PBS
Pbs: Cet: Africans in America: The First Slave Auction at New Amsterdam in 1655
This website contains a general description of the time and reason for the first large slave auction held in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Click on Teacher's Guide for teaching resources.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: The Literature of Upheaval [Pdf]
In this lesson, 8th graders read excerpts from Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe and discuss the impact their ideas about society and slavery had when their books were published. They then examine a...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Sale, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
Two nineteenth century depictions of the emotional brutality of slave auctions-by an enslaved (formerly free) black man and by former slaves-and several recollections of being sold by former slaves recorded during Depression era...
BBC
Bbc News: Focus on the Slave Trade
BBC News offers a short summary of the slave trade from Africa to the Americas. Gives statistics on the number of slaves (estimated at 10 to 28 million), where they went, and the cruel conditions of their enslavement.
Library of Congress
Loc: Learning Page: Pre Civil War African American Slavery
Get an overview of slavery in the South, but also see physical evidence in photographs and historical narratives from slaves of the time.
Curated OER
Eye Witness to History: Slave Trade: Slave Auction
Treated as cattle, the slaves were auctioned off at public auction.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Amistad Slave Ship
Learn about the 1839 Amistad rebellion involving 53 African slaves who had been abducted from Sierra Leone by Spanish slavers being shipped to Cuba.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Slavery in America
Discusses the growth of the slave trade to America, the experiences of slaves, the difference between indentured service and slavery, and how slaves were bought and sold at auction. Describes the lives of slaves, their homes, the...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Westward Expansion and Reform
Part of a longer time line describing the history of the American West, this section covers the period 1829 to 1859 with hyperlinks to stories and people of this time period.