Abolitionists Primary Sources
Historical documents. What clues can you gather about the time, place, players, and culture?
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
The Pennsylvania gradual abolition law from March 1st, 1780.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
A runaway slave broadside from November 2nd, 1853.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
Summary on the life, trial, and execution of John Brown, 1859.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
Primary-source documents relating to the Amistad slave rebellion.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
The full text of the Court opinions and the arguments in the Amistad case are available from University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
Read primary-source reviews of Sojourner Truth's speeches, from the Sojourner Truth Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
My Bondage and Freedom, by Frederick Douglass, 1855.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
Frederick Douglass on what the fourth of July means to the slave.
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
The full text of Angelina Grimké Weld's antislavery speech at Pennsylvania Hall is available through PBS.