Plot Synopsis

Executive produced and led by Samuel L. Jackson, ENSLAVED is a six-episode docuseries that explores 400 years of human trafficking from Africa to the New World. Based on a DNA test identifying his ancestral tribe, the series traces Jackson's personal journey from the U.S. to Gabon for his induction into the Benga tribe, with rare and unprecedented access to secret ceremonies and local customs. Using new diving technology -- such as advanced 3D mapping and ground-penetrating radar -- to locate and examine sunken slave ships on three continents, the series reveals an entirely new perspective on the history of the transatlantic slave trade. The series also tracks the efforts of Diving With a Purpose (DWP), a collaborating organization with The National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS), as they search for and locate six slave ships that sank drowning the enslaved humans aboard. Featuring the most dives ever made on sunken slave ships, Enslaved also chronicles the first positive identification of a "Freedom Ship," an American schooner that ferried African American runaways to Canada.

Each one-hour episode follows three separate story lines: the quest for a sunken slave ship, a personal journey by Samuel L. Jackson and a historical investigation led by investigative journalists Simcha Jacobovici and Afua Hirsch. Episodes include:

"Cultures Left Behind" (Monday, September 14, 2020): Episode 1 launches the epic story of the transatlantic slave trade. Divers from Diving With a Purpose go in search of sunken slave ships. Hollywood icon Samuel L. Jackson goes on a personal journey to meet the tribe of his ancestors for the first time.

"Rationalization" (Monday, September 21, 2020): Samuel L. Jackson recruits two award-winning journalists to go on a mission to understand the process that led Europeans to see slavery as profitable, rational and justified. Diving With a Purpose divers locate the earliest slave wreck ever found.

"Follow the Money" (Monday, September 28, 2020): Shot on location in Suriname, Brazil, Portugal and the UK, this episode investigates the economics of the slave trade, while searching for a sunken slave ship that represents the single greatest loss of life during the entire slave trade.

"New World Cultures" (Monday, October 5, 2020): Samuel L. Jackson visits Africatown, Alabama, the only African town established in America. The Diving With a Purpose divers help youths in Costa Rica discover their African heritage, by diving and identifying a sunken slave ship off their coast.

"Resistance" (Monday, October 12, 2020): This episode investigates African resistance to slavery in Africa and the "Underground Railroad." The Diving With a Purpose divers embark on an investigation to positively identify a preserved wreck that ferried African Americans to freedom.

"Abolition" (Monday, October 19, 2020): The final episode explores the politics that brought the enslavement of Africans in the West to an end. Diving with a Purpose divers search for "The London," a ship that re-enslaved freed Africans from St. Lucia and illegally trafficked them to England.