One of the greatest works of American autobiography, in a definitive Library of America text: Published seven years after his escape from slavery, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" (1845) is a powerful account of the cruelty and oppression of the Maryland plantation culture into which Frederick Douglass was born. It brought him to the forefront of the antislavery movement and drew thousands, black and white, to the cause....

Harriet Tubman was born a slave and dreamed of being free. She was willing to risk everything including her own life to see that dream come true. After her daring escape, Harriet became a conductor on the secret Underground Railroad, helping more than three hundred other slaves make the dangerous journey to freedom.

Sojourner Truth was born a slave in the late eighteenth century. She was illiterate and poor, but she had an extraordinary intelligence and a powerfully direct approach to life. She is famous as the first black woman to win a lawsuit against a white man in the United States. She played a significant role in the fight against slavery. She was an early and effective supporter of women's suffrage. But those achievements, as important as they are, fail...

A biography of the nineteenth-century author whose anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" helped intensify the disagreement between North and South.

When living a lie is the right thing to do

The Confederate capital in the height of the Civil War: no place for a Union loyalist. But just the place for a spy.

Her father a slaveholder, her suitor a Confederate officer, and she an abolitionist, Sophie Kent must walk a tightrope of deception in her efforts to end slavery. As suspicion in Richmond rises, Sophie's espionage becomes more and more dangerous. If her courage will carry her

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The gripping story is told through four generations, from the capture of Kunta Kinte in Africa to his transport to Colonial America in brutal conditions through successive generations fighting to win their freedom in the Civil War.

In free verse, evokes the voice of Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, a book-loving writer, feminist, and abolitionist who courageously fought injustice in nineteenth-century Cuba. Includes historical notes, excerpts from her writings, biographical information, and source notes.

A magical look at the historic true tale of slave Henry Box Brown, a man who mailed himself to freedom in a wooden box from a plantation in Richmond, Virginia to freedom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1848. Narrated by **Emmy**-winning and **Academy Award**-nominated actress Alfre Woodard this lightly animated story uses entertaining verse to share Henry’s story. With the help of characters including Bird, Horse, Cricket and Cat, Henry avoids...

The Interesting Narration of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African was the first influential slave autobiography. It caused a sensation when published in 1789, fueling a growing anti-slavery movement in the U.S. and England. This BBC production employs dramatic reconstruction, archival material and interviews with scholars such as Stuart Hall and Ian Duffield to provide the social and economic context of the 18th century slave...