American Slavery Webquest
Slave Life
Use the following websites to discover what life was like for slaves on a southern plantation. The information from these sites will help you complete the How Slaves Were Used in the 1800s and Treatment of Slaves portion of your presentation.
To find information about slave life on this website, click on the drop down menu next to The Slave Experience. When you click on any of the subjects it will bring you to many different resources that describe slave life in the south. A highlight of these resources are recordings of interviews with former slaves and/or their descendants describing their experiences as slaves.
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This website gives a brief overview of some of the horrible conditions that slaves had to endure while living under their white owners.
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Eye Witness to History provides many historic accounts from those who experienced them. This memoir is by Elizabeth Keckley, a female slave who would eventually buy her freedom and become the seamstress for the first lady Mary Lincoln.
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Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in 1813. She eventually would escape to the North where she wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a book that detailed her experiences as a slave. This excerpt is taken from chapter 9 of that book in which she described the torture a slave had to endure.
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This essay provides in depth information on The Varieties of Slave Labor that you would find throughout the United States, especially on plantations. Make sure to click on How Slavery Affected African American Families, another section of this website that provides interesting information on the strains put on slave relationships due to slavery.
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Justification for Slavery
The information from these websites will help you complete the 3 Arguments Slave Owners Used to Support Slavery portion of your presentation.
This website lays out a general overview of the different arguments that slave owners in the South used to justify enslaving millions of African-Americans.
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The letters on this website are historical fiction (not real but based on fact). The letters between two slave owners gives an understanding to the reader of how slave owners justified keeping other humans in bondage.
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William Harper first was a lawyer but later became a South Carolina Judge and U.S. Senator. He spoke and wrote many times about the justification of slavery. This letter (primary source) explains some of Harper's pro-slavery ideas.
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This wikispace site has links to a few sites and documents that provide valuable information about the justification of slavery including a table that lists the Presidents
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Abolitionist Movement
Abolitionists were people around the United States that wanted to end slavery immediately. They spoke in public, wrote books, produced newspapers, and even helped establish and run the Underground Railroad. The information from these websites will help you complete the 3 Counter-Arguments Against Those Supporting Slavery portion of your presentation.
The Library Congress provides many different primary sources and they have a wonderful collection of literature and other media from the Abolitionist Movement. Available are publications, music, and children's literature.
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A list of abolitionists and their views against the institution of slavery.
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Similar to the Library of Congress this site explains the Abolitionist Movement their viewpoints, and also many links to primary source documents of speeches and literature speaking out against slavery.
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Another site with a list of wonderful primary sources including full texts of literature by former slaves. Click on documents on the left hand side to see a list of these primary sources.
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Impact of Slavery
Slavery may have ended almost 150 years ago with the conclusion of the Civil War, but it continues to impact American History, especially for African Americans. Use the information from these websites to complete the Impact of Slavery on America portion of your presentation.
This short article from the Atlanta Blackstar, touches upon 6 Ways Slavery Still Negatively Impacts Black People.
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This is an article about a speech given by Annette Gordon-Reed on the current effects of slavery. While this is not the full speech there are a few quotes from the speech that provide an interesting view on slavery's current effects.
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This article provides an overview of the many effects that slavery continues to have on the African American community.
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This interview conducted on NPR is with Michelle Alexander, a female scholar and author who recently released a book called The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. In this interview she talks about many racial issues that still face African-Americans as a result of slavery.
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Contributions of African Americans
African-Americans have made contributions to the United States since they first arrived in this country as slaves. From helping the colonists cultivate rice in South Carolina to the election of the first black President Barack Obama, African-Americans have left their mark on American History. Use the information from these sites to complete the Contributions of African Americans to the United States portion of your presentation.
This site dedicated to celebrating African American History Month has many resources celebrating the many impacts that African-Americans have had on the United States over the course of its history.
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The Slave Rebellion Website offers a page on African Contributions to American Culture. The site touches upon many contributions from the time Africans were brought to America to the unique culture they developed during their enslavement.
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About.com lists 100 famous African-Americans from the 20th century while categorizing them into the fields (athletics, authors, civil rights, etc) that they had an impact on. How to Use This Website: While there is not information for each individual on this list, you can use the names to conduct research on individuals you maybe interested. Start by typing (indvidual's name) biography into a google search.
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African American Web Connection provides another list of notable African Americans. While they are not categorized, this list is in alphabetical order and has links to biographies for each person listed.
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Timelines
These timelines of African American History are an extra resource that may provide you with information on various sections of your presentation.
This timeline covers major events in Black History beginning with Slavery in America 1619 to 2009 the election of President Obama. Check out some of the multi-media resources that go along with the timeline as well.
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This comprehensive timeline covers black history from 1492 to 2001. How to Use This Timeline: You will not get much information about each individual event on this timeline but you will find many events, both minor and major, listed on this timeline. Use keywords from the event to conduct a more thorough search in Google to learn more information on an event that may help your presentation.
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Multi-Media Resources
These videos and other multimedia resources are extra resources that may provide you with information on various sections of your presentation.
The Library of Congress has collected thousands of documents from African American history that are a wonderful resource for finding information about African American History directly from the source. Check out the Born in Slavery and From Slavery to Freedom sections of this website.
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History.com has compiled some very interesting photographs that depict what slave life was like during the 19th century. There are also videos below the photographs that may help in completing your presentation.
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The University of Virginia has compiled over 1,200 photographs depicting the Slave Trade and Slavery in America. Click on any of the categories to see hundreds of photographs showing what life was like for African-American slaves.
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