Primary Source Learning: Slavery (U.S.)

Lesson plans & activities

• Collection Connections: Arts & Humanities, Critical Thinking & U.S. History teaching ideas
  • Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938
  • From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909
  • Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860
• Guided primary source analysis activities
  • Afro-American Monument
  • Slave market of America
  • Synopsis of the Fugitive Slave Law
  • Theory. Practice. Effect.
  • Tree of Liberty
• Learning from the Source: Close Reading in Service of a Cause
• Slavery in the United States: Primary Sources and the Historical Record
• These Maps Reveal How Slavery Expanded Across the United States Smithsonian
• Timely Connections: Individual Influence
• Timely Connections: James Madison & Slavery

Teaching with the Library of Congress blog posts

• 12 Years a Slave: Primary Sources on the Kidnapping of Free African Americans November 19, 2013
• Education in Enslaved Communities August 16, 2022
• Expanding Student Understanding of Slavery in America by Exploring an Arabic Muslim Slave Narrative March 12, 2019
• Primary Sources for Musical Learning: Irene Williams Remembers Slavery May 30, 2019
• Teaching with Music from the Voices Remembering Slavery Collection November 26, 2021

Related teaching resources

• Primary Source Learning: Oral Histories & Personal Narratives
• Selecting Primary Sources That Deal with Difficult Issues
• Teaching Now: Using the Primary Source Analysis Tool

Related primary sources

• Primary Source Spotlight: Slavery (U.S.)
• Primary Source Learning: Civil War & Reconstruction Primary Source Set