free african americans

A collection of primary sources, from the colonial era to the Civil War, that document the struggle of free blacks, slaves, and other Americans to end slavery.

In 1834, New Orleans musician Benjamin January returns to the plantation of his childhood owner to pose as a slave and investigate a murder and other strange goings-on there.

An illustrated account of Jim Limber, a slave child who was taken in by the family of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and raised along with the Davis children until being kidnapped by Yankees.

C?cile Rey, spending the summer volunteering with her friend Marie-Grace Gardner at a nearby orphanage, forms a special bond with a young girl named Perrine and decides to try and raise money for the children by helping in a huge benefit.

John Weems, a former slave, was a peaceable hard-working farmhand. His wife, Arabella, and their seven children were slaves of Adam Robb who allowed the family to live together under the same roof for a price. When Robb died in 1847, his debt-ridden heirs cared more about the family's auction value than keeping them together. As John watched, they were sold and split apart. He resolved to buy all of them back before they left the area forever. As the news spread, the family's plight captured the imagination of abolitionists in the United States and Britain. In the meantime, they did not wait for John to accumulate the money to purchase their freedom and many of them attempted escape. The Weems' story has been painstakingly researched by the Canadian author, himself a descendant of former slaves who made it to Canada.

Presents a biography of African-American child, James Jackson, written in 1836 by Susan Paul, James's primary school instructor, Sunday school teacher, and family friend.

Chronicles the life of the woman called Aunt Clara Brown, who was born into slavery and became a pioneer and entrepreneur, earning money to bring other former slaves to a new start in Colorado.

The diary of a sixteen-year-old free African-American who lived in Massachusetts in 1854 records her schooling, participation in the antislavery movement, and concern for an arrested fugitive slave. Includes sidebars, activities, and a timeline related to this era.

Chronicles the history of a free Black family in Philadelphia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focusing on Amos Webber who became a musician, property owner, and abolitionist.