Library of Congress
Loc: African American Mosaic: Influence of Prominent Abolitionists
See documents and pictures of those actively involved in the anti-slavery movement. From the Library of Congress.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: From Courage to Freedom:frederick Douglass's 1845 Autobiography
In this 3-lesson unit, students will read Douglass's narrative. They will analyze Douglass's vivid first-hand accounts of the lives of slaves and the behavior of slave owners to see how he successfully contrasts reality with romanticism...
University of Groningen
American History: Biographies: Frederick Douglass
This article provides extensive excerpts from "The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass." This is a lot of information about the great abolitionist and orator written by himself.
Digital History
Digital History: Explorations: John Brown: Hero or Terrorist?
Comprehensive account explores John Brown, the Attack at Harper's Ferry, and his trial. You decide if he was a hero or a terrorist.
![C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Is Freedom Free? [Pdf] Unit Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Is Freedom Free? [Pdf] Unit Plan")
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers: u.s. History Module: Is Freedom Free? [Pdf]
A comprehensive learning module on the impact of emancipation on ex-slaves that includes three supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and primary source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Topics covered...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: How to Read a Slave Narrative
This essay, written by English professor William L. Andrews, explores slave narratives and their influence in American literature in the late nineteenth century up to modern times.
Digital History
Digital History: Radical Reform and Antislavery
Find a comprehensive history of the anti-slavery movement and how it fit into the larger reform movements of the first half of the 19th century.
University of Nebraska
U. Of Nebraska: Railroads and Making of Modern America: Origins of Segregation
Primary source materials that focus on the segregation of African Americans that took place on the railroads in the 1800s. Content includes newspaper articles, anecdotal accounts, letters, legal cases, etc.
PBS
Pbs: The Black Press: Newspapers
At this PBS site, read about the histories of eight African-American newspapers: The Chicago Defender, The California Eagle, The Afro-American, The Pittsburgh Courier, Amsterdam News, Atlanta Daily World, Freedom's Journal, and Norfolk...
PBS
Pbs: This Far by Faith
Follow the spiritual journey of African Americans as you move along a timeline of major events and eras. Excellent coverage of the importance of spiritualism, religions, and faith in the African American community. Major religious...
PBS
The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro
This PBS site provides an introduction and the full text to the speech written and given by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1853 commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Other
University of Delaware: Abraham Lincoln: A Bicentennial Celebration
Commemorating Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, this exhibition provides several documents and photographs remembering the President's life. Resources cover his political career, slavery, the civil war and his assassination.
Other
Abolitionists, Free Blacks, and Runaway Slaves: Surviving Slavery in Maryland
Read about the groups of people who lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the mid-1800s and fought against slavery: the Quakers, former slaves, and fugitive slaves. This article describes the efforts of both whites and blacks, who...
Yale University
Avalon Project: African Americans Biography, Autobiography and History
Five primary source materials on African American history: I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr., My Bondage and Freedom by Frederick Douglass, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, Up From...
University of Michigan
Making of America Books
The complete online text of "My Bondage and My Freedom" by Frederick Douglass is available through University of Michigan Digital Library Text Collections.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Wilberforce, Lincoln, and the Abolition of Slavery
[Free Registration/Login Required] Tour the online original documents that tell a story about the abolition of slavery in both the United States and England. Click on the tiny "next" above the text to go through the interactive.
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia: My Escape From Slavery
The full text of a famous work by Frederick Douglass that made a huge impact on the abolitionist movement.
PBS
Pbs: Literature & Life: From Freedom to Slavery
Some of the African-American writers and poets who spoke out eloquently about their experiences of slavery in the 1700s and 1800s are featured in this section of Literature & Life. Read powerful first-person accounts of Harriet...
Other
New York History Net: The Gerrit Smith Virtual Museum
Find a biography and primary source documents about Gerrit Smith, who was a leader of anti-slavery activities in Syracuse, and nationally. He converted Frederick Douglass to political abolitionism and helped to finance his work.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?"
Explores the argument made by Frederick Douglass and his appeals to convince northern whites to oppose slavery and favor abolition. Lesson content includes resources for both teachers and students.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Slavery and Freedom: Frederick Douglass
This concise biography presents author/journalist Frederick Douglass, who was groundbreaking in his slave narratives and establishing "The North Star" abolitionist periodical in mid-nineteenth-century America. See "Frederick Douglass...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Race and Identity in Antebellum America
This unit features authors of Antebellum America and how they portray the American identity through their literature. Click on the tabs to explore the various resources available to enhance this unit.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Black Troops in Union Blue
Activity on African American troops in the Union Army. Students read article for background information, answer questions, then analyze and write about the controversies in a piece to be published in a mock Frederick Douglass's Paper.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: American Literature and Comp: Realism: Frederick Douglass
This lesson focuses on Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who lectured for the Anti-Slavery Society and wrote of his experiences in his three autobiographies. It includes a PDF of "The Battle with Mr. Covey" from The Narrative of the...