[5][6] When Kunta reaches the age of 15, he and other boys undergo a semi-secretive tribal rite of passage, under the Kintango, which includes wrestling, circumcision, philosophy, war-craft, and hunting skills.

Meanwhile, Captain Thomas Davies meets Vilars, the owner of a cargo ship named Lord Ligonier, and is given command of the vessel in order to trade goods between England, Africa and America.

After learning that Slater is an expert in the field, having undertaken many similar voyages previously, Davies eventually grants him total authority and control over all procedures for ensuring their safe and secure passage to America.

The bird escapes from the safety of the training area, and during the chase, Kunta crosses paths with Gardner's small party of European slave hunters and their captives.

Shortly after his ceremonial return, while fetching wood outside his village to make a drum for his younger brother Lamin, Kunta is captured by Gardner and four black collaborators.

During the voyage, Kunta bonds with a Yoruba wrestler who was part of his manhood training, as well as a Mandinka girl named Fanta whom he met shortly before his kidnapping.

An insurrection among the human cargo fails to take over the ship, but results in the death of Mr. Slater, several crew members and several Africans, including the wrestler.

Although Kunta gradually warms up to Fiddler, he wants to preserve his Mandinka (and Islamic) heritage, and he defiantly refuses to eat pork or accept his Christian name.

Kunta makes several unsuccessful attempts to escape, first breaking his ankle chain with a broken tool blade he finds half buried in a field.

Eventually Kunta submits to a life of servitude, although he never entirely renounces Africa, his faith in Islam, nor his hope of returning home.

Bell bears a daughter in 1790, to whom Kunta gives the name Kizzy, which means "stay put" in the Mandinka language (in hopes of ensuring that she will never be sold away).

Dr. Reynolds, although amiable and compassionate toward his slaves, regards the pass and escape to be such an egregious breach of trust that he separately sells both Noah and Kizzy, much to the horror of Bell and Kunta.

Tom Moore, a planter in Caswell County, North Carolina, with a sexual appetite for young female slaves, becomes Kizzy's new owner, and makes her his concubine the night of her arrival.

Kizzy sees her father's grave and his wooden marker; using a small stone, she scratches over the name Toby and writes below it "Kunta Kinte," and promises him that his descendants will be free one day.

In 1831, George realizes his master's true feelings when he and his family are threatened at gunpoint by Moore and his wife, as a result of Nat Turner's Rebellion.

Squire James, Moore's main adversary in the pit, arranges for a British owner, Sir Eric Russell, and twenty of his cocks to visit and to participate in the local fights.

While the war continues to its inevitable end, a hungry and destitute young white couple from South Carolina, George and Martha Johnson, arrive and ask for help, and the slave family take them in.

Later Evan, now an officer in the Confederate cavalry, arrives at the shop, demands to know about Jemmy, gets no answer, and angrily tells Tom that he has not yet finished with him.

After the war, the former owner of the farm Tom works on, Sam Harvey, is forced to surrender all of his property to Senator Arthur Justin, a local politician intent on acquiring as much land as possible.

However, because no written deed has been filed, the senator deems the agreement void and imposes heavy debts on the black farmers as a legal pretext to keep them from leaving the county.

Main cast Also appearing The miniseries was directed by Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman, David Greene, and Gilbert Moses.

Many familiar white TV actors, such as Ed Asner (from The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Chuck Connors (The Rifleman), Lorne Greene (Bonanza and later Battlestar Galactica), Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch), and Ralph Waite (The Waltons) were cast against type as slave holders and traders.

[7] The Museum of Broadcast Communications recounts the apprehensions that Roots would flop, and how this made ABC prepare the format:[8] Familiar television actors like Lorne Greene were chosen for the white, secondary roles, to reassure audiences.

ABC programming chief Fred Silverman hoped that the unusual schedule would cut his network's imminent losses—and get Roots off the air before sweeps week.

The majority of the miniseries' score, including the main "Mural" theme heard during the opening credits, was by veteran composer Gerald Fried.

An album titled Roots: The Saga of an American Family, featuring music from and inspired by the program and re-arranged and conducted by Jones, became a hit for A&M in 1977.

[9][10][11] In explaining the impetus for Jones' version, AllMusic critic Richard S. Ginell noted that the composer "has been threatening to write a long tone poem sketching the history of black music for decades now, and he has yet to do it.

A brief (28 minutes) immaculately produced and segued suite, Roots quickly traces a timeline from Africa to the Civil War, incorporating ancient and modern African influences (with Letta Mbulu as the featured vocalist), a sea shanty, field hollers and fiddle tunes, snippets of dialogue from Roots actor Lou Gossett, and some Hollywood-style movie cues.

"[15] Variety reviewed it positively, summarizing, "The production and performances are strong, with newcomer LeVar Burton effective as the African youngster trapped into slavery.

The ensemble cast includes Forest Whitaker as Fiddler, Anna Paquin as Nancy Holt, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Tom Lea, Anika Noni Rose as Kizzy, Tip "T.I."