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

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 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