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...
Library of Congress
Loc: Slavery the Peculiar Institution
Opposition to slavery was growing as slaves rebelled, mutinied, or ran escaped from owners. View these resistance strategies through the following primary sources that include art, original maps, testimonies, newspapers, and letters.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Fugitive Slave Harriet Jacobs: Coming Up for Air
Harriet Jacobs escaped from slavery and wrote a book about her life experience. Her autobiography was written in 1861 with the help of an abolitionist.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Frederick Douglass
As a leader in the abolitionist movement Frederick Douglass (1817-1895 CE) was a most inspirational man. This site provides much interesting information including an account of his escape from slavery and his newspaper THE NORTH STAR.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story; Frederick Douglass
As a leader in the abolitionist movement Frederick Douglass (1817-1895 CE) was a most inspirational man. This site provides much interesting information including an account of his escape from slavery and his newspaper THE NORTH STAR.
Read Works
Read Works: Primary Source Texts About Slavery
[Free Registration/Login Required] This nonfiction passage provides two stories about slaves in America with question sets. This passage uses primary source documents to teach reading skills including comparing and contrasting.
C-SPAN
C Span American Writers: Narrative of Frederick Douglass
A brief summary of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Also includes an on-line text of the work as well as links to other informational websites.
University of Richmond
History Engine: Escape Through Death: The Story of Fugitive Margaret Garner
Retells the story of fugitive slave, Margaret Garner, who cut the throat of her three year old child in order to save her from a life of slavery.
PBS
Africans in America: Harriet Jacobs
Read about Harriet Jacobs'(1813-1897 CE) childhood as a slave and her escape from slavery -- the experiences from which she created her slave narrative, "Indidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," which "Was one the first open discussions...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Harriet Tubman
Features a summary of the life of Harriet Tubman, an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American Civil War.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Beloved by Toni Morrison
Beloved is a novel inspired by the true story of Margaret Garner, who escaped with her family from slavery in Kentucky to freedom in Ohio in 1856.
Other
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center features the history of slavery in the United States, from the gallant actions of those who organized the Underground Railroad to stories of those who escaped to freedom. Strategically...
University of North Carolina
Documenting the American South: John Andrew Jackson
Read this exciting recollection of John Andrew Jackson in his book, "The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina, "published in 1862. Find out about his experiences as a slave and his escape. Included are illustrations, biographical...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Britannica Kids: 300 Women Who Changed History: Harriet Tubman
Encyclopedia Britannica provides a biography of Harriet Tubman (1820-1913), an escaped slave from Maryland who later became one of the Underground Railroad's most famous "Conductors."
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: The Underground Railroad
Provides a summary and fun facts about the Underground Railroad, a secret organization that helped slaves escape from the bondage of slavery in the Southern slave states to freedom in the free states, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Washington State University
Washington State University: Literary Movements: The Slave Narrative
In addition to defining "Slave Narrative," this website includes information on the styles and influences associated with slave narratives. Also provided, are links to several examples of nineteenth- and twentieth-century slave narratives.
PBS
Pbs: African American Migration Story: Many Rivers to Cross
A detailed presentation illustrating the history of Africans migrating to the Americas from as early as 1500 through the late 1860's. Review the distribution of Africans in North and South America, the initial settlements, escaped and...
PBS
Pbs: Levi Coffin's Underground Railroad Station
This site from PBS provides an excerpt from a historical document written by Levi Coffin about his Cincinnati Underground Railroad Station.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Follow the Drinking Gourd
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart is based upon the book, Follow the Drinking Gourd.
AdLit
Ad lit.org: Reading Discussion Guide: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Arguably Mark Twain's most famous novel - indeed, one of the greatest works of American literature - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn brings together two people from the lower rungs of society, an ill-educated boy escaping an abusive...
NASA
Nasa Quest: Follow the Drinking Gourd Lessons
A series of lessons for students from elementary through high school on how escaping slaves would use the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" to guide them to freedom.
New York Public Library
Aame: Runaway Journeys: The Underground Railroad in the 19th Century
A great map showing the pathways of escape on the Underground Railroad throughout the United States. From the Schomburg Center for Research. You can also find a map of routes in the 18th century. Students can see the progression of...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Making of African American Identity: Canada
Descriptions of fugitive slave communities in Canada and comments from those who escaped to these locations as well as welcoming statements to fugitive slaves in the mid-nineteenth century.
Curated OER
Frederick Douglass
Excerpts from the narrative of Frederick Douglass' escape from slavery in 1838. Includes photographs and references. Provided by EyeWitness to History.