History Now Essay Indian Slavery in the Americas Alan Gallay Economics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ The story of European colonialism in the Americas and its victimization of Africans and Indians follows a central paradigm in most textbooks. The African "role" encompasses the transportation, exploitation, and suffering of many... Appears in: 25 | Three Worlds Meet Fall 2010
Classroom Resources Historical Context: Slavery in a Capitalist World Economics, World History 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Why were the South's political leaders so worried about whether slavery would be permitted in the West when geography and climate made it unlikely that slavery would ever prosper in the area? The answer lies in the South's growing...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Constitution and Slavery Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution, Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, said that the Constitution was "defective from the start." He pointed out that the framers...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A northerner’s view of southern slavery, 1821 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Aurelia Hale of Hartford, Connecticut, offered her impressions of southern life in this letter of June 11, 1821. Hale, then about twenty-two years old, had recently traveled to Washington County, Georgia, to serve as a schoolteacher....
Video Slavery and the Making of America Government and Civics James Oliver Horton, the Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History at George Washington University, and Lois E. Horton, Professor of Sociology at George Mason University, have collaborated on several books,...
Video Generations in Captivity: Slavery in America Ira Berlin, Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Maryland, describes how the complex interplay of regional and generational factors shaped the development of slavery in the antebellum United States. ...
History Now Essay Anti-Slavery before the Revolutionary War Sylvia R. Frey Religion and Philosophy 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Anti-slavery is almost as old as slavery itself. Indeed it could easily be argued that the first enslaved person who jumped overboard or led an on-ship rebellion on the Middle Passage launched the anti-slavery movement. The modern... Appears in: 5 | Abolition Fall 2005
Lesson Plan Abraham Lincoln on Slavery and Race 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Background Slavery played a prominent role in America’s political, social, and economic history in the antebellum era. The "peculiar institution" was at the forefront of discussions ranging from the future of the nation’s economy to...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: The Economics of Slavery 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Like other slave societies, the South did not produce urban centers on a scale equal with those in the North. Virginia's largest city, Richmond, had a population of just 15,274 in 1850. That same year, Wilmington, North Carolina's...
Essay Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Freedom Steven Mintz Government and Civics Frederick Douglass was one of the first fugitive slaves to speak out publicly against slavery. On the morning of August 12, 1841, he stood up at an anti-slavery meeting on Nantucket Island. With great power and eloquence, he described...
Classroom Resources Historical Context: American Slavery in Comparative Perspective Economics, World History 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Of the ten to sixteen million Africans who survived the voyage to the New World, more than one-third landed in Brazil and between 60 and 70 percent ended up in Brazil or the sugar colonies of the Caribbean. Only 6 percent arrived in...
Guided Readings Guided Readings: African Americans after Slavery Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12 Reading 1 All freedmen . . . over the age of eighteen years, found on the second Monday in January, 1866, or thereafter, with no lawful employment or business, or found unlawfully assembling themselves together, either in the day or...
News Frederick Douglass from Slavery to Freeedom As part of a Google Cultural Institute initiative on African American history, the Gilder Lehrman Institute created six digital exhibits featuring Gilder Lehrman’s rich materials relating to African American history. In celebration of...
Video: Book Breaks Brenda Stevenson - "What Is Slavery?" Government and Civics, World History Order What Is Slavery? at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link provided. Thank you for supporting our programs!
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: George Washington and Slavery 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ For the August 7, 2020, session of Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection , the Gilder Lehrman curators were joined by Darnell Abraham from Hamilton , Jeanette Providence, an educator at Grant Union High...
Lesson Plan A Look at Slavery through Posters and Broadsides Art 6, 7, 8 Overview Students will examine posters and broadsides from the 1800s to examine attitudes about slavery in the United States at that time. Materials Overhead or copies for all students of the poster packet (PDF) Poster Inquiry Sheet...