text
Visual
Stowage on the Slave Ship Brookes, 1788
This 18th century sketch depicts how enslaved people were packed into ships on the Middle Passage.
January 4, 2018
52 Results
text
Literature
The Confederate Spy: A Story of the War of 1861
This is an excerpt from a work of fiction about the Civil War. It expresses a pro-Northern view while at the same time arguing that enslaved persons do not desire freedom.
December 15, 2017
text
Informational
Inaugural Editorial
William Lloyd Garrison’s "Inaugural Editorial" was published in the first issue of The Liberator, an influential radical abolitionist newspaper, on January 1, 1831.
July 7, 2014
text
Informational
The American Slave Code in Theory and Practice (1853)
This argument from William Goodell underscores the moral and legal precedents used to break up families for commodification.
December 14, 2017
text
Informational
War with Mexico
In his editorial, Douglass argues that the Mexican War was a mechanism to expand slavery.
January 5, 2018
text
Informational
An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America
Henry Highland Garnet was an African-American abolitionist, minister, educator and newspaper editor. Garnet delivered “An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America” at the National Negro Convention in Buffalo, N.Y., on Aug. 16, 1843.
July 2, 2014
text
Informational
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” was a speech given by abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, N.Y., at an event commemorating American independence.
July 3, 2014
text
Visual
Poster Warning Blacks in Boston: Kidnappers
The Fugitive Slave Law, passed September 18, 1850, denied a jury trial to any individual accused of escaping from slavery.
December 15, 2017
text
Informational
Frederick Douglass Describes Enslavers
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.
January 6, 2018
text
Visual
Punishment and Brutality
Enslavers used harsh and punishments to force enslaved people obey them. These images show these punishments. This text contains sensitive images that may not be suitable for all students.
January 28, 2020