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

GLC09028.01

An African American protests the Fugitive Slave Law

1850

Explore a letter written by a free Black man in Boston.

Primary Source

A Black soldier in a blue Union Army uniform (jacket, coat, pants, and hat), holding a rifle on his right shoulder with a slight smile on his face.

Historical Context: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

by Steven Mintz

Get some key facts on Black service during the Civil War.

Teacher Resources

Scan of a book page with the text of a law passed in Virginia in 1662.

Study Aid: Slavery and the Law in Seventeenth-Century Virginia

1662–1691

Explore a timeline of laws pertaining to slavery in Virginia from 1662 to 1691.

Teacher Resources

A simple, printed broadside on aged paper, with a statement at the top and columns of New York locations and population numbers below.

Slavery in the New York State Census

ca. 1800

Examine this broadside, which included a count of enslaved people in New York State.

Primary Source

A broadside shows multiple diagrams of a single ship seen from different views. The views illustrate hundreds of captive Africans laying down shoulder to shoulder on multiple layers of the ship.

Slavery and Abolition

1788, 1789

Explore primary sources that worked as propaganda tools for the anti-slavery movement.

Guided Readings

A certificate, with a seal at left reading "Lex in Tenebris" in Latin surrounding a schooner, a flying dove holding a piece of paper reading "Liberia," and a rising sun in the right of the seal. At right, palm tree leaves, with the signature of James Madison below.

American Colonization Society membership certificate

1833

Learn more about this document signed by James Madison.

Primary Source

A typed pamphlet

A Journal of the Proceedings in the Detection of the Conspiracy

1744

Read an excerpt from a 1741 revolt of enslaved people, free Black people, and “Some White People” in colonial New York.

Primary Source

A page from the typed New-York Weekly Journal newspaper.

Slave Revolt in the West Indies

1733

This newspaper article recalls a revolt of enslaved people on the Caribbean island of St. John.

Primary Source

Scan of a page from Phillis Wheatley's book of poems, 1773.

Phillis Wheatley’s poem on tyranny and slavery

1772

Take a deep dive into one of Wheatley's best-known poems.

Primary Source

Aged paper with text of different sizes and fonts, the top of which says, "178 Sugar and Cotton Plantation Slaves!"

Auction catalog of enslaved people from Louisiana

1855

Explore this primary source to learn about the process of buying and selling enslaved people in 1855.

Primary Source

Scan of a warrant for eight pounds and five shillings owed to soldier, Sharp Liberty. Signed "X"' by Liberty and J. Lawrence, treasurer.

An African American soldier’s pay warrant

1780

Learn more about this pay warrant issued to soldier Sharp Liberty for his service in the Continental Army.

Primary Source

1808 Engraving of the deck and hold of a slave ship illustrating how little space enslaved people had on board

The Middle Passage

1749

Scrutinize an image and a letter that address the experience of kidnapped Africans on a slave ship.

Primary Source