Aug. 21, 1831: Nat Turner Launches Rebellion
Nathaniel Turner launched one of the most historic revolts to end enslavement.
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Theme: Slavery and Resistance
Slavery
The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The “Great Truth” about the “Lost Cause”
Book — Non-fiction. Edited by James W. Loewen and Edward H. Sebesta. 2010. 484 pages.
Primary documents on the causes of the Civil War.
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Primary documents on the causes of the Civil War.
Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History
Teaching Guide. By James W. Loewen. 2010. 264 pages.
A wealth of ideas on how to rethink the teaching of U.S. history.
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A wealth of ideas on how to rethink the teaching of U.S. history.
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom
Picture book. By Tim Tingle. 2008. 40 pages.
A picture book that highlights rarely discussed intersections between Native Americans in the South and African Americans in bondage.
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A picture book that highlights rarely discussed intersections between Native Americans in the South and African Americans in bondage.
A People’s History of Science: Miners, Midwives, and “Low Mechanicks”
Book — Non-fiction. By Clifford D. Conner. 2005. 554 pages.
New look at history of science, highlights hunter-gatherers, farmers, sailors, miners, blacksmiths, and more.
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New look at history of science, highlights hunter-gatherers, farmers, sailors, miners, blacksmiths, and more.
The Women Who Caught the Babies: A Story of African American Midwives
Picture book. By Eloise Greenfield. Illustrated by Daniel Minter. 2019. 32 pages.
This unique picture book begins with historical background on the work of midwives and then switches to poetry to tell vignettes from lives of midwives during slavery, emancipation, and today.
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This unique picture book begins with historical background on the work of midwives and then switches to poetry to tell vignettes from lives of midwives during slavery, emancipation, and today.
Sept. 13, 1858: Oberlin Wellington Rescue
Eighteen-year-old John Price was arrested by a federal marshal in Oberlin, Ohio under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
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Sept. 16, 1837: Abolitionist William Whipper Advocated Non-Violence
William Whipper published “An Address on Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression.”
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Oct. 1, 1851: The Jerry Rescue
Abolitionists freed a man captured under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in Syracuse, New York.
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Rethinking the U.S. Constitutional Convention: A Role Play
Teaching Activity. By Bob Peterson. Rethinking Schools. 14 pages.
A role play on the Constitutional Convention which brings to life the social forces active during and immediately following the American Revolution with focus on two key topics: suffrage and slavery. An elementary school adaptation of the Constitution Role Play by Bill Bigelow. Roles available in Spanish.
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A role play on the Constitutional Convention which brings to life the social forces active during and immediately following the American Revolution with focus on two key topics: suffrage and slavery. An elementary school adaptation of the Constitution Role Play by Bill Bigelow. Roles available in Spanish.
Constitution Role Play: Whose “More Perfect Union”? and The Constitutional Convention: Who Really Won?
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. 24 pages.
The U.S. Constitution endorsed slavery and favored the interests of the owning classes. What kind of Constitution would have resulted from founders who were representative of the entire country? That is the question addressed in this role play activity.
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The U.S. Constitution endorsed slavery and favored the interests of the owning classes. What kind of Constitution would have resulted from founders who were representative of the entire country? That is the question addressed in this role play activity.
Teaching a People’s History of Abolition and the Civil War
Teaching Guide. Edited by Adam Sanchez. 2019. Rethinking Schools. 181 pages.
Students will discover the real abolition story, one about some of the most significant grassroots social movements in U.S. history.
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Students will discover the real abolition story, one about some of the most significant grassroots social movements in U.S. history.
Who Fought to End Slavery? Meet the Abolitionists
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez, Brady Bennon, Deb Delman, and Jessica Lovaas.
This mixer role play introduces students to the stories of famous and lesser-known abolitionists, through biography and investigation.
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This mixer role play introduces students to the stories of famous and lesser-known abolitionists, through biography and investigation.
Nov. 20, 1835: New York Committee of Vigilance Founded
Radical abolitionists organized to liberate kidnapped Black New Yorkers and fight racist police violence in the decades after New York abolished slavery.
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May 19, 1856: Charles Sumner Crime Against Kansas Speech
Charles Sumner delivered a speech denouncing slavery and the need for Kansas to become a free state.
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Nov. 21, 1842: George Latimer Freed In Boston
A Boston judge stopped the extradition of George Latimer, who had escaped enslavement in Virginia, and allowed him to raise funds for his own manumission.
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Nov. 25, 1859: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Writes to John Brown in Prison
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a Black abolitionist and writer, wrote to John Brown as he awaited his execution.
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Nov. 29, 1781: Zong Massacre
During the Zong Massacre, a ship captain ordered that 54 enslaved Africans be thrown overboard and killed.
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Dec. 3, 1847: North Star Newspaper Launched
Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany launched the abolitionist North Star newspaper.
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Nov. 7, 1861: The Port Royal Experiment Initiated
The Union Army occupied the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina, freeing approximately 10,000 people who had been enslaved, starting what became known as the Port Royal Experiment.
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Jan. 6, 1811: Charles Sumner is Born
Born on this day in Massachusetts, Charles Sumner was outspoken against slavery, for full recognition of Haiti, against the U.S.-Mexico War, for true reconstruction with land distribution, against school segregation, and much more.
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March 17, 1856: Laws Enacted to Thwart Freedom-seekers on Ships
With escalating escapes of the formerly enslaved, the Virginia General Assembly responded to lobbying from slaveholders and human traffickers by making it harder for enslaved African Americans to escape on ships and by increasing penalties for anyone helping such freedom-seekers.
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June 6, 1730: Revolt on the Little George
Approximately ninety-six Africans held captive on the British slave ship Little George revolted against the ship’s captain and crew, eventually taking control of the entire ship.
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Freedmen and Southern Society Project
Digital collection. Documents that help explain how Black people traversed the bloody ground from slavery to freedom between the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 and the beginning of Reconstruction in 1867.
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On the Books: Jim Crow and Algorithms of Resistance
Digital collection. Collections as data and machine learning project examining Jim Crow and racially-based legislation signed into law in North Carolina between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement.
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