Explore the relationship between geography and economy using primary sources. After examining wills, advertisements, and other primary sources, individuals consider how the Chesapeake Region came to be home first to indentured servants,...

Some of the African-American writers and poets who spoke out eloquently about their experiences of slavery in the 1700s and 1800s are featured in this section of Literature & Life. Read powerful first-person accounts of Harriet...

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,...

An exhibition on African-American history that is inspired by the work of John Hope Franklin (1915-2009), an African-American scholar who studied the historical roots of racial prejudice. The exhibit presents primary documents, texts,...

Five primary source materials on African American history: I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr., My Bondage and Freedom by Frederick Douglass, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, Up From...

A historically significant account of what Reverend Robert Walsh observed on a slave ship off the African coast in 1829.

This discussion by Prof. Peter Wood of Duke University explores what may have allowed the shift from indentured servitude to lifelong slavery for Africans and their children. Click on Teacher's Guide for teacher resources.

This curation, transcription, and interpretation of the Richmond Planet opens a window into fundamental issues of race, equity, justice, violence, and power that still stir the nation today. Thirteen formerly enslaved men formed the...

A great article written by a modern African American woman who reenacted her ancestor's life of slavery. Pictures and great insight into the life of a slave.

Using oral histories and primary sources, the story of slave family life is told.

Image of handwritten copy of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, accompanied by an explanation of the speech's purpose, impact, and role in American history.