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

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

An engraving of a white-haired Frederick Douglass standing at a desk, wearing a dark jacket and waistcoat, dark bow tie, and white shirt and pants, shaking the hand of another Black man wearing a white shirt, as others wait to greet him at left

Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Freedom

by Steven Mintz

Read about Frederick Douglass from his childhood and youth as an enslaved person and his legacy as a leading abolitionist and equal rights advocate.

Essay

The image is a black-and-white portrait of Langston Hughes, the renowned African American poet, playwright, and leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He is shown from the chest up, wearing a suit with a tie and a sweater vest underneath. He has a warm smile and is looking slightly downward, with soft lighting casting gentle shadows on his face. The background is plain, and the photograph has a classic, vintage feel, likely taken in the mid-20th century.

“I Too”: Langston Hughes’s Afro-Whitmanian Affirmation

by Steven Tracy

Explore Hughes' "I, Too" poem, its connection to Walt Whitman, and its role in affirming Black identity in America.

Essay

A large stone building with "MUNICIPAL BUILDING" carved above the front doors and flags of North Carolina, the United States, and Wilson on poles above the entrance.

The Civil Rights Act and the Pursuit of Greater Freedom

by Charles W. McKinney

Read about civil rights protests in the small town of Wilson, North Carolina, in the 1960s.

Essay

Handwritten fragment of Abraham Lincoln's last Annual Message supporting the Thirteenth Amendment

Abraham Lincoln and the Passage of the Thirteenth Amendment

by Allen C. Guelzo

Explore Lincoln’s role in the abolition of slavery through the Thirteenth Amendment.

Essay