Great Lake's wreck 829 00:46:49,284 --> 00:46:50,634 can be said with certainty 830 00:46:50,764 --> 00:46:52,244 to be a freedom boat. 831 00:46:56,422 --> 00:46:58,472 On this foggy and windy day, 832 00:46:58,598 --> 00:47:00,908 it's going to be hard to make a dive to 175 feet 833 00:47:01,035 --> 00:47:02,645 to a shipwreck. 834 00:47:02,776 --> 00:47:05,296 Go on and have a drop line. 835 00:47:05,431 --> 00:47:07,431 The deeper you go, you're committed to the water 836 00:47:07,563 --> 00:47:09,133 for a longer period of time. 837 00:47:09,261 --> 00:47:10,611 So, we have to watch top side conditions 838 00:47:10,740 --> 00:47:12,570 more carefully on deeper dives. 839 00:47:12,699 --> 00:47:16,879 So, as the deep divers will be going down with tri mix gases 840 00:47:17,008 --> 00:47:20,098 and special gear, Josh and I will be free diving from above 841 00:47:20,228 --> 00:47:22,538 to watch out for any signals of distress. 842 00:47:22,665 --> 00:47:27,105 Red bag comes up, red bag means something has kind of changed, 843 00:47:27,235 --> 00:47:29,315 but we're in control of the situation. 844 00:47:29,455 --> 00:47:31,145 If the yellow bag comes up, 845 00:47:31,283 --> 00:47:32,373 that means we actually need your assistance. 846 00:49:17,693 --> 00:49:20,173 After we surfaced, I tried to envision 847 00:49:20,305 --> 00:49:23,305 this space and this time, 848 00:49:23,438 --> 00:49:26,698 trying to figure out what somebody would be feeling 849 00:49:26,833 --> 00:49:30,183 having traveled 333, 400, 500 miles on foot 850 00:49:30,315 --> 00:49:32,525 to get to this final point. 851 00:49:36,060 --> 00:49:39,630 People carrying their kids for hundreds of miles 852 00:49:39,759 --> 00:49:43,979 to make it to a point like Sandusky in hiding, 853 00:49:44,111 --> 00:49:46,641 waiting for an opportunity to get on a boat, 854 00:49:46,766 --> 00:49:48,546 to get this far. 855 00:49:54,556 --> 00:49:57,336 And still the possibility that somebody can come 856 00:49:57,472 --> 00:49:59,002 and snatch me 857 00:49:59,126 --> 00:50:03,566 and drag me all the way back into slavery. 858 00:50:07,613 --> 00:50:09,443 And then the rare instance 859 00:50:09,571 --> 00:50:12,971 of numbers of them who decided 860 00:50:13,097 --> 00:50:18,447 I'm going back to help others get free 861 00:50:18,580 --> 00:50:21,150 and doing it a number of times. 862 00:50:22,976 --> 00:50:24,456 Some of them going back and getting caught 863 00:50:24,586 --> 00:50:26,066 and killed. 864 00:50:28,590 --> 00:50:31,160 But the drive for freedom is universal. 865 00:50:38,035 --> 00:50:41,335 Their sacrifice, their drive 866 00:50:41,473 --> 00:50:44,693 is what made it possible 867 00:50:44,824 --> 00:50:47,134 for me to be here. 868 00:50:52,875 --> 00:50:54,265 Got it. 869 00:51:02,798 --> 00:51:04,888 Our team tracked down this poem 870 00:51:05,018 --> 00:51:07,538 by a gentleman by the name of Joshua Simpson. 871 00:51:07,673 --> 00:51:09,813 He was at the forefront 872 00:51:09,936 --> 00:51:14,456 of gathering the slaves here 873 00:51:14,593 --> 00:51:18,253 and ferrying them over 874 00:51:18,379 --> 00:51:19,989 to Canada for freedom. 875 00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:24,430 "I'm on my way to Canada, that cold and distant land." 876 00:51:24,559 --> 00:51:28,869 "The dire effects of slavery, I can no longer stand." 877 00:51:28,998 --> 00:51:30,258 "Farewell, old master," 878 00:51:30,391 --> 00:51:33,131 "don't come after me." 879 00:51:33,264 --> 00:51:37,704 "I'm on my way to Canada, where colored men are free." 880 00:51:42,490 --> 00:51:43,930 Okay. 881 00:52:01,030 --> 00:52:02,820 Thank you.