His name was Kunta Kinte. Kidnapped from Africa and enslaved in America in 1767, he refused to accept his slave name of Toby. Heirs kept his heroic defiance alive, whispering the name of Kunta Kinte.

Despite a violent rebellion, the slave ship Lord Ligonier completes its voyage and Kunta Kinte endures the indiginity of an Annapolis slave auction.

In 1776, a nation fights for freedom...but not for all. Kunta Kinte escapes again and is crippled by slave catchers. He marries, gains a daughter and loses his long-time friend Fiddler.

At age 16, Kizzy is sold and bears her new master's son, who grows up to become fun-loving Chicken George. Yearning to see her parents, Kizzy is comforted by Samuel Bennett, but they are ill-matched.

Chicken George is sent to England as payment for his owner's gambling debt. Fourteen years later, he returns home a free man, a status that has a profound effect on the family begun by Kunta Kinte.

The Civil War is over but night riders terrorize ex-slaves. By marking his clients' horseshoes, Tom identifies the raiders but endangers his own life.