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

A color photograph of large cypress trees emerging out of water, with more trees in the background fading into fog.

The Great Dismal Swamp

with Marcus P. Nevius

Learn why this region of Virginia and North Carolina became fertile ground for maroon communities.

Video

A black-and-white photograph of Carter G. Woodson, a Black man, wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, and polka-dotted tie.

The Black Diaspora and African American Studies

with Jo Von McCalester

Learn how Carter Woodson, W. E. B. Du Bois, and others developed the foundations of African American Studies.

Video

A color photograph of a blue historical marker with yellow text for the Free African Society, in front of a gray stone building.

“Preamble and Articles of Association of Free African Society”

1787

Explore the founding document of Philadelphia's Free African Society, only the second Black mutual aid society in the country.

Primary Source

James Baillie's 1845 color lithograph depicting the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, with American and French officers lined up on the left and right to receive the arms of the British army in 1781.

Preamble to “A Sermon on the Capture of Lord Cornwallis”

1782

Read the dedication that introduces this sermon, the first recorded use of the term “African American.”

Primary Source

Prince Demah’s signature and a blotted-out seal on heavy cloth paper.

Last Will and Testament of Prince Demah

1778

Read this final record from Demah’s life and career.

Primary Source

Black women wearing white shirts (with a blue ridged neckline) and blue skirts, and Black men in white shirts, white pants, and brown hats, cutting sugar cane.

Sexuality and Slavery: Reclaiming Intimate Histories in the Americas

with Daina Ramey Berry and Leslie Harris

Learn how sexuality was a point of both exploitation and resistance for enslaved people.

Video

A Black woman with reddish-brown hair and hands together at the front of her body, wearing a white shirt, black-and-white striped blazer, and earrings.

Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence

with Kellie Carter Jackson

Explore the history of Black abolitionism in the antebellum period.

Video

A South Asian woman wearing a black dress, black sweater, and white necklace, behind a table with paperback copies of the book "The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition"

The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition

with Manisha Sinha

Explore the impact of the Haitian Revolution on the abolitionist movement.

Video

Marcus Nevius wearing a checked-stripe sport coat with a lapel pin over a gray turtleneck.

City of Refuge

with Marcus P. Nevius

Explore the history of freed peoples in the Great Dismal Swamp and their relationship to maroon communities.

Video

A bald white man wearing rectangular glasses and a suit smiles at the camera. He is standing in front of a bust of Lincoln and a bookshelf.

Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution

with James Oakes

Understand the evolution of the antislavery interpretation of the Constitution.

Video

A Black woman with braided hair smiling while wearing a white shirt with a floral print.

Black Women and Educational Activism in Antebellum America

with Kabria Baumgartner

Explore how antebellum Black women became educators and activists, and the story of the first integrated classroom in the US.

Video

Black and white print of Black men, women, and children reading the news of their emancipation.

The Union Army and Juneteenth

1865

Learn more about the origins of Juneteenth through this print.

Primary Source