AP African American Studies Resource Archive | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

A black-and-white engraving of Solomon Northup, a Black man wearing a white hat, shirt, and pants, sitting on a box, a broomstick leaning against his left arm. Below the image, the name Solomon Northup in handwriting and the words "In his plantation suit"

Solomon Northup Remembers the New Orleans Slave Market

1853

Read an excerpt from Northup’s autobiographical account, Twelve Years a Slave.

Primary Source

The Capture of Black Seminoles

1836

Read Gen. Thomas Jesup’s diary entries from the Second Seminole War.

Primary Source

An engraving of a stately building with a rotunda topped with a Haitian flag

“Lecture on Haiti”

1893

Read an excerpt from Frederick Douglass’s lecture on the importance of Haiti in the abolition of slavery.

Primary Source

An engraving of President Thomas Jefferson, a White man with white hair, wearing a white shirt and dark jacket.

Virginia Asks to Send Rebels to Sierra Leone

1802

Read an outline by Thomas Jefferson for a plan to send rebellious enslaved people to Sierra Leone in Africa.

Primary Source

Letter from the Governor of East Florida

1739

Read a letter that points to the conflicts and alliances between the Spanish, English, Africans, and Native Americans in border regions of the Southeast.

Primary Source

A shirtless and shoeless Black man wearing white pants and a sword along his right leg while brandishing a rifle with both hands and identified as "Leonard Parkinson, a Captain of the Maroons."

“Leonard Parkinson, a Captain of the Maroons”

1769

View a depiction of a maroon community leader.

Primary Source

“Negro Abraham”

1863

View a depiction of a Black Seminole leader.

Primary Source

An engraving of a Black man identified as "Gopher John." wearing a feathered headdress and tunic. standing on a riverbank as two people paddle a canoe in the background

“Gopher John, Seminole Interpreter”

1863

View a depiction of this Seminole leader and interpreter.

Primary Source

Alain Locke, a Black man, wearing a white suit, vest, and shirt, and a dark tie.

“Negro Youth Speaks”

1925

Read an excerpt from Alain Locke’s book The New Negro, a cornerstone of the New Negro movement.

Primary Source

Cover page for "Le Code Noir ou Edit Du Roy," featuring a royal seal at the top of the page and a round stamp from the Bibliotheque National.

Louisiana Code Noir

1724

Read a revision to the Code Noir, developed following slave codes in English colonies.

Primary Source

Arkansas Petition for Freedmen’s Rights

1869

Read a petition on behalf of formerly enslaved African Americans on indigenous territory requesting tribal citizenship and benefits.

Primary Source

Excerpts from the United States Constitution

1787

Read the three-fifths, transatlantic slave trade, and fugitive slave clauses, none of which explicitly referenced slavery or enslaved people.

Primary Source

AP African American Studies Resource Library

Solomon Northup Remembers the New Orleans Slave Market

1853

The Capture of Black Seminoles

1836

“Lecture on Haiti”

1893

Virginia Asks to Send Rebels to Sierra Leone

1802

Letter from the Governor of East Florida

1739

“Leonard Parkinson, a Captain of the Maroons”

1769

“Negro Abraham”

1863

“Gopher John, Seminole Interpreter”

1863

“Negro Youth Speaks”

1925

Louisiana Code Noir

1724

Arkansas Petition for Freedmen’s Rights

1869

Excerpts from the United States Constitution

1787

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