National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: After American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North
In this lesson plan, students will consider "After the American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Other
The Growth of Delaware's Antebellum Free African American Community
Learn what it was like to be a free African American in the Wilmington community of Delaware during the 1800s. This article includes information about the types of jobs African Americans had, the property they owned, and the daily...
Other
Massachusetts Studies Project: African Americans in Massachusetts
The full title of this page is "African Americans in Massachusetts: Case Studies of Desegregation in 19th Century Nantucket and Boston." It features a timeline that covers the mid-19th century cases in Nantucket and Boston concerning the...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Making of African American Identity: Free Born
A journal, an autobiography, and selections from narratives about the conditions experienced by free-born African Americans in the nineteenth century. They ask such questions as: How did African Americans construct identity in antebellum...
New York Public Library
African American Migration Experience: The Northern Migration
This article explores the reasons African Americans left the South and migrated north both before and after the Civil War, and many aspects of what their lives were like.
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Odyssey: Free Blacks in Antebellum Period
A site that chronicles through documents the accomplishments of African-Americans, both slave and free, from colonial times through the Civil War.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Free (?) African Americans
Not all African-Americans were slaves in the South. Some were freed by their owners, others escaped, but none had the same rights as free whites. Read about their restrictions that were put into law. Find out about the church...
Library of Congress
Loc: The African American Mosaic: Colonization
Library of Congress presents a collection of primary source material on the beginnings of the American Colonization Society and efforts of free blacks to return to Liberia during the Nineteenth Century.
PBS
Pbs: African American Migration Story: Many Rivers to Cross
A detailed presentation illustrating the history of Africans migrating to the Americas from as early as 1500 through the late 1860's. Review the distribution of Africans in North and South America, the initial settlements, escaped and...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: History Now: African Americans in World War Ii
[Free Registration/Login Required] An article about the contributions of African Americans to the war effort during World War II, despite discrimination.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Enslaved African Americans and Expressions of Freedom
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students will examine African American slave spirituals, a painting, and a personal narrative to analyze the underlying messages of these materials.
Other
The African American Experience
Provides information on African American history. Includes information on the following topics: slave and free in St. Louis, African-American immigration, segregated religion, African-American education, segregated housing, roots of...
Other
The African American Experience
Provides information on African American history. Includes information on the following topics: slave and free in St. Louis, African-American immigration, segregated religion, African-American education, segregated housing, roots of...
Read Works
Read Works: African American Leaders
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about five African American leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Condoleezza Rice, George Washington Carver, anD3845:D4144lable to help students build skills in...
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: African American Population Shifts
After completing this mini-unit, students will understand some of the economic, educational, and lifestyle reasons why African Americans have moved from one place in the United States to another.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: African American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
In this lesson plan, learners will consider "African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Forever Free: The 1860s: 19th Century African American Legislators of Texas
An exhibit from the Texas State Library exploring the political achievements of African-Americans in the Texas state legislature and Constitutional Convention from 1865 through the 1890s.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Petitions, Making of African American Identity: V. 1
Three late-eighteenth-century petitions to state legislatures and one to Congress by enslaved or free African Americans seeking civil liberties. These four petitions, called "memorials", present a range of origins, goals, and outcomes.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: African American Abolitionists
Read about three African-American abolitionists who worked alone and in concert with white abolitionists. The most radical was David Walker, who was the founder of radical abolitionism.
Bullock Texas State History Museum
Bullock Museum: African Americans
Share in the campfire stories of the people who defined Texas. Read about free people of color, and how the Republic of Texas was between a rock and a hard place.
OpenStax
Open Stax: African Americans in the Antebellum United States
This section of a chapter on "The Antebellum South" discusses the similarities and differences in the lives of slaves and free blacks and describes the independent culture and customs that slaves developed.
Read Works
Read Works: African American Leaders
[Free Registration/Login Required] This informational text passage shares facts about famous African American leaders. This passage reinforces essential reading comprehension skills. Opportunities for vocabulary acquisition are also...
PBS
Pbs: Free Black Revolutionary Patriots
Describes free African Americans who fought in the American Revolution. Also find related text: "Colin Powell on blacks fighting during the Revolutionary War," and a Teacher's Guide.
Read Works
Read Works: Famous African Americans Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
[Free Registration/Login Required] This biographical passage shares information about the famous African American named Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and...