Slaves & Slavery

North American Slave Narratives: Beginnings to 1920

This collection "documents the individual and collective story of the African American struggle for freedom and human rights in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Available here for the first time will be all the narratives of fugitive and former slaves published in broadsides, pamphlets, or book form in English up to 1920. Also included are many of the biographies of former slaves published in English before 1920."

Slavery and Abolition in Antebellum America

This is a unit from an online course on U.S. history from 1815 to 1850. From the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia.

Third Person, First Person: Slave Voices from the Special Collections Library

"These web pages are based on the catalog of an exhibit mounted at Perkins Library, Duke University, in November and December, 1995. Some of the items described here were too large or fragile to be scanned, so images of them were not included in the on-line version even though descriptions of the items are."

The Museum of Slavery in the Atlantic

The Museum of Slavery in the Atlantic is designed as a 'site of memory' to the enslavement of Africans in modern times. The site aims to enhance public memory of the life experiences and valuable contributions of enslaved Africans and of the many legacies and tragedies of slavery and the slave trade.

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers Project, 1936-1940

This is a searchable database. For ex-slave narratives, enter "slave" or "objector" or other term in the search box, and press "SEARCH".

Excerpts From Slave Narratives

Brief sections of interviews with former slaves, conducted after emancipation. From the University of Houston.

A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison

A very interesting view of one of our earliest presidents, through the eyes of Paul Jennings, a former slave. From White House History.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

One of the most eloquent autobiographies written, by one of the dominant characters of the nineteenth century, Frederick Douglass, a former slave.

Up From Slavery: an Autobiography

One of the most famous autobiographies of all times, written by Booker T. Washington, a former slave who became an extraordinary scientist, educator, and leader.

Documenting the African American Experience

This site, part of the University of Virginia Virtual Library, has links to various documents by and about African Americans. Includes: A narrative of the most remarkable particulars in the life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African prince, written by himself, an exciting and informative biographical narrative of an African prince's journey from freedom to slavery; Deliverance of Briton Hammon, a narrative of Briton Hammon, a black servant who returned to Boston, after having been absent almost thirteen years, contains an account of his being shipwrecked and castaway in 1747, his many hardships and eventual return to Boston; and An Address to the Negroes in the State of New York ..., in which a loyal slave of New York gives advice to other blacks in the state.

African American History

The full text of historical documents and other resources related to African American history.

African American Odyssey

The full text of historical documents and other resources related to African American history. See specific links to Slavery: The Peculiar Institution; Free Blacks in the Antebellum Period; and Abolition, Anti-Slavery Movements, and the Rise of the Sectional Controversy. (American Memory Project, Library of Congress)

The African-American Mosaic Exhibit

This exhibit "is the first Library-wide resource guide to the institution's African- American collections. Covering the nearly 500 years of the black experience in the Western hemisphere, the Mosaic surveys the full range size, and variety of the Library's collections, including books, periodicals, prints, photographs, music, film, and recorded sound." (Library of Congress)

African American History Pages

Links to various sites on the Web dealing with African American history (part of the Universal Black Pages at Georgia Tech.)

Civil Rights Law

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

The law with respect to those who would escape from their enslavement.

Constitution - Amendment XIII

The Constitutional amendment which freed the slaves.

Constitution - Amendment XIV

The Constitutional amendment which led to equal rights for minorities.

Civil Rights: U.S. Code: Title 42, Chapter 21

The legacy of the long struggle for equality might be seen in the U.S. laws related to civil rights. This is the actual text of the current federal laws related to civil rights.

Abolition & Abolitionists

From the United States Chronicle, Thursday, February 19th, 1784

An anti-slavery letter written to a Providence, Rhode Island, newspaper

A Plea for Captain John Brown.

Henry David Thoreau's extended examination of the famous militant abolitionist, John Brown.

William Penn, Quaker Universalist

Some background information as to the beliefs the Quaker leader, who is known as the founder of Pennsylvania.

Journal of John Woolman

John Woolman was one of the members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) who led the abolitionist movement, which caused its members to officially denounce and oppose slavery by the late 1700's. This is his journal.

Abolition 2000 and the Movement to Abolish Slavery

The text of a speech about the contemporary movement to abolish nuclear weapons.