This website provides pedagogical resources for teachers who want to address the global history of slavery and captivity during the medieval period, broadly defined.

First and foremost, this website provides historical sources (texts, images, and audio files) that can be assigned as readings or used for in-class activities. Each source is accompanied by a brief introduction giving cultural context and historical background, a set of discussion questions, and a short list of thematic keywords to assist comparison across geographical, temporal, and cultural boundaries. The copyright status of each image is stated in its caption; all translated texts are shared under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Click on a region of the map or a century on the timeline below to begin browsing.

In addition, each region and century page offers a selected bibliography of scholarly works to help teachers present slavery and captivity in an appropriate, historically and culturally specific context. These suggestions for further reading are based on the recommendations of scholars in history, religion, anthropology, archaeology, area studies, art history, languages, and classics. A selection of general works which introduce, define, and theorize the concepts of slavery and captivity are posted here. Click on a region of the map or a century on the timeline below to begin browsing.

Finally, the Notes from the Field section presents pedagogical ideas, suggestions, and reflections by experienced teachers. As of late July, it will also offer a selection of historical sources in DBQ format suitable for AP World History classes. Scroll down to Notes from the Field to browse within the teaching context most appropriate for you.

This course introduces scholarly debates about the sociocultural practices through which individuals and societies create, sustain, recall, and erase memories. Emphasis is given to the history of knowledge, construction of memory, the role of authorities in shaping memory, and how societies decide on whose versions of memory are more “truthful” and “real.” Other topics include how memory works in the human brain, memory and trauma, amnesia, memory practices in the sciences, false memory, sites of memory, and the commodification of memory. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.

Students are asked to use the provided source material to answer the central historical question: Why did African Americans join the Union Army during the Civil War?

In this lesson, students learn about the experience and journey of enslaved Africans along the Middle Passage. This lesson aligns with both modules, in which students write narratives with a focus on understanding perspectives. Students will read two texts, one from The 1619 Project and another from N.J. Amistad. Using the texts, visuals and video, students will write a narrative piece from the perspective of an enslaved African.

The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the Missouri Compromise and the issues associated with the expansion of slavery in the Antebellum period of United States history. Students will begin the activity by creating a map that represents the Missouri Compromise’s impact on the United States. This map will serve as a backdrop for the activity while introducing students to political and cultural sectionalism (northern and southern states and the issue of slavery) in the early 1800s. After students complete the map, they will answer several questions using it. Students will also be prompted to examine aggregated data from the 1820 Census and a map titled “Mapping Slavery in the Nineteenth Century” to make comparisons and draw conclusions about slavery, specifically in Missouri.

In this lesson, created in partnership with the Association for Cultural Equity, students discover how the banjo and music making more generally among slaves contributed to debates on the ethics of slavery. They listen to slave narratives, examine statistics, and read primary sources to better understand how slavery was conceptualized and lived through in the 18th and 19th centuries. Throughout the lesson, students return to videos created by Alan Lomax of pre-blues banjo player Dink Roberts as a way to imagine what music among slaves in the United States may have sounded like.

Author: Katie Frazier, Museums at W&L. Students will examine a ceramic object made by David Drake (about 1800-about 1870), an enslaved person who lived on a plantation in Edgefield, South Carolina. As an enslaved individual, Drake was denied the basic rights of learning how to read and write. Despite writing being illegal for enslaved people, David Drake was known for writing his name and poetry on the ceramics he made. He wanted to express his feelings about life, religion and his own identity as an enslaved person.  

Throughout this unit on Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, students practice the same six skills with greater scaffolding and modeling at the beginning, and more independence toward the middle and end. The tasks include: 1. writing to an essential question to access background knowledge; 2. using context clues and root words to determine word meaning; 3. close reading with the aid of a glossary; 4. taking notes one of two graphic organizers (sequence of events and/or empathy map); 5. re-reading to answer text dependent questions; and 6. summarizing the chapter.

A Northern-produced satire, expressing strongly anti-abolitionist sentiments. A large pair of bare feet, obviously those of a black man, protrude from beneath a Phrygian cap adorned with the word "Liberty," several stars, and an eagle with arrows and olive branch from the seal of the United States. Weitenkampf very plausibly suggests that the print is by Baker, whose work for the Bufford lithography firm is similar in style. Compare Baker's emphatically anti-Lincoln "Columbia Demands Her Children!" (no. 1864-34).|Entered . . . 1864 by J.E. Cutler in the District Court of . . . Mass.|Probably drawn by Joseph E. Baker, Boston.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 141.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1864-36.

