National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Sojourner Truth
A former slave, Sojourner Truth was an advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women's rights in the 19th century.
BBC
Bbc History: British History: Empire: British Anti Slavery
A five-part article describing the British antislave trade movement. All major figures in the abolition movement discussed. Archived.
Other
Unitarian Universalist Biographical Dictionary: Lydia Maria Child
Read about Lydia Child's involvement with the abolition movement and her work in the 19th century women's suffrage movement.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Mosaic: Conflict of Abolition and Slavery
Historical documents trace how the abolitionists virulently decried slavery and denounced those who supported it.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Harriet Tubman: Abolition Activist
In this lesson, by examining two primary sources and watching a short video, students will become familiar with the remarkable bravery and extraordinary accomplishments of the "Moses of her people," Harriet Tubman.
Other
Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography: Maria Weston Chapman
Here is good biography about the life of Maria Chapman and her sisters. Read detailed information concerning their involvement in the abolitionist movement.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Second Great Awakening
This university site offers a detailed summary the U.S. religious revival called the Second Great Awakening. Looks at various religious movements in the early United States.
Social Studies for Kids
Social Studies for Kids: Sojourner Truth: Voice for Abolition and Women
Born into slavery and never able to read or write, Sojourner Truth nonetheless was a tired and famous advocate for both abolition and women's voting rights.
Digital History
Digital History: Pre Civil War Reform: Introduction
A good introduction to the topic of reform movements in Pre-Civil War America. What were the reasons that encouraged reform of many social ills?
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Culture and Reform in the Early Nineteenth Century
Temperance, abolition, and a whole host of other reform movements sprung up in the early nineteenth century. Can you tell a teetotaler from a Transcendentalist? Test your knowledge here.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: Powerful Symbols and Words: Abolitionism & Women's Rights
This collection looks at an image and phrase used widely in abolitionist materials, and at how that symbol was adopted and adapted by Sojourner Truth and/or other women's rights activists. Students will examine an abolitionist medallion...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Antebellum Reform
Nineteenth century United States saw the creation of reform movements: temperance, abolition, school and prison reform, as well as others. This unit traces the emergence of reform movements instigated by the Second Great Awakening and...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: A Pro Slavery Argument, 1857
A lesson that explores the argumments made by pro-slavery proponents in the United States prior to abolition.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: Wake Up, America!
This resource covers the changing of America due to the Industrial Revolution which brought in not only new technology but also opened the door to reform movements. From the series by Joy Hakim, "A History of Us." Includes a teacher's...
The Newberry Library
Newberry Library: Slavery, Civil War, and the "New Birth of Freedom"
Newberry Library presents primary source materials from which students learn about the arguments made for abolition before the Civil War, how the appeals against slavery were framed, and what freedom would mean for the South and the...
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.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Library: Abolitionism in America: Introduction
The introduction of an extensive website from the Cornell University Library, which includes text, documents, and other primary sources in an examination of the anti-slavery movement known as abolitionism.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Perspective on the Slave Narrative
A lesson plan focusing on the the historical context of slave narratives, "Perspective on the Slave Narrative" introduces students to the abolitionist movement and the slave experience.
Other
Smith College: Across the Generations:exploring Us History Through Family Papers
The reform movement during the nineteenth century is explored through original documents. This site gives an overview of the social history of this time period.
Library of Congress
Loc: Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers
The papers of suffragist, reformer, and feminist theorist Elizabeth Cady Stanton cover the years 1814 to 1946, with most of the material concentrated between 1840 and 1902. Consisting of approximately 1,000 items, the collection contains...
Emory University
Lewis H. Beck Center: Child, Lydia: The Stars and Stripes: A Melodrama
Read Lydia Maria Child's "The Stars and Stripes: A Melodrama." This play, originally published in the National Antislavery Standard (1853), served as propaganda for the abolitionist movement.
Other
Personal Site: Biography of Anthony Benezet
A short but good biography of the famous Quaker abolitionist who established a school for slaves in Philadelphia in 1770. He wrote a pamphlet in 1772 which led to the establishment of the anti-slave trade movement in England.
A&E Television
History.com: Black History Milestones
A detailed account of the history of African Americans is presented in this article. Divided by main topics or periods of time, the coming of slavery to America is the first focus. Followed by plantation life and escapes to freedom and...
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Harriet Tubman
This article overviews Harriet Tubman's involvement with the Underground Railroad, her service in the military during the Civil War, and her fight as an activist for African-American and women's rights.