Slavery and the Legal Status of Free Blacks

Students investigate the history of civil rights by viewing historical photographs.  In this U.S. history instructional activity, students discuss why Black Soldiers fought for their rights by joining the Union Army in the 1800's....

Eleventh graders read actual arguments regarding the status of free blacks in Illinois and slavery in the United States more generally.

What was life like for enslaved and free black people before the American Civil War? Explore the building tension between states and the freedom of individuals with a thorough social studies lesson. Learners of all ages explore primary...

Students research the debate over slavery while some students take the pro-slavery side and others the anti-slavery side. They take the role of a character such as a plantation owner, a legislator, a free Black, a slave, or a northern...

What was the most beneficial policy for nineteenth-century African Americans: to stay in the United States and work for freedom, or to immigrate to a new place and build a society elsewhere? Your young historians will construct an...

Students explore the concept of slavery and manumission through a variety of activities. In this civil rights lesson, students gather information from primary sources, then analyze the politics and historical context of the time....

While examining slavery's impact on women, historians compare and contrast the perspectives of a plantation mistress and an enslaved woman, both reflecting on the system of forced prostitution. Text analysis and written responses create...

Students explore the plight of John Brown to fight slavery. In this Brown vs. Board of Education lesson, students listen to a lecture regarding Brown's work to free slaves through rebellion. Students participate in classroom discussion...

Students read slave narratives. In this Federal Writers' Project lesson, students explore slave narratives to discover details regarding legal status, roles of slaves, religion, family, and treatment of slaves. 

Students discover details about abolition. In this slavery lesson, students watch Abolishing Slavery in America and then conduct further research about the events that took place on the Zong and Amistad. Students write essays that...