AP African American Studies Resource Archive

AP African American Studies Resource Library

Union troops, primarily African American, in blue uniforms, charging White Confederate troops in gray uniforms. An American flag waves in the center midground; a Confederate battle flag hangs in the left background.

The Massachusetts 54th

with Jermain Corbin and Sandra Trenholm

Explore the history of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry.

  • Video
1808 Engraving of the deck and hold of a slave ship illustrating how little space enslaved people had on board

The Middle Passage

1749

Scrutinize an image and a letter that address the experience of kidnapped Africans on a slave ship.

  • Primary Source
Portrait of a Black man with sideburns wearing a black suit with a white shirt, pictured in profile.

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 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

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