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

A black-and-white photograph of Frederick Douglass, a Black man in his fifties with graying hair and a serious demeanor staring straight into the camera

Frederick Douglass from Slavery to Freedom: The Journey to New York City

1818–1845

Follow the story of Frederick Douglass and his journey from slavery to freedom in New York City.

Interactive

Scan of FDR's letter to Joseph Curran, typewritten on White House stationery.

FDR on Racial Discrimination

1942

Read a transcription and a bit of historical context behind Franklin D. Roosevelt’s letter to Joseph Curran concerning Executive Order 8802 and discrimination against Black sailors.

Primary Source

Scan of the broadside, reading I AM A MAN in bold black letters with "AM" underlined.

Civil Rights Posters

1968

Explore the historical context behind two posters from the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike.

Primary Source

A printed broadside announcing a "$2,500 REWARD!" for freedom seekers. On each side of "$2,500" are hands with index fingers pointing toward the dollar value.

Runaway Slave Ad

1852

Explore an example of broadsides developed to find and capture self-emancipated people.

Primary Source

A handwritten letter in cursive on lined paper

“I love you but hate slavery”

ca. 1860

Read Frederick Douglass’s letter to his former owner, searching for information about his birth date.

Primary Source

A handwritten legal document for the posting of a bond for the manumission of the slave Ann.

A bond for the manumission of an enslaved woman

1757

View and develop an understanding of this manumission bond.

Primary Source

Lithograph showing Abraham Lincoln in a messy office writing the Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation

1863

Explore this elaborately decorated copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln himself.

Primary Source

An open book with an engraved portrait of Olaudah Equiano, a Black man in distinguished eighteenth-century clothing and, on the right, the title page of his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano."

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”

1789

Learn from Olaudah Equiano about his experience being kidnapped at age eleven and surviving the Middle Passage.

Primary Source

A Black soldier in a blue Union Army uniform (jacket, coat, pants, and hat), holding a rifle on his right shoulder with a slight smile on his face.

Historical Context: Black Soldiers in the Civil War

by Steven Mintz

Get some key facts on Black service during the Civil War.

Teacher Resources

Scan of a book page with the text of a law passed in Virginia in 1662.

Study Aid: Slavery and the Law in Seventeenth-Century Virginia

1662–1691

Explore a timeline of laws pertaining to slavery in Virginia from 1662 to 1691.

Teacher Resources

A broadside beginning with "Men of Color, To Arms!" in large type.

“Men of Color, To Arms! To Arms!”

ca. 1863

Explore the rhetoric used to recruit Black soldiers for the war effort.

Primary Source

A black and white etching of Haitian revolutionaries fighting French soldiers.

Connections Between the American and Haitian Revolutions

by Laurent Dubois

Understand the relationship between the Haitian Revolution and American Revolution.

Essay