A collection of political cartoons from the 19th century by Thomas Nast. They provide insight into prevailing attitudes on Reconstruction, Chinese immigrants, Native Americans, slavery, and during the Gilded Era.

What religions did slaves bring from Africa to America? This PBS series site provides the historical overview of how early African Americans preserved African spiritual beliefs and practices while enslaved, converted to Christianity, and...

Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, discover how the arts of Africa, Europe, and pre-Civil War America influenced the culture of enslaved African Americans.

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,...

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...

A collection of narratives taken from autobiographies, letters and diaries of slaves. Read the text or listen to the haunting stories.

Find the goals of the American Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1833 by abolitionists in Philadelphia. The object of the group was the immediate abolition of slavery.

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...

Interactive and animated maps and timelines of historical events and time periods in American history from pre-European times until post-World War II.

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,...

Read this detailed narrative to learn about the mistreatment of African Americans long after people thought slavery had ended after the Civil War, but actually persisted into the twentieth century. Based on original documents, photos,...

UNC's resource provides links to download the entire text of "Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave," which was published in 1838. Included are 1838 articles from "The Liberator," in which the authenticity of this narrative is...

This virtual tour of the slave quarters of the Hermitage Plantation tells of the family life of slaves, their skills, and their resistance to the institution of slavery.

MAAP lessons, developed at Teachers College, Columbia University, help teachers at all levels engage in content through stories about building community, resisting slavery, and contributing to New York City's development. Lessons are...

The history of the American Revolution is the focus of this article. Divided into topics and time periods, it makes understanding this historical time easier for students for follow.

A digital collection of some 52 published works by 19th-century black women writers. This collection provides access to the thought, perspectives and creative abilities of black women as captured in books and pamphlets published prior to...

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...

Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...

This Washington State University site provides a decade-by-decade timeline of American literature with historical events going on at the same time. Most topics on the timeline are links to additional information about the author, work,...

Module on African Americans with links to National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum, Northwest African American Museum, and SuSable African American History Museum and numerous videos on various topics including, World War II,...

Article and activity in which students explore the distressful conditions of slavery in the South, answer questions based on the reading, and then participate in writing first person slave narratives for class discussion.

Activity in which students examine the concept of democracy and the idea of a "just society" through the eyes of Abraham Lincoln. Lesson includes questions for discussion and activity in which students prepare a speech on the what they...

Using primary documents, oral histories, and other historical resources, learn how African Americans responded to enslavement prior to the Civil War. Includes interactive exercise.

This collection uses primary sources to explore leaders of Latin American revolutions.