This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, traces the history and status of African Americans in Illinois, beginning with the early years of North American exploration and continuing on to the Civil War.

This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, examines the role of women in 19th-century Illinois. It looks at the development of the idea of separate gender spheres of influence—work for men and the home for women; the application and adaptation of this idea in the frontier; the developing power of women in pushing for social reform; the status of Native American and African-American women; and the gender perceptions of Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd.

Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia looks at Northern and Southern responses to John Brown's Raid and John Brown's execution, focusing on the regional differences the responses brought to the fore and media manipulation of these responses.

To view this clip, select "John Brown's Raid and the American Sectional Crisis" under "Political Development Video."

Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia looks at the early antebellum support of African colonization as an answer to U.S. racial tensions, and considers it as a possible root of the later abolitionist movement.

To listen to this lecture, select "The Movement of African-American Colonization" under "African-American Experience Video."

Charles McCurdy of the University of Virginia outlines the legal cases that preceded the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. Sandford. McCurdy looks at the support, until the 1830s, of the master's side of cases involving slaves suing for freedom following time spent in a free state; the support, beginning in the 1830s, of the slave's side of such cases in free states; the life of Dred Scott prior to the case; and the climbing of the case up the U.S. court system.

Eric Foner of Columbia University looks at antebellum consideration of African colonization as a means to deal with race tensions, focusing on the opposition of most free African Americans to the proposition.

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY-Binghamton examines the participation of African-American women in the radical abolitionist movement headed by William Lloyd Garrison. Sklar focuses particularly on the speaking of these women at abolitionist conventions.

To view this clip, select "Free Black Women in the Anti-Slavery Movement" under "African-American Experience Video."

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY-Binghamton outlines the lives of the Grimke sisters, Angelina and Sarah Grimke, focusing on their entrance into the Quaker religion and the radical abolitionist movement headed by William Lloyd Garrison. Sklar notes how the Grimkes' public speaking in support of abolitionism broke away from common conventions limiting women's public participation and behavior.

James O. Horton of George Washington University gives examples of incidences of recovery of fugitive slaves and kidnapping of free blacks in the North, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law; and discusses the contradiction between Southern support of the Fugitive Slave Law and Southern support of state rights.

To view this clip, select "The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850" under "African-American Experience Video."

James O. Horton of George Washington University discusses the abolitionist views and activities of free blacks in the antebellum U.S., including reactions to the Fugitive Slave Law and participation in the Underground Railroad.

To view this clip, select "Free Blacks in the Antebellum North" under "African-American Experience Video."