Slavery

The Tocsin of liberty: rung by the state house bell, (Independence Hall;) Philadelphia, July 4th, 1776

After Nearly 500 Years in Business, the Company that Cast the Liberty Bell Is Ceasing All Operations

London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry will fall silent soon, but will forever be tied to an icon of American history

Where Did Harriet Tubman Escape to and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

A statue of the former slave Clara Brown, who was born into slavery in 1800. She married and had four children, but the family was broken up and sold at auction.

In “Defending Freedom,” the Vanguards Who Refused to Be Suppressed Are Reunited

At the African American History Museum, this exhibition graphically conveys the trials and triumphs in the battle for Civil Rights

Confederate Memorial Day exercises at the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia.

A Controversial Museum Tries to Revive the Myth of the Confederacy’s “Lost Cause”

The ideology has been used to whitewash slavery’s role in the Civil War for generations

A Brief History of the Rumba

Born out of slavery in 19th-century Cuba, the lively music and dance form takes many shapes

Memories of a Runaway Cuban Slave

A former sugar plantation slave recalls fleeing to a cave in the woods and the new dangers that awaited him there

Did John Adams Out Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings?

A scholar makes the intriguing case that Adams gossiped about the relationship years before the news erupted in public

The stacked bricks represent the people enslaved by President Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and include his own children and their mother Sally Hemings.

At the New “Slavery and Freedom” Show, a Mother Finds an Empowering Message for Her Young Daughters

A child's shackles, a whip, and an auction block deliver a visceral experience of slavery

The West Front of Mount Vernon, by Edward Savage, 1787-1792

In a Groundbreaking Exhibit at Mount Vernon, Slaves Speak and History Listens

Life at the home of George Washington is told anew

Understanding the Gospel of Nat Turner

The leader of the deadly slave revolt had a deep Christian faith that propelled his rebellious actions

A late-18th century painting of George and Martha Washington with their adoptive children, George Washington Parke Custis and Nelly Custis, as well as one of their slaves.

George Washington’s Biracial Family Is Getting New Recognition

The National Park Service is finally acknowledging the first president’s biracial family

Conservationists assess the bell, which was not rung throughout much of the 20th century after it fell into disrepair.

Historic Bell Helps Ring in New African American History Museum

Why President Obama won’t cut a ribbon when the new museum opens this Saturday

It is thought that Nat Turner was holding this Bible when he was captured two months after the rebellion he led against slaveholders in Southampton County, Virginia.

Nat Turner's Bible Gave the Enslaved Rebel the Resolve to Rise Up

A Bible belonging to the enslaved Turner spoke of possibility says curator Rex Ellis of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Jones-Hall-Sims House, stripped down from 140 years of additions and siding, was acquired in 2009 by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and has been rebuilt as part of an exhibition called “Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation.”

For Nearly 150 Years, This One House Told a Novel Story About the African-American Experience

On view in the new museum, the woodframe dwelling evokes the aspirations and limitations of the era following enslavement

Once 2,000 square miles in Virginia and North Carolina, the swamp today is perhaps one-tenth that size.

Deep in the Swamps, Archaeologists Are Finding How Fugitive Slaves Kept Their Freedom

The Great Dismal Swamp was once a thriving refuge for runaways

The Powerful Objects From the Collections of the Smithsonian's Newest Museum

These artifacts each tell a part of the African-American story

From Slavery to Mass Incarceration will be a museum dedicated to the history of racial injustice in America, and will be located just steps from a site where slaves were auctioned off.

Inside the Upcoming Memorial and Museum Dedicated to Lynching Victims

Spanning slavery to segregation to mass incarceration

How the American Civil War Built Egypt’s Vaunted Cotton Industry and Changed the Country Forever

The battle between the U.S. and the Confederacy affected global trade in astonishing ways

Sojourner Truth, tech pioneer.

How Sojourner Truth Used Photography to Help End Slavery

The groundbreaking orator embraced newfangled technology to make her message heard

Earliest known photograph of the White House. The image was taken in 1846 by John Plumbe during the administration of James K. Polk.

The White House Was, in Fact, Built by Enslaved Labor

Along with the Capitol and other iconic buildings in Washington, D.C.

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