These images show enslaved people laboring in fields in Georgia and South Carolina.

Thomas was born into slavery and lived a harsh life, but he was finally able to escape and reunite with his family.

William Wells Brown was born into slavery and later escaped to become one of the foremost supporters of abolition.

Patty, a young enslaved girl, shares some insight about life on a South Carolina plantation.

In the face of extreme punishment for enslaved people and breaking the law for whites, roughly 5 percent of the enslaved population learned to read and write. Letters like the ones written below show the lengths they would go to learn.

Young Delia learns a hard lesson from her papa about what it means to be enslaved on George Washington’s plantation.

The "Cotton is King" speech given by Senator James Henry Hammond before the U. S. Senate on March 4, 1858.