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Framing Questions
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How did African Americans construct identity in antebellum America? |
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How did enslaved and free blacks differ in their exercise of power and self-determination?
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How did African Americans define themselves as members of groups?
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| 1. |
Slave » Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions
| - | On being a slave, selections from 19th-c. narrative |
| - | "I was born a slave," selections from Jacobs and Keckley narratives, 1860s |
| - | "The position of the African slave," address by John S. Rock, 1858 |
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| 2. |
Slave to Free» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions
| - | Slave to free, selections from 19th- & 20th-century narratives |
| - | Letters from newly freed African Americans
- From Cato to a Philadelphia newspaper, 1781
- From Henry Bibb to his former slaveholder, 1844
- From John Boston to his wife, 1862
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| - | Newly arrived freedmen in Washington, DC, 1862, description in Keckley narrative |
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| 3. |
Free-born» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions
| - | A free man of color, autobiography of Willis Hodges, 1849, excerpts |
| - | A free teenager, journal of Charlotte Forten, 1854-1858, excerpts |
| - | "I was born of free parents," selections from narratives, 19th-20th c. |
| - | "Colored we are," the debate over names and identity, 1830s |
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| 4. |
Entrepreneurs» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions
| - | Tobacconist in North Carolina: Lunsford Lane, 1830s |
| - | Shoemaker in Connecticut: William J. Brown, 1830s |
| - | Sailmaker in Massachusetts: James Forten, 1830s |
| - | Barber in Mississippi: William Johnson, 1830s-1840s |
| - | Merchant in California: Mifflin Gibbs, 1850s-1860s |
| - | Dressmaker in Washington, DC: Elizabeth Keckley, 1860s |
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Soldiers» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions
| - | A black soldier in the American army (Revolution), 1777-1783 |
| - | A black soldier in the British army (Revolution), 1770s-1780s |
| - | A black soldier's letter to President Lincoln (Civil War), 1863 |
| - | Diary of a black Congressional Medal of Honor recipient (Civil War), 1864 |
| - | Photographs of a fugitive recruit in the Union army (Civil War), 1864 |
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| 9. |
Citizenship» Text Links / Note / Discussion Questions
| - | The American Negro's Fourth of July, address, New Haven African Church,
5 July 1832 |
| - | State Negro conventions on black citizenship, 1838-1849 |
| - | Colored National Convention on black citizenship, 1853 |
| - | Declaration of Wrongs and Rights, Natl. Colored Convention, 1864 |
| - | Letter from London on black citizenship, 1849 |
| - | Appeals for equal rights, narrative selections, 19th c. |
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Image: Christian Fleetwood, portrait (photograph), ca. 1890. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.
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