A condemnation of Daniel O'Connell's agitation of Irish immigrants in the United States against slavery. The artist, certainly E.W. Clay, presents a loaded contrast between turbulent conditions in Ireland and the idyllic, relative prosperity of the immigrant's lot in America. It is the period of the Irish campaign for repeal of the oppressive Legislative Union. On the left repeal movement leader O'Connell stands on the shore of Ireland holding an "Agitation" club and speaking through an "Abolition" horn. He says, "Over the broad Atlantic I pour forth my voice saying come out of such a land you Irishmen or if you remain and dare continue to countenance the system of slavery that is supported there, we will recognize you as Irishmen no longer!" A British grenadier with rifle in hand orders O'Connell to "Clear the way there!" A policeman holding a baton with a crown on its tip warns, "Come, come stop that noise and move off! do you hear!" Behind him is a tragic but common rural scene: a farmer and his family despair as their cottage burns; another farmer lies dead on the ground behind them. At right, across the ocean, is an American farmer and his family. The farmer arrives home from the field, a scythe over his shoulder. He is accompanied by his son, and a black dog follows at his heels. In the distance a black woman and her child lead cows along a road. The American farmer answers O'Connell: It is a mighty far voice you have Mr. O'Connell--I love Ireland as well as you do, but this is my adopted Country and the birthplace of my Children. By industry and economy I am become prosperous--my Children are receiving the benefit of a good education, and the highest situations in the State are open to them. Here we can express our opinion's freely without the fear of bayonets or policemen. I have sworn to defend its laws and the interests of its union and will do so with the last drop of my blood. I will never forsake it! The farmer's wife sits at her spinning wheel before their cottage, her three children about her. She says with a broad Gaelic accent, "Ah Patrick "acushla" don't be hard on Mr. O'Connell--sure if he were druve out of Ould Ireland woundn't we give him a a "cead mille failthe" here!" Her son, just arriving, exclaims, "See here mother what a beautiful medal I've got for being head of my Class." Aside from being very close in style to Clay's "America" (no. 1841-1), "O'Connell's Call "also reflects that artist's particularly chauvinistic perspective on American versus English life.|Drawn by Edward Williams Clay.|Entered . . . 1843 by H.R. Robinson.|H.R. Robinson 142 Nassau St. Lith in all its branches.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Weitenkampf, p. 71.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1843-1.

The road to Emancipation was indeed stony! Enslaved people struggled to free themselves and loved ones, one person at a time.

This activity includes primary sources from the official records of the U.S. District Court at Boston that tell the story of William and Ellen Craft, a young couple from Macon, GA, who escaped to freedom in Boston in 1848. The two traveled together, Ellen as a White gentleman (she was the daughter of an African-American woman and a White master and passed as White), and William as her slave valet. They made their way to Boston, and lived in the home of Lewis Hayden, a former fugitive and abolition activist.

With the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in September, 1850, the Crafts' respective owners employed the legal system to regain their escaped property. A U.S. Marshal was sent to the home of Lewis Hayden. Hayden refused to let the marshal in and threatened to ignite kegs of gunpowder; the Marshal left. Ellen and William fled to Britain, where they remained for 20 years. They eventually returned to the United States and settled back in Georgia.

In this activity, students will examine historic documents about these fugitives from slavery. Then, using the documents, they will construct historical narratives to tell their story. They can explore perspective and use standard elements of writing (plot, character, setting, conflict, impact). Thinking about essential questions/topics, they will begin their writing with a topic/opening sentence that sets out the main idea.

When she published Oroonoko in 1688, Aphra Behn created one of the foundational myths of her period and of the century that followed. The story of the noble African prince tricked into slavery resonated powerfully with people in the English-speaking world for generations. This was even the case for those who never read Behn’s book. Behn’s work was adapted into a play entitled Oroonoko: A Tragedy by Thomas Southerne in 1695, and that version of the story–one that differs in key ways from Behn’s original–was one of the mainstays of the theater in Britain into the nineteenth century. Oroonoko was, like Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe or Jonathan Swift’s Lemuel Gulliver, a character who was introduced in a work of fiction in the decades around 1700 who would go on to have a long life outside the pages of the work in which he originally appeared.

This resource serves as the in-class review activity over period four for the APUSH midterm summative assessment.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis, a documentary editing project based at Rice University in Houston, Texas, is publishing a multi-volume edition of his letters and speeches, several of which can be found on this web site. The site also provides extensive information on Davis and his family and numerous images.

Trace the elements of history, literature, polemic, and autobiography in the 1847 Narrative of William W. Brown, An American Slave.

R. Scott Stephenson, Vice President of Collections, Exhibitions and Programming at the museum of the American Revolution explained the life and significance of Phillis Wheatley during the time of the American Revolution. During this time, Phillis Wheatley became the first published African American poet and was well known in England and the American colonies.

