National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: From Courage to Freedom:frederick Douglass's 1845 Autobiography
In this 3-lesson unit, students will read Douglass's narrative. They will analyze Douglass's vivid first-hand accounts of the lives of slaves and the behavior of slave owners to see how he successfully contrasts reality with romanticism...
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.
University of Virginia
University of Virginia Electronic Text Center: African American Resources
A collection of primary source materials on African American history. Much of it is about slavery and racism. There are many slave narratives here, letters, essays, and biographical materials, and some of the names are well known ones,...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Slavery and Freedom: Frederick Douglass
This concise biography presents author/journalist Frederick Douglass, who was groundbreaking in his slave narratives and establishing "The North Star" abolitionist periodical in mid-nineteenth-century America. See "Frederick Douglass...
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.
University of North Carolina
Unc: Charles Ball: Fifty Years in Chains
Here, read the entire text to "Fifty Years in Chains; or, The Life of an American Slave," which was written by Charles Ball and originally published in 1859.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
History Is Fun: Life at Jamestown [Pdf]
An extensive collection of resources for learning about the colony of Jamestown. Includes essays, lesson plans, biographies, the economics of tobacco, information about laws, leadership, and a culminating project where students design a...
Thinkport Education
Thinkport: Read Like This: A Strategy for Analyzing Literary Nonfiction
Read, analyze and answer text-dependent questions about several excerpts from a famous slave narrative called The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Religion: Frederick Douglass
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
Digital History
Digital History: American Ethnic Literature
Educated white men weren't the only ones contributing to a truly American literature. Read about the literature written by Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Irish Americans. All added to the melting pot of...
PBS
Pbs's Africans in America: Equiano's Autobiography
Chapter two of "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano," the autobiography of a man abducted from Africa and forced into slavery before later obtaining his freedom. This chapter details his capture and eventual journey...
PBS
Africans in America: Equiano's Autobiography
From a larger site from PBS' Africans in America, blurb about Olaudah Equiano and his autobiography with a link to text of this historical document.
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...
Other
Slavery in New England: Anti Slavery Literature in the Mid 19th Century
An essay regarding anti-slavery literature in the mid-19th century, includes talk about the slave narrative.
US National Archives
Docsteach: Twelve Years a Slave
Students will examine several documents related to the life of Solomon Northup, whose life story is told in his autobiography Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841...
Washington State University
Washington State University: Douglass and Development of Slave Narrative
Here are lecture notes on Frederick Douglass and the slave narrative. Learn about the style and content of slave narratives by looking specifically at the characteristics of Douglass' "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" (1845),...
University of North Carolina
First Person Narratives of the American South: Twenty Nine Years a Slave
Here at this site from the University of North Carolina, read the full text of Henry Clay Bruce's (1836-1902) book, "The New Man: Twenty-Nine Years a Slave, Twenty-Nine Years a Free Man." A very interesting account of a former slave of...
CommonLit
Common Lit: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: Excerpt From Ch. 1
A learning module that begins with "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: Excerpt from Ch. 1" by Frederick Douglass, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Olaudah Equiano Recalls the Middle Passage
A learning module that begins with "Olaudah Equiano Recalls the Middle Passage" by Olaudah Equiano, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...
CommonLit
Common Lit: What Slaves Are Taught to Think of the North
A learning module that begins with "What Slaves Are Taught to Think of the North," an excerpt of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Ann Jacobs, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion...
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...
African American Literature Book Club
African American Literature Book Club: Olaudah Equiano
This site from the African American Literature Book Club provides a great narrative on the life of Olaudah Equinao entitled, "They Carry Off As Many As they Can Seize." The text is somewhat in-depth and worth checking out on the subject.
Cengage Learning
Heath Anthology: Olaudah Equiano (1745 1797)
Class lesson and assignment on Olaudah Equiano and his slave narrative, comparing it to other autobiographical narratives of the time. Includes information and comprehension questions.
PBS
Africans in America: Olaudah Equiano
This site from PBS' Africans in America series provides a biography of Olaudah Equiano, one of the many Africans forced to travel the Middle Passage. Links to related entries.