Abolitionist Elisha Tyson wrote to Congress with details on several kidnapping cases of free African Americans in the North who were sold into slavery under the guise of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act. Tyson argued that federal legislation was necessary to address the problem.
Students can see part of Solomon Northup’s story, told in his 1853 autobiography and the new movie, Twelve Years a Slave, in documents found in the National Archives.
The National Archives at Boston in Waltham, MA, and the Boston African American National Historic Site are teaming up to offer the 2013 Summer Institute for teachers "Fighting for Freedom at Home and on the Front: Boston's Struggle for Freedom, 1806–1865." The two-day institute takes place Monday, June 24, 2013 and Tuesday, June 25, 2013. … Continue reading “Fighting for Freedom”: A Free Summer Institute from the National Archives at Boston and the National Park Service
"Mr. President, It is my Desire to be free." Thus wrote (another - not me!) Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln, 20 months after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Writing from Belair, Maryland, she continued, “Will you please let me know if we are free.” But she was not. The Emancipation Proclamation affected only those states … Continue reading Mr. President, It is my Desire to be free.
