Slavery by Another Name

Slavery by Another Name explores the continuation of slavery long after the Emancipation Proclamation. Challenging the preconceived notion that slavery ended in the United States at the conclusion of the American Civil War, the documentary details the many ways in which slavery continued to exist long after the practice was declared illegal by Abraham Lincoln.

The film examines the transformation of the forced labour system, tracking how slavery adapted during the Reconstruction period. It reveals how Black men were convicted of crimes they did not commit and then coerced into unpaid labour. These men were at the mercy of their new masters, bought and sold on a whim, and left helpless to escape lives they had fought so hard to leave behind. Both the North and South of the United States continued to turn a blind eye to forced labour, allowing it to persist well into the 20th century.