AP African American Studies Resource Archive | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

An engraving showing a hall with benches, a speaker at a rostrum in front and several Black men and women in formal wear looking for seats.

Emigration, Anti-Emigration, and Transatlantic Abolitionism

with Nemata Blyden

Learn more about the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act, the Dred Scott decision, and the Civil War on emigration.

Video

James Forten, Sailmaker

by Julie Winch

Read about James Forten, an African American craftsman and businessman in nineteenth-century Philadelphia who employed an integrated workforce.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of a serious-looking, dark-haired Black woman wearing a dark coat, dress with a white collar, earrings, and a white veil on the back of her head

Mary Ellen Pleasant, Freedom-Fighting Entrepreneur

by Lynn M. Hudson

An introduction to Mary Ellen Pleasant, an abolitionist and businesswoman who flourished on the East and West Coasts.

Essay

A large group of White men in top hats congregating in a city street with a steeple in the background

Jeremiah G. Hamilton, Wall Street‘s First Black Millionaire

by Shane White

Explore Jeremiah Hamilton‘s career, including his response to the Draft Riots of 1863.

Essay

A black-and-white photograph of a White soldier with a heavy dark beard sitting in a chair, wearing a double-breasted Union Army uniform, with a gold bar with two stars on his left shoulder

General Order No. 3

1865

Read the General Order announcing emancipation in Texas, giving birth to Juneteenth.

Primary Source

An engraving of a Black man with mutton-chops wearing a dark jacket, dark vest, and white shirt, looking toward the right

Garnet’s Address in Context

by Jake Alspaugh

Understand the origins of Garnet’s speech.

Essay

A green book cover with gold text reading "Harriet, the Moses of Her People"

Harriet, the Moses of Her People

1886

Read an authorized description of Tubman’s escape written by a White woman who had interviewed Tubman.

Primary Source

Title page of The Refugee: or the Narrative of Fugitive Slaves in Canada

Harriet Tubman’s reflection in The Refugee

1856

Read Tubman’s memories of enslavement and freedom in her own words.

Primary Source

Map of the East Coast and Midwest of the United States with the size of the free Black population in each state and territory in 1800 (in blue) and 1830 (in red), with a bar chart at left showing the change in free Black population from 1790 to 1860

Free African American Population, 19th Century

by Michael Siegel

Explore the change in free Black populations over time across the North, South, and Midwest.

Thematic Map

An engraving of a bust of a bearded Black man wearing a black suit, white shirt, and dark bow tie, in three-quarter view looking toward the left

“An Address to the Slaves of the United States”

1843

Explore this speech, rejected by the National Colored Convention.

Primary Source

Map of North America with routes on the Underground Railroad; The legend says that free states and territories are in green and slave states and territories are in tan. Underground railroad routes are in red, with arrows pointing north, west, and (from Georgia), south. The data is from the Atlas of African-American History and Politics.

The Underground Railroad in the Eighteenth Century

by Michael Siegel

Visualize the Underground Railroad in its earliest days through this map.

Thematic Map

Color print of a Black Union soldier in uniform (blue wide brimmed hat with an emblem, blue double-breasted coat with a black belt and gold US belt buckle and red sashes, blue pants, black shoes), holding a sword in his right hand and its sheath in his left; a large American flag flies over his head and there are military tents and a Black soldier in the background.

Martin R. Delany on Emigration

1852

Learn more about the many emigration and colonization pathways for formerly enslaved people.

Primary Source