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Pro-Slavery Pamphlet, circa 1860
Two pages from a proslavery tract published around 1860 present the contrasting fates of free and unfree labor. After decades of attack from abolitionists, in the 1850s slavery advocates defended plantation slavery as the most efficient and most [...]
A Former Slave Recalls "a Mournful Scene" in the New Orleans Slave Market
In 1841, Solomon Northup, a free African American living in New York, was kidnapped while visiting Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years working on plantations in Louisiana, finally attaining freedom in 1853. His [...]
Virginians Petition to Prevent the Emancipation of Slaves
The spirit of the American Revolution inspired some slaveholders to manumit, or free, their slaves. In 1782, Virginia passed a law that allowed slaveholders to set slaves free in their wills, where before manumission required a special act of the [...]
Slaves Petition the Massachusetts Legislature (short version)
Throughout the revolutionary era, scores of slaves signed petitions that linked their demands for freedom with the cause of American independence. Below is the text of one such petition presented to the Massachusetts legislature.
Scaffolded Reading of "Drawing of an African Burial Ground Grave In Situ"
This brief activity leads students through analysis of an archaeologist's sketch of the grave of an African buried in colonial New York.
Comparison of Slaves and Servants in Colonial New York worksheet
This worksheet helps students compare slaves and indentured servants in colonial society, in particular in New York. It is used as part of the activity "Comparison of Slaves and Servants in Colonial New York."
Slave Laws and Pedro's Walk worksheet
This worksheet will help students complete the activity "Colonial New York Slave Codes: Pedro's Walk."
Doing as They Can: Slave Life in the American South Viewer's Guide
This booklet is curriculum support for the American Social History Project's 30-minute documentary Doing as They Can: Slave Life in the American South. The viewer's guide contains background information on issues raised by the documentary as well [...]
A Historian Explains the Significance of the Fugitive Slave Act
Historian Eric Foner explains why the Fugitive Slave Act was such a divisive political act and a turning point in the sectional conflicts that had plagued American society during the antebellum era. Foner also describes the role of former slaves in [...]
Southern Newspapers Praise the Attack on Charles Sumner
On May 22, 1856 abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts gave a fiery speech denouncing pro-slavery activists in the territory of Kansas and their supporters in the United States Congress. The next day, while Sumner sat defenseless at [...]