A general parody on the 1860 presidential contest, highlighting the impact of the Dred Scott decision on the race. That controversial decision, handed down in 1857 by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, ruled that neither the federal government nor territorial governments could prohibit slavery in the territories. The burning question of the future of slavery in the United States was addressed by several of the contenders during the 1860 race. Here the four presidential candidates dance with members of their supposed respective constituencies. The music is fiddled by Dred Scott, the former slave whose suit precipitated the court's decision. Scott sits on a chair at center. In the upper left is Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge. He is paired with Democratic incumbent and ally James Buchanan, depicted as a goat or (as he was nicknamed) "Buck." At the upper right Republican Abraham Lincoln prances arm-in-arm with a black woman, a pejorative reference to his party's alignment with the abolitionists. At lower right Constitutional Union party candidate John Bell dances with an Indian brave. This pairing is puzzling but may allude to Bell's brief flirtation with Native American interests. (For one instance of the use of the Indian as a nativist symbol see "Know Nothing Soap," no. 1854-3.) At lower left Stephen A. Douglas dances with a ragged Irishman. Associated with Douglas in several cartoons (see "The Undecided Political Prize Fight," no. 1860-22) the Irishman, here wearing a cross, may be intended as a reference to Douglas's backing among Irish immigrants and allegations of the candidate's Catholicism. "The Political Quadrille's" stylistic similarity to the "Undecided Political Prize Fight" and "Dividing The National Map" (nos. 1860-22 and 1860-24) suggests a common authorship. |Title appears as it is written on the item.|"The Lincoln Image," p. 42.|Weitenkampf, p. 123.|Wilson, p. 18-19.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1860-23.

In this activity, students will refer to the 1790 and 1800 Censuses to compare the total population with the population of enslaved people, drawing conclusions from the data.

A crudely drawn satire bitterly attacking Democratic presidential candidate Franklin Pierce and appealing to the "Freemen of America." The print, possibly executed by a free black, criticizes the Democrats' platform, as established by the Baltimore Convention, which in the interest of preserving the Union endorsed the Compromise of 1850. More specifically the artist condemns Pierce's pledge to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, included in the compromise as a submission to southern slaveholding interests. In the center Pierce prostrates himself before a "Slave holder & Peace Maker," a bearded man in wide-brimmed hat and striped trousers holding a cat-o-nine-tails and manacles. The upper half of Pierce is over the Mason Dixon line, his face in the dirt on the "Baltimore Platform." The slaveholder says: "Save the Union, / And with the "meanest" Yankee grease / Smear the hinges of your knees / And in "silence" pray for peace." Pierce, dubbed "one of the Southern "dirt" eaters "Saving" the Union," replies, "I accept this cheerfully." The Democratic platform is labeled "Southern pine" and is inscribed with reference to the compromise, "Fugitive Slave Law and nigger catching, and resist agitation on the Slavery question &c." On it lie a skull and crossbones, manacles, and a serpent. At far left is "the Devil come up to attend his revival," who commends, "Well done my faithful servants!" On the right is the infamous Hungarian general Julius von Haynau, who carries a whip and wears a "Barclay's Brewery" pitcher on his head. (Haynau was assaulted by Barclay employees while in England.) The Hungarian extends his hand toward the slaveholder, saying, "I feel quite at home in this company give me your hand my good fellow." Further to the right are Lewis Cass and Stephen A. Douglas, disappointed aspirants for the 1852 Democratic nomination. Cass says, "We are down Douglass, "Pierce" has bid lower than either of us." Douglas: "There is nothing impossible for a New Hampshire "Hunker" [i.e., conservative] Democrat to do in that line." On the ground nearby are the words, "the "slave&1ocratic miscalled the Democratic party, how they obey the "crack" of the slaveholder's whip!"|Entered . . . 1852 by William K. Leach, Massachusetts.|Sold by Bela Marsh no. 25 Cornhill Boston Mass.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Blaisdell and Selz, no. 22.|Weitenkampf, p. 106.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1852-25.

A satire on the antagonism between Northern abolitionists on the one hand, and Secretary of State Daniel Webster and other supporters of enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Here abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (left) holds a slave woman in one arm and points a pistol toward a burly slave catcher mounted on the back of Daniel Webster. The slave catcher, wielding a noose and manacles, is expensively dressed, and may represent the federal marshals or commissioners authorized by the act (and paid) to apprehend and return fugitive slaves to their owners. Behind Garrison a black man also aims a pistol toward the group on the right, while another seizes a cowering slaveholder by the hair and is about to whip him saying, "It's my turn now Old Slave Driver." Garrison: "Don't be alarmed Susanna, you're safe enough." Slave catcher: "Don't back out Webster, if you do we're ruind." Webster, holding "Constitution": "This, though Constitutional, is "extremely disagreeable." "Man holding volumes "Law & Gospel": "We will give these fellows a touch of South Carolina."Man with quill and ledger: "I goes in for Law & Order." A fallen slaveholder: "This is all "your" fault Webster." In the background is a Temple of Liberty flying two flags, one reading "A day, an hour, of virtuous Liberty, is worth an age of Servitude" and the other, "All men are born free & equal." The print may (as Weitenkampf suggests) be the work of New York artist Edward Williams Clay. The signature, the expressive animation of the figures, and especially the political viewpoint are, however, uncharacteristic of Clay. (Compare for instance that artist's "What's Sauce for the Goose," no. 1851-5.) It is more likely that the print was produced in Boston, a center of bitter opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 and 1851.|Signed: E.C. Del.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Century, p. 70-71.|Weitenkampf, p. 102-103.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1851-6.