K12 Reader
Her Story: Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth is one of the most prominent faces of the abolitionist movement, but what was her life in slavery like? Learn more about her early years with a reading comprehension resource that provides a short passage from her...
Curated OER
The Roots of Slavery
Young scholars conduct research about the Civil War and the slavery movement. They examine primary and secondary resources. The use of the internet and web slides are resources made available for students to make cognitive connections.
Lesson Planet
New Books for Black History Month
Suggested books to help students better understand African American history.
Curated OER
Free Black Entrepreneur
Students research using the Internet, study books, reference sources, newspapers, and magazines for information about successful black business people and write a research paper. They may also interview entrepreneurs in their community...
Curated OER
Where Blues And Jazz Started
In this music history worksheet, students will read five paragraphs about the history of blues and jazz music and respond to 10 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Simulated Underground Railroad Experience
Students participate in a unit that focuses on the Underground Railroad of the Civil War Period of History. The intent of the unit is realized in the culminating activity of going to many different stations to interact for different...
Curated OER
Where Blues and Jazz Started
In this blues and jazz music worksheet, students read about the origins and basic concepts of blues and jazz music in 2 brief articles. Students then respond to 12 short answer questions regarding the music with its roots in slavery times.
Curated OER
The Weeping Time
High schoolers research the events described as: In March of 1857, the largest sale of human beings in the history in the United States took place at a racetrack in Savannah, Georgia. During the two days of the sale, raindrops fell...
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.