Slaves and Slave Owners Documents

When the "New World" needed cheap labor for its plantations, slave traders kidnapped Africans from their home villages. A "triangle trade" system forever changed the lives of an entire people. Explore this collection to learn what those slaves endured, and discover stories of other types of slavery such as forced labor camps in the Soviet GULAG.

This is page 2 of Charley Williams' story. Note that to maintain authenticity, writers transcribed the oral histories - including Charley's - using t...

This is page 3, of Charley Williams' story, and concludes his oral history as a former American slave. Note that to maintain authenticity, writers tr...

Celia, a Slave, had no last name.  She could not read.  She could not write.  She was accused of murdering her "master" while defendin...

Page from the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano (also known as "Gustavus Vassa, The African"). One day the kidnapped boy, and other captive Africans, ...

Thomas Clarkson and his colleagues on the "Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade" wanted to create a visual picture of a slave's life during ...

The first page of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Click on the image to examine it more closely.

The second page of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Click on the image to examine it more closely.

The third page of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Click on the image to examine it more closely.

The fourth page of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Click on the image to examine it more closely.

President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. It freed slaves in the Confederacy, but Lincoln had no power over the Co...

Page from the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano (also known as "Gustavus Vassa, The African"). Click on the image for a better view.

Page from the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano (also known as "Gustavus Vassa, The African"). On this page, Equiano reminds "haughty" Europeans that ...

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