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After serving a 19-year sentence, Jean Valjean ends up on the Lord Bishop's doorstep, where he is offered a warm meal and bed to sleep in. Although he steals from the bishop, in the end, he earns redemption and a second chance thanks to the bishop's wise and caring ways.

Sumter inquires about an enslaved woman named Clarissa, whom Oakes had evidently “advertised” for sale as a “cook & washer.” Among his questions, Sumter inquires specifically whether Clarissa "has had children or miscarried."

King writes to inquire about the availability and price of certain categories of enslaved persons in Charleston, South Carolina. King also makes some general comments about the state of the economy in Milledgeville.

In this specific passage, which comes from the book’s first chapter, Douglass describes his enslavers. The passage focuses on Douglass’s memory of his first encounter with the brutality of his enslavers.

In this passage from the autobiography, Jacobs describes her life as a teenager in the household of her enslaver. She describes the sexual advances of her adult male enslaver, as well as the jealousy and ire of her adult female enslaver those advances caused.

In this document, the U.S. government outlined its new policy towards escaped formerly enslaved persons during the Civil War.

Congress asserts the federal government’s right to seize all property of individuals participating in or aiding the insurrection against the U.S. government.

In this letter, Lincoln offers his argument in favor of finishing the war rather than reaching a peace agreement with the Confederate government.

The Fugitive Slave Law, passed September 18, 1850, denied a jury trial to any individual accused of escaping from slavery.

This is the text of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s speech given when the final Confederate monument in the city was taken down.