Slavery in America

The University of Houston’s Digital History explains the ancient origins of slavery, the African slave trade, the rise of slavery in America and its eventual abolition.

PBS’ “Slavery and the Making of America” gives a timeline dating from the first slaves at Jamestown colony in 1619 to the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s.

The Library of Congress’ “Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project” contains testimony of more than 2,300 former slaves gathered between 1936 and 1938.

The Library of Congress’ “Voices from the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves Tell Their Stories” features audio of 20th century interviews of 23 former slaves.

The University of North Carolina’s “North American Slave Narratives” is a collection of slave biographies and autobiographies published as books or pamphlets.

The University of Maryland’s Freedmen and Southern Society Project has collected more than 50,000 documents from the National Archives that reflect the experiences of freed, escaped and emancipated slaves. The documents are published in a nine-volume series, from which sample documents are made available online.

The Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice has scanned more than 150 documents, including broadsides, letters and sales records. Each document is accompanied by an introduction explaining its significance.

The Library of Congress’ “Slaves and the Courts” contains decisions, arguments, witness testimonies and other court documents from cases regarding slaves and the legality of the slave trade.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has scanned every issue of Freedom’s Journal, the first newspaper to be owned and operated by African-Americans. The paper published 103 issues between March 1827 and March 1829.

The Library of Congress’ “From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection” features pamphlets regarding slavery written by African-American authors between 1822 and 1909.

The University of Virginia has a collection of over 4,000 advertisements for runaway slaves published in Virginia and Maryland newspapers between 1736 and 1803. It also provides assorted government records, slaveholder records and newspaper materials.

Cornell University’s Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection features abolitionist and anti-slavery pamphlets, newspaper articles, speeches and other material.