African Swimmers in American Waters
Although most enslaved people worked in the fields, captive workers with strong swimming and diving skills were also exploited by plantation owners.
The Unbearable Middle Passage
In the eighteenth century, doctors recognized melancholy as a disease endemic to groups forcibly displaced from their homes, particularly enslaved Africans.
Deep Zoom: 1836 Broadside “Slave Market of America”
Published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, this single 77 by 55 centimeter sheet tells multiple stories in both text and illustration.
Angela Proctor on the “Opinions Regarding Slavery: Slave Narratives” Collection
We spoke with Angela Proctor, head archivist at Southern University, about the collections of slave narratives compiled by John B. Cade from 1929-1935.
John B. Cade’s Project to Document the Stories of the Formerly Enslaved
A recently digitized slave narrative collection consists of original manuscripts compiled by John Brother Cade and his students at Southern University.
The Emancipation Proclamation: Annotated
Abraham Lincoln proclaimed freedom for enslaved people in America on January 1, 1863. Today, we've annotated the Emancipation Proclamation for readers.
Science and Slavery in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko
In one of the first novels written in English, a West African prince, fascinated with navigation, boards a ship for a fateful journey.
Slave Collars in Ancient Rome
The objects purported to speak for the wearer: "Hold me! I have run away."
Black Conquistadors and Black Maroons
Some formerly enslaved Blacks and freedmen accompanied the Spanish invaders; others formed their own communities.
Montserrat’s St. Patrick’s Day Commemorates a Rebellion
On March 17, 1768, the enslaved people of a Caribbean island planned a revolt, assuming the Irish slave owners would be drunk and distracted.