Guides: Primary Sources: Slavery

Slavery

Purpose

This is a selected bibliography of primary source collections pertaining to the history of Slavery in the U.S. available online. Please note, the library is not responsible for the content on these sources and it is the student's responsibility to properly cite from the proper location. There may also be secondary sources included in these collections and it is up to the student to evaluate if the item qualifies as a primary or secondary source.

The Abolition Seminar
Transcriptions of 50 significant documents pertaining to the abolition movement in America.
Antislavery Collection: University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries
Hundreds of digitized images of documents pertaining to slavery and antislavery in New England, 1725-1911. Documents include: speeches, sermons, proceedings, pamphlets and books.
Black Abolitionist Archive: University of Detroit Mercy
Hundreds of digitized primary sources pertaining to the Black Abolitionist Movement in America. For other digital archives, return to the main page for UDM Libraries' Special Collections page.
Born in Slavery: From the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress
From the Library of Congress, over 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery from the Federal Writers' Project.
Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice
Images of primary source documents pertaining to slavery in the U.S. Documents include: account books, accounts, articles, broadsides, contracts (legal documents), financial records, insurance records, inventories, invoices, letters (correspondence), lists, manifests, muniments, pamphlets, receipts, sales records, speeches, testimonials, and wills
Digital Library on American Slavery from the University of North Carolina Greensboro
Images, runaway slave advertisements, trade maps, slave deeds, and legislative and county court petitions from the University of North Carolina Greensboro Digital Library on American Slavery.
Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress
7,400 digitized documents pertaining to the life of former slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass.
The Freedmen's Bureau Online
Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. Includes murder records, labor records, marriage records and more. Fully searchable or browse by state.
The Friend of Man from Cornell University
Anti-slavery and reform movement newspaper published between 1836-1842. A nearly complete set of the newspaper has been digitized and searchable through Cornell Univeristy.
From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909 (Library of Congress)
396 pamphlets (1822-1909) written by African American authors on the subject of slavery.
The Geography of Slavery in Virginia
Transcriptions of advertisements for runaway slaves, documents, court records, etc. pertaining to slavery in Virginia.
Getting Word: African American Oral History Project
An oral history project that collects stories from descendants of slaves that lived at Monticello.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself (Harriet A. Jacobs): E-Book from Project Gutenberg
Digitized autobiography of Harriet A. Jacobs who grew up in slavery.
The Making of African American Identity: National Humanities Center
Photographs and first hand account narratives of former enslaved African Americans.
North American Slave Narratives
Digitized collection of autobiographies of African Americans, focusing on the fight for freedom and human rights (18th-early 20th century).
Quakers and Slavery
Images of primary sources pertaining to Quakers and the anti-slavery movement.
The Slave Route
Since its launch in 1994, the UNESCO Slave Route Project has contributed to the production of innovative knowledge, the development of high-level scientific networks and the support of memory initiatives on the theme of slavery, its abolition and the resistance it generated.
Slavery at Monticello
Provides interviews and histories relating to slavery at Monticello under Thomas Jefferson.
Texas Slavery Project
Transcriptions of laws, newspaper articles, correspondence and other primary sources pertaining to slavery in Texas.
Unknown No Longer
Collection of primary source records pertaining to slavery in America. Sources include: account books, affidavits, autobiographies, Bible records, bill of sales, broadsides, court records, deeds, diaries and more.
The Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War
Provides statistics, images, maps, church records, newspaper articles, letters, diaries, governement records, and more, focusing in two communities during the Civil War (one Northern, one Southern).
Voices from the Days of Slavery
Seven hours of digitized audio recordings of interviews of former slaves.
Voyage of the Slave Ship Sally
Digitized records of a 1764 slave ship.