The Contradictions of Fair Hope

July 1865. Over 4 million slaves have been freed. Forced to roam the antebellum countryside, many of them are ill prepared and unable to cope with the realities of their newfound freedom. This documentary examines a little known aspect of American history, when newly freed slaves throughout the South formed "benevolent societies" to respond to the abject hunger, illness and the fear of a pauper's grave.