Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Sojourner Truth
Easy to read biography of anti-slavery activist, abolitionist and feminist, Sojourner Truth. Article covers her early life as a slave, her Civil War years, and her famous speeches.
National Women's Hall of Fame
National Women's Hall of Fame: Mary Ann Shadd Cary
The National Women's Hall of Fame provides a brief biography of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, an educator, abolitionist, editor, attorney, and feminist of the Civil War era.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: American Literature: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
This is the text and audio of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, an anti-slavery novel published in 1852, that was said to "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War." It was the best-selling novel of the 19th...
Other
John Brown Raid: 1859 Raid on Harpers Ferry
Commemorating John Brown's historic Harpers Ferry raid of 1859, this site has lots of information about Brown and the raid. The Educational Resources page is helpful for lesson materials. The links on the pressroom page will help you...
Digital History
Digital History: What Was Life Like Under Slavery?
A sobering look at the life of the plantation slave in the decades before the Civil War. Read about the malnutrition, severe treatment, and inadequate living conditions.
Other
Alton, Illinois: Elijah Parish Lovejoy
Biography on minister, journalist, and anti-slavery spokesperson Elijah Lovejoy, who was killed by a mob when he was 34. This well written bio focuses on the events on the night of his death.
Other
Presentations From the Life of Frederick Douglass
The actor Fred Morsell, a Frederick Douglass reenactor, provides plays about the 19th century civil rights leader as well as other resources about Douglass's life and work.
C-SPAN
C Span American Writers: Narrative of Frederick Douglass
A brief summary of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Also includes an on-line text of the work as well as links to other informational websites.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Fugitive Slave Harriet Jacobs: Coming Up for Air
Harriet Jacobs escaped from slavery and wrote a book about her life experience. Her autobiography was written in 1861 with the help of an abolitionist.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: African American Odyssey
This site explores Black America's quest for equality from the early national period through the twentieth century. Content includes the work of abolitionists in the first half of the nineteenth century, depictions of the long journey...
Other
Understanding Race: Society: 1800 1850s: Resisting Slavery
An overview of slave revolts and abolitionist efforts during the first half of the nineteenth century, leading up until the Civil War. Read about the Underground Railroad, the colonization movement, and various anti-slavery books.
C-SPAN
American Writers: Harriet Beecher Stowe
An informational site on Harriet Beecher Stowe. Includes general information about her life, works, and writings, including Uncle Tom's Cabin. Also includes links to other sites.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Pottawatomie Creek Massacre
John Brown, seeking revenge for the sack of Lawrence, Kansas, made Kansas even more bloody. Read about the Pottawatomie Massacre and its reverberations throughout Kansas.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry
This collection uses primary sources to document John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry and the broad range of responses it provoked across the country. Includes a teaching guide.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Harriet Tubman
Features a summary of the life of Harriet Tubman, an American bondwoman who escaped from slavery in the South to become a leading abolitionist before the American Civil War.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Wendell Phillips
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Wendell Phillips, an abolitionist crusader whose oratorical eloquence helped fire the antislavery cause during the period leading up to the American Civil War.
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Fredrick Douglass
Selected (11) reading passages (grades 7-11) to pair with the autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Fredrick Douglass. Frederick Douglass recounts his experiences as a slave in Maryland, and his treatment at the...
PBS
Pbs: Angelina and Sarah Grimke
A biography of the Grimke sisters, women who were before their time in so many ways and who fought for equality of the sexes.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Sack of Lawrence
Read about how the destruction of Lawrence, Kansas, seat of the Free-Soiler government by border ruffians inflamed attitudes in the North toward the actions of the slave-holders.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Compromise of 1850
This Khan Academy resource provides a table of contents with notes for The Compromise of 1850.
Curated OER
Introduction
This site explores Black America's quest for equality from the early national period through the twentieth century. Content includes the work of abolitionists in the first half of the nineteenth century, depictions of the long journey...
Curated OER
Wikipedia: Natl Historic Landmarks in New York: John Brown Farm and Gravesite
Home and final resting place of famous abolitionist John Brown, executed for his raid on Harper's Ferry Armory before the Civil War.
Curated OER
Uncle Tom and Slave Owner Simon Legree
An overview of slave revolts and abolitionist efforts during the first half of the nineteenth century, leading up until the Civil War. Read about the Underground Railroad, the colonization movement, and various anti-slavery books.