Race and the American Constitution: A Struggle Toward National Ideals
by James Oliver Horton
Read how both pro-slavery and anti-slavery movements used the Constitution to promote their beliefs.
The Civil Rights Movement
by Taylor Branch
Read an essay taking a bird's-eye view of the Civil Rights Movement.
The Civil Rights Movement: Major Events and Legacies
by James T. Patterson
Read an overview of the landmark moments of the Civil Rights Movement in the twentieth century.
“Hidden Practices”: Frederick Douglass on Segregation and Black Achievement, 1887
by Edward L. Ayers
Analyze a letter written by Frederick Douglass describing his feelings on Black progress.
A Place in History: Historical Perspective on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
by James Oliver Horton
Read about the historical context for the formation of the modern civil rights movement and leadership.
The First Age of Reform
by Ronald G. Walters
Learn more about the debates related to colonization in the context of other antebellum reform movements.
African Americans and Emancipation
by Manisha Sinha
Explore the role of military service during the Civil War on emancipation and abolition.
Different Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement
by Anthony J. Badger
Read about the different ways historians have challenged the dominant narrative of the Civil Rights movement since the 1960s.
James Forten, Sailmaker
by Julie Winch
Read about James Forten, an African American craftsman and businessman in nineteenth-century Philadelphia who employed an integrated workforce.
Mary McLeod Bethune’s Impact
with Noliwe Rooks
Learn about Mary McLeod Bethune’s life, her involvement in politics and civil rights, and her work’s lasting impact.
“The Revolution Is at Hand”
1963
Read the draft of John Lewis’s original planned speech for the March on Washington.
Ayuba bin Suleiman Diallo to His Father
ca. 1733
Read a translation of the letter that helped to secure Diallo’s freedom from enslavement.
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