Learn about the history of slavery and manumission in slaveholding families in a pre-Civil War United States in this clip from Finding Your Roots. Anjelica Huston’s fifth great-grandfather was a slave owner in Maryland with a secret kept until his death: He had fathered four children with one of his slaves, and in an uncommon move, acknowledged his paternity and outlined his request for their eventual freedom in his will.  

Was his will followed? Was it an act of humanity or familial duty? Students will discuss how this act relates to the burgeoning abolitionism movement.