Slavery and the Making of America, Vol.

1: The Downward Spiral was a

documentary film that set out to inform the reader about the connection
between the African slave trade and the prosperity of some of Americas
most profitable cities and regions. It begins by telling us about a group it
calls The First Eleven, which refers to the first eleven slaves that arrived in
America. This section details the heritage and lifestyles of the first slaves
that arrived in this country. As the film progresses we learn about what rights
slaves had and about the lives and trials of some slaves that the
documentary names, such as Emmanuel Driggins. Overall, this movie
effectively provides little known, important information about the
foundations of slavery and how it helped build America; at the same time,
the movies lack of realistic visual portrayal of slave life may disappoint some
viewers.
This documentary was full of information that is not taught in schools.
For example, when we think of the slave trade, we think of large groups of
bodies, but this documentary shows that that is not how it all began. It takes
us to the very first slaves brought to this country and goes so far as to tell us
their names, which we learn shows their European heritage, an interesting
fact that we may not have known previously. Also, from the beginning of the
movie, we see white indentured servants and black slaves co-minglingit is
even said at one point that life as a slave included more rights than life as an
indentured servant. There is an entire section of the documentary devoted to
talking about the rights of slaves, which we traditionally consider slaves not

to have. The section talks about how slaves used their position as the
foundation of the colony to bargain for their rights. They had the right to
earn and keep wages and although slavery is still very harsh, it is
unregulated and there is so social stigma attached to being black.
This changes as time goes on and the documentary does a great job of
pinpointing the exact time period that it changed in. The story of John Punch
illustrates how the law began to discriminate against black people. In 1640,
John Punch, a black slave, and two white indentured service attempted to
escape. When brought before the court, the two white servants were
sentenced to three more years of servitude and John Punch was sentenced
for life. From this point on, there is no co-mingling between blacks and
whites. Where slaves and indentured servants, black and white, used to be
equal, there is now division. The laws begin to change and more and more
restrictions are placed on the black body and there are less and less
opportunities to obtain freedom.
The documentarys use of the stories of the lives of specific lives are
extremely effective because it helps us to see the trials of slave life. The
story of Emmanuel Driggins is very important because it shows the effect of
slavery over a generation. First, we see broken promises made by Driggins
master, Potts when his family is torn apart and sold. We see the land that he
did own given to the mistress and although he is eventually freed, he cannot
assure freedom for his severed family. Also, we see the life of his daughter
Frances who most notably won a case in court against her master. Frances,

like many slave women, was sexually assaulted and impregnated by her
master multiple times. Despite this invasion of her body, Frances was
dragged into court each time for fornication and having a child out of
wedlock and sentenced to lashings. With this addition, the documentary
does a great job of highlighting the unique plight of the female slave.
Also, the visuals during the telling of Frances story are spot on and
quite ingenious. The most gut-wrenching of all the documentarys visuals are
during the lashings that Frances is sentenced to. Her hands are tied to a post
and the sound of the cracking of the whip and the breaking of the skin are
very loud. I think the aim here is to provoke emotion and it definitely does
that. Also, a more subtle visual seen during the description of Frances
triumph in court. As the narrator describes the impossibility of Frances
winning her case and how she was almost certain to return to her master a
slave, there is an image of Frances walking slowly and solemnly up a flight of
steps as if her enslavement awaits her at the top. However, when it is
revealed that she does the impossible and wins her court case, she is seen
walking triumphantly down the steps, slowly and deliberately. The
documentary describes a cycle of servitude that Frances is sucked into-- after
she is freed, she has no means of supporting herself, so before long, she is
forced back into slavery. The picture of Frances ascending up the steps
solemnly reappears, but this time she does not come down because her
records are lost after a time and it is unknown how her life ended. I think this

image of Frances on the staircase is deliberate and shows attention to

minute detail on the part of the documentary makers.
Another thing that this documentary does very well is show how
America was quite literally built on the backs of slaves. New Amsterdam,
where the First Eleven landed and began laboring would eventually become
New York. The fact that the foundation of one of Americas most profitable
cities was built by slaves is something that we very rarely talk about the
documentary did a great job of bringing that to life. We hear a lot about
slavery being the basis of the southern economy, but rarely do we talk about
it being the basis of the entire American economy. The documentary touches
on the South as well, informing us that Carolina was the very first Slave
Societyits entire economy was based on slavery. Here, we learn about how
colonists stole the rice crop from African slaves. Rice used to be somewhat of
a delicacy where they came from, but when Africans taught the colonists to
grow it, colonists exploited it and used it against them. Here the
documentary does a fantastic job of showing how slavery was not just
physical theft, it was cultural as well.
There were aspects of the film that could have been improved, and
theyre more about quality of production than content. I do not know exactly
what technological capabilities were available at the time this documentary
was filmed, but I do wish that the depictions of slave life would have been
more realistic, even at the risk of it being more grotesque. All of the white
clothing and lack of dirt gives the film a sort of squeaky clean feel, but

slavery is not a squeaky clean topic. I think the pairing of more compelling
visuals with the films interesting and informative content would make it an
even more interesting and accessible learning tool.
Despite its clean cut depiction of slave life, this documentary is full of
information about the slave trade and slave life that may surprise you. The
professionals, although they do not introduce themselves or state their
credentials, are a mixed group; there are black women, white men, black
men and white women telling this story, which makes the documentary
accessible and welcoming to more than just Black people. One negative
aspect of this is that the mix of people lends a sort of credibility to the story
similar to the way that William Lloyd Garrisons introduction to Douglasss
autobiography lends it credit. We should not need a mixed group in order to
confirm for us that history really did go a certain way. Alas, the filmmakers
did a fantastic job of showing the progressive brutality and profitability of
slavery, and it also does a great job depicting that America really was built
on the backs of slaves. This is a great introduction to slavery in America and
a first step towards dissecting the long-term effects of slavery on American
society.