New ReviewNat Turner's rebellion was a watershed moment in the history of American slavery. Using primary source documents and images, budding historians consider how people reacted to the uprising of enslaved people. Once finished, they consider...

New ReviewFor two days, Nat Turner led an uprising of enslaved people that eventually changed the course of American slavery. Class members explore the timeline of the revolt using an interactive Internet resource. By walking through those days...

Slave narratives and spirituals tell the stories of and preserve the history of generations of African Americans. A five-day interdisciplinary unit brings to life the voices and experiences of these people as class members listen to the...

How do nineteenth-century texts by African American and Native American writers contribute to the country's ideals of freedom and individuality? Learners explore the topic by watching and discussing a video, reading biographies, writing...

A teacher's guide for Kindred provides instructors with a wealth of materials to enrich either a full-class reading or independent study of Octavia E. Butler's popular science fiction novel. The activities are designed to encourage...

The last part of the Underground Railroad interactive prompts individuals to create their own slave narrative based on five writing prompts. Using the previous parts of the interactive as their basis for creating the answers, young...

As the slave narrator reaches the North, he is free but not safe. Young historians explore a scene that explains to learners that even though runaway slaves were free in the North, life was still difficult as they were discriminated...

The journey to escape slavery continues as the slave narrates his exhibition to freedom. He describes how people known as conductors, brakemen, and agents helped him to get from point to point, crossing rivers and reaching safety....

The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. The second part in the journey explores how slaves used the lay of the land and the North Star to escape slavery.

The first part of the Underground Railroad interactive takes learners on a journey of plantation life. Listeners click on different tools in the scene to discover the terrible living and working conditions that slaves went through on...

Excerpts from The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass provide middle schoolers an opportunity to discuss ways to overcome adversity. After reading the passages, class members use the provided questions to discuss Douglass' resilience,...

Challenge the assumptions class members may have about slavery with this excerpt from Harriet Ann Jacobs' narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Included in the packet are text-based and discussion questions based on the reading.

After reading Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one of the most famous slave narratives of all time, learners imagine what it would have been like to experience the small dimensions of her hiding space. They then...

After reading primary and secondary source materials about the life of Henry Bibb, individuals identify a core democratic value Bibb demonstrated and give examples drawn from their readings.

Before delving deeper into the writings of Frederick Douglass or the abolitionist movement, provide some historical background for your pupils with this brief video and gain a more complete understanding of Douglass' vision for a world...

How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...

Young historians read and discuss the work of professional poet George Moses Horton, whose writings convey the complexity and trials of the slave experience in North Carolina. Class members also prepare dramatic presentations of Horton's...

After reading excerpts from Frederick Douglass' autobiography, your pupils will draw on what they've learned about the cruelty of slavery in order to write and present an anti-slavery speech or editorial.

This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.

What is "virtual freedom"? How about "enslaved entrepreneurship"? Class members will learn about these terms and much more as they read the poems and examine the life of George Moses Horton.

In a hands-on learning activity, pupils read about and recreate the experience of Harriet Jacobs, author of one of the most famous slave narratives of all time in which she describes her years of hiding from her master in a...

Pupils have the unique opportunity to learn about the institution of slavery by reading first-hand experiences as described by George Moses Horton, the first slave to publish anti-slavery poetry.

Young historians discover the experiences of runaway slaves after reading the brief biography and narrative excerpt of Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped slavery by having himself shipped away in a crate and popularized his flight in a...

What steps did Henry "Box" Brown take while planning his own escape from slavery? Learners work in groups to analyze segments of Brown's narrative and identify the sequence of the most important events of his story.