| The Move Toward Freedom | What is freedom worth? |
This article examines some of Frederick Douglass’s writings in which he describes how slave owners made use of food (and hunger) as a way of manipulating their slaves.
Born a year before emancipation, journalist Ida B. Wells is getting some overdue recognition for her brave and powerful reporting on injustice.
The U.S. Treasury recently decided to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Click on this link to read a discussion by several writers and editors from The Atlantic about the significance of this change to American currency.
Stephen Crane’s novel The Red Badge of Courage is so realistic that readers tend to assume it’s based on his own experiences in the war. Spoiler alert: It isn’t.
In 1865, former slave Jourdon Anderson was asked to return to the farm where he had been held captive for 32 years. Read this article to learn more about Anderson’s witty, sarcastic response and to read excerpts from his letter.
Jefferson Davis never asked for a pardon for leading the government of the Confederacy in its rebellion against the United States. Statues of the Confederate president have become increasingly controversial in recent years, including one that was removed from the campus of the University of Texas in 2015.
Did you know that this famous lady could have ended up in Boston or Philadelphia, or further afield? These ten interesting facts might surprise you.
Learn about some of the many accomplishments of the “buffalo soldiers,” 19th-century regiments of African American troops formed after the Civil War.
This article explains who Crispus Attucks was, what he did, and why he is still remembered today as a champion and a martyr for freedom.
A Catholic school acknowledges its role in the slave trade and pays tribute to the slaves who worked on its property and their ancestors to bring recognition, respect, and a sense of closure to the pain caused by slavery.
Read ten facts about the 1863 Proclamation, one of the most important documents in the history of the United States.
The film 12 Years a Slave is hailed as one of the most accurate portrayals of slavery to come to the movie screen. In this short clip, you will see some scenes from the film and meet the screenwriter.
An enslaved man named Robert Smalls went undercover for one of the most daring escapes of all time. Find out how he saved himself and saved dozens of other enslaved people as well!
Historians are giving credit to sociologist, W.E.B. DuBois’s idea that enslaved workers coordinated a general strike, which helped end the Civil War.
It’s easy to think of the two sides in the Civil War as monoliths, in which everyone supported the side where they lived. But many Southerners opposed secession and even fought as part of the Union Army.
Pundits from both political extremes sometimes bring up the idea of the United States having a new civil war. Here’s why that’s not going to happen.
The Civil War wasn’t only confined to battlefields. Find out how the war directly affected the lives of children on both sides of the battle lines.
Even before computers made it easy, people have tampered with photographs. On this web site, you can examine an image from the Civil War and learn how experts determined it was fake.
The poet Walt Whitman wrote extensively about the Civil War, although he did not fight in it. Find out what he was doing during those five pivotal years.
As if her work leading people out of slavery through the Underground Railroad weren’t amazing enough, Harriet Tubman also served a crucial military role during the Civil War.
* HMH is not responsible for the content of third–party websites.
