The Abolition Movement

 The links below are to three video clips from a PBS series on the abolition movement.

Abolitionist Movement Part I
Abolitionist Movement Part II
Abolitionist Movement Part III

Slavery: The USS Constellation

In the 1830's, the US Navy created the African Squadron. Its' mission was to prevent Africans from being taken by slave ships to the United States where they would be traded into slavery. This slave trafficking was illegal in the United States and could be punishable by death. The USS Constellation was a part of the African Squadron in the late 1850's and early 1860's. The link below is to a History Channel video about the USS Constellation and its' fight against illegal slave trade in 1859-60. At times the treatment of the Africans can be difficult to watch, but the video does a very good job of showing both the brutality of slavery and the difficulties it presented.

 USS Constellation: Battling for Freedom

A Fact About Frederick Douglass

A group of Frederick Douglass's friends paid $711.66 to obtain his freedom from slave owner Thomas Auld in 1846. Douglass had escaped from Auld in 1838, but his friends were concerned that Douglass's growing popularity would gain Auld's attention and lead to his re-enslavement. The bill of sale from this transaction is currently on display at the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. This was certainly a great deal of money in 1846 and puts some perspective on the monetary value of slavery.

Frederick Douglass