Curated OER
Freed Slaves
Students are given the identify of a newly freed slave at the end of the Civil War. Students participate in a discussion to explore some of the difficulties and decision making freed slaves had to consider. Students present their...
National Archives (UK)
The National Archives: Black Loyalists
Both free and enslaved black soldiers fought on both sides fo the Revolutionary War. Learn about the Black Loyalists of Canada, and how some slaves earned their freedom through military service. Includes primary source documents.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Making of African American Identity: V. 1, 1500 1865
One hundred and sixty primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the conditions of slavery, the search for identity, the development of a sense of community while enslaved, and the struggles for...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Identity, Making of African American Identity: V. 1, 1500 1865
Forty seven primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the issues facing African Americans as they struggled to carve out identity, work, artistic expression, and citizenship rights.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: The Making of African American Identity: Vol I: 1500 1865: Emancipation
Primary source material on the how enslaved Africans envisioned and pursued freedom and how these ideas affected them after the Civil War.
BBC
Bbc World Service: The Story of Africa: Slavery: Resettlement of Freed Slaves
Discusses the resettlement initiatives in the 1800s when freed slaves were sent to live in Sierra Leone and Liberia in Africa, and some of the difficulties they faced there.
PBS
Pbs: Slave to Sharecropper
This collection of resources examines the life and work of freed slaves after the Civil War. Includes questions and answers on sharecropping in the American South, as well as a personal account from a former slave who became a sharecropper.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University: America Revolution: The First Rhode Island Regiment
Information not only about the First Rhode Island Regiment, a group made up almost entirely of freed slaves, but also a look at the change in the attitude of enlisting African Americans into the Continental Army as the Revolutionary War...
PBS
Africans in America: Venture Smith's Narrative on Buying His Freedom
Here is the original text from Venture Smith's narrative on how he purchased his own freedom and his families, and his life afterwards.
Other
Virtual Jamestown: Laws on Slavery
This site provides the original text of Virginia colonial laws concerning different aspects of slavery for Africans, Native Americans, and indentured servants.
Other
Alabama.gov: Reconstruction
Learn facts about life in the state of Alabama after the Civil War.
![Al Dept of Archives & History: African Americans: Reconstruction Lesson [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Al Dept of Archives & History: African Americans: Reconstruction Lesson [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Al Dept of Archives & History: African Americans: Reconstruction Lesson [Pdf]
With this lesson plan, learners learn about the lives of African Americans during Reconstruction. PDF (requires Adobe Reader).
Other
American Anthropological Association: 1800 1850s: Expansion of Slavery in the Us
Outlines the political events prior to the Civil War as the United States expanded its territories to include new states and conflicts arose over the issue of slavery.
Scholastic
Scholastic: The Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery
Imagine being a slave escaping from the South in 1860, and heading to freedom through the underground railroad. Students will hear from first-person accounts and investigate other primary sources from the 1800s.
University of Pennsylvania
Celebration of Women Writers: Narrative of Sojourner Truth
The complete text of "The Narrative of Sojourner Truth" depicts the life of Sojourner Truth as dictated to Olive Gilbert in 1850.
Other
After Slavery Project: Race, Labor and Politics in Post Emancipation Carolinas
This site is a collaborative work-in-progress involving a team of four scholars based in the US, Ireland and the UK. It consists of ten learning units on topics revolving around the emancipation of slaves in the American South following...
Travel Document Systems
Tds: Liberia: History
A thorough look at the history of Liberia with an emphasis on the civil war and the recent recovery from that unstable time. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.
Travel Document Systems
Tds: Sierra Leone: History
Read about history of Sierra Leone, which has been wracked with civil war, but is now in the process of healing the wounds. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
History: Slavery: Prince Estabrook
Read about the life of Revolutionary War soldier Prince Estabrook and his time as a slave in the northern colonies.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Writing in u.s. History: The Emancipation Proclamation
Assess how the Emancipation Proclamation expanded ideas of freedom and liberty, looking at the antislavery debate that led to the proclamation, the influences on Lincoln's decision, and the provisions of the document. In this interactive...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Freedmen's Bureau
This collection uses primary sources to explore the history, successes, and failures of the Freedmen's Bureau during Reconstruction.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Slave to Free, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
Interviews with and narratives from former slaves who became free and letters from former slaves reflecting on their freedom.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Entrepreneurs, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
Six mid-nineteenth century accounts by free-born black entrepreneurs about their economic activities and struggles. Links to documents describing each trade are provided within this well-developed resource.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Poets, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
The writings of four African Americans poets from the late-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries that examine slavery, abolition, and emancipation. These authors include Phillis Wheatley, George Moses Horton, James Whitfield, and...