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Abolition Movement

Get sources on the American abolition movement.

Primary Sources

COM Library has some great collections of primary sources. Primary sources are records created at the time of an event or experience, or as told by people who were present at the event. Must access on campus or login with your COM account for off campus access.

Want more on finding primary sources? Try Tips for Finding Primary Sources or Tips for Finding Primary Sources Open Access.

The Abolitionist Movement: Documents Decoded Intended for high school and undergraduate students, this work provides an engaging overview of the abolitionist movement that allows readers to consider history more directly through more than 20 primary source documents. The Abolitionist Movement: Documents Decoded collects primary sources pertaining to various aspects of the American anti-slavery movement in the 18th and 19th centuries and presents these firsthand sources alongside accessibly written, expert commentary in a visually stimulating format. Making use of primary source documents that include pamphlets, articles, speeches, slave narratives, and court decisions, the book models how scholars interpret primary sources and shows readers how to critically evaluate the key documents that chronicle this major American movement. The work begins with an essay that contextualizes the documents and guides readers toward perceiving the narrative that comes into focus when the seemingly disparate elements are read as a collection. Annotations throughout the book translate difficult passages into lay language, suggest comparisons of key passages, and encourage the reader to cross-reference documents within the volume. This book will illuminate American abolitionism and U.S. history prior to the Civil War while helping readers improve their ability to analyze and interpret primary source information--a key skill for both high school and undergraduate level students. * Includes a concise introduction that summarizes the critical points in the history of slavery and abolition * Provides carefully selected key documents that represent the full range of American thoughts on slavery * Supplies useful annotations that guide the reader's analysis and shows how historians deconstruct documents * Presents information and materials that help readers to understand the forces that supported and opposed slavery, thereby giving students a better grasp of American history in general
American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation For the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, here is a collection of writings that charts our nation's long, heroic confrontation with its most poisonous evil. It's an inspiring moral and political struggle whose evolution parallels the story of America itself. T
The Underground Railroad : Authentic Narratives and First-Hand Accounts In the winter of 1852, a group of Philadelphia abolitionists dedicated to assisting runaway slaves in their flight to freedom formed a new assistance group to be part of the Underground Railroad--the General Vigilance Committee. William Still, himself a son of slaves, was named its secretary and executive director. Deeply moved by the stories of the fugitive slaves he helped conduct northward, Still took his committee record-keeping to a higher level. He wrote down, in eloquent narrative form, every detail of their stirring, often heartbreaking histories. Second only to the great Harriet Tubman in the number of freedom-seeking "passengers" he conducted through the Underground Railroad, Still let the words of former slaves speak for themselves. In his journals, he painstakingly reproduced vivid accounts he heard from their very lips. And he added excerpts from letters, newspapers, and legal documents to the already arresting biographical sketches, creating unforgettable portraits of the slaves' deadly struggles, brutal hardships, and narrow escapes. When the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished, William Still published his journals as The Underground Railroad. It is considered the most complete firsthand account ever written of the men, women, and children who rode the legendary "Railroad" to freedom. This edition includes a new Introduction and 20 illustrations from the original publication.

More Primary Sources

Here are more primary sources. Must access on campus or login with your COM account for off campus access.

Check Open Access for primary sources that anyone can access.