Dred Scott was a harbinger of the Civil War. An enslaved man claimed freedom because his owner had taken him into free territory. Not only did the Supreme Court rule that Dred Scott and his wife were to remain enslaved, but it also ruled...

Photographs of slaves during the Civil War and war memories of former slaves during that conflict. Links to two separate resources can be found here, each focusing on the war memories of former slaves.

A collection of 41 images depicting African American slaves in the Civil War era from the New York Public Library.

A digital collection of advertisements for runaway and captured slaves in the period before the American Civil War. In addition, there are historical documents related to slavery. Gives the option of browsing or doing a detailed search....

This collection uses primary sources to explore Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

A document on Reconstruction written by Fredrick Douglass. He argues particularly for voting rights for blacks as the most necessary step to avoid the kinds of state's rights conflicts that brought about the Civil War.

This autobiography of an African-American man relates his experiences as a free laborer in Georgia after the Civil War. You will see that he felt his conditions were not unlike the slavery that existed before the Civil War. From the...

Online exhibit of primary source documents related to the 13th Amendment after the Civil War and the end to slavery.

A collection uses primary sources to explore the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

This collection uses primary sources to compare and explore the relationships between Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.

A collection that uses primary sources to explore the American Abolitionist Movement.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Toni Morrison's Beloved.

This primary source set uses documents, illustrations, and maps to explore events and ideas that drove the formation of the Confederate States of America and the United States' descent into civil war. Includes a teacher's guide.

Read the text of the 13th Amendment, adopted in January, 1865, even before the end of the Civil War, which ended slavery in the United States. Click on the image to see a larger picture of the document itself.

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

Writing in the 1840s, Lydia M. Child tells the story of ex-slavers living in Virginia. Demonstrates the complexity of the abolition debate in Pre-Civil War America.

This is the text and audio of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, an anti-slavery novel published in 1852, that was said to "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War." It was the best-selling novel of the 19th...

Here you can find the full text of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln in September 1862, and passed into law on January 1, 1863.

This site from PBS provides letters by Julia Louisa Lovejoy written in 1855-1863 describe anti-slavery efforts in Kansas.

A copy and transcription of the 13th Amendment which ended slavery. The sidebar gives a brief overview of emancipation and what led to this amendment.

An original 13th amendment restricting lawyers from serving in government that was supposedly ratified in 1819 and removed from the U.S. Constitution during the Civil War.

An outstanding, interactive copy of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the legislation that repealed the Missouri Compromise. Historical context included, as well as links to larger images, a typed transcript, and a downloadable PDF file.