Using primary documents, oral histories and other historical resources, learn about the African American reaction to emancipation and to events from the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.

The Emancipation Proclamation changed the focus of the Civil War. Read about its importance, but also its inability to free a single slave in the South. Find a link to Abraham Lincoln which explains his change of thinking about the only...

Students will review, compare and contrast the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 with the District of Columbia Emancipation Act.

An engaging PowerPoint presentation provides insight into the events which led to ending slavery in the United States. The slideshow illustrates President Lincoln's approach to the Emancipation Proclamation.

Discusses the background to the Emancipation Proclamation and how Abraham Lincoln came to support the abolition of slavery and the difficulties that were encountered around this issue. Explains that it did not apply to all slaves as...

Learn about emancipation in the state of Georgia, the struggle for a new social order and all that it entailed in this article from the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Image of handwritten copy of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, accompanied by an explanation of the speech's purpose, impact, and role in American history.

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Emancipation Proclamation. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

A learning module that begins with "Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation" by Mike Kubic, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned...

Read about the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Speeches, songs, letters, and pamphlets from the early- and mid-nineteenth century promoting the abolition of slavery and emancipation of enslaved peoples are provided within this resource.

The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 really didn't free a single slave. Read about why that was true, but also find out why Abraham Lincoln felt is was absolutely necessary to make a stand on ending slavery when he did, and how the...

Classroom ready resource includes primary resource document of the Emancipation Proclamation, background information and questions for discussion.

A copy and transcription of the 13th Amendment which ended slavery. The sidebar gives a brief overview of emancipation and what led to this amendment.

Ben's Guide is a fun way to present U.S. Government to students grades K-12. This site presents a history of the Emancipation Proclamation. Links to related sites are available.

This site contains the official document of the emancipation of the serfs by Alexander II in 1861. From the book, Readings in Modern European History, edited by James Robinson and Charles Beard, printed in 1908.

Download the full text to Lydia Maria Child's "How a Kentucky Girl Emancipated Her Slaves." This account of a woman who freed her slaves was originally written by Lydia Child in 1862 and published in The New York Tribune.

This is the full text of the novel The Emancipated by George Gissing, in which a group of British expatriates goes to tour the country and do things they might live to either bless or regret.

A website that "captures the essence" of the drama of the emancipation by using the experiences of the liberated slaves, defeated slaveholders, soldiers, civilians, Northerners, and Southerners.

A lesson unit on the people and movements that fought to abolish slavery. Looks at the Triangular Trade, and at the Underground Railroad and famous abolitionists. Includes a play about emancipation, a black history rap and a trivia quiz...

Primary source material on the how enslaved Africans envisioned and pursued freedom and how these ideas affected them after the Civil War.

In this lesson plan, 8th graders look at how slavery contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War, at Abraham Lincoln's efforts to save the Union, and at what impact the Emancipation Proclamation had on the North's view of the war....

This Nation site provides the full text of President Abraham Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" which freed slaves.

Provides an overview and ten facts about Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, a war measure freeing the slaves in states still in rebellion against the Union.