Resource Material

As you view the video scenes from Emancipation: The Opera, you and your teacher and fellow students will have the opportunity to discuss the important issues raised in each video. On this page you will find supplementary materials that can help you make sense of what you see. The timeline lists events chronologically and has many clickable links that you can explore. The many articles available to you here discuss the history of Black human rights as it has unfolded in the decades before and since the end of the Civil War. Click on each topic below to open a document that talks about it.


table of contents

dear educators

Download
Dear Educators
Introduction to the course
Dear Educators.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 113.6 KB

timeline

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Timeline: History of the Struggle for Black Human Rights
Events listed chronologically, with many clickable links
Timeline.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 185.3 KB

The haitian revolution

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The Haitian Revolution
The most successful slave rebellion in history, 1791
Haitian Revolution.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 183.0 KB

ABraham lincoln

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Abraham Lincoln
America's 16th President
Abraham Lincoln.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 175.0 KB

mary todd lincoln

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Mary Todd Lincoln
The wife of President Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 151.8 KB

elizabeth keckley

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Elizabeth Keckley
Seamstress, designer and friend of Mary Todd Lincoln
Elizabeth Keckley.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 282.4 KB


walt whitman

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Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman is the author of the poem “This Moment Yearning and Thoughtful,” the words of which are sung by Abe Lincoln during his soliloquy in Video Scene 9 from Emancipation
Walt Whitman.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 171.5 KB

frederick douglass

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Frederick Douglass
Former slave, abolitionist leader
Frederick Douglass Bio.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 247.8 KB

fort sumter

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Fort Sumter
Civil War begins as Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 163.6 KB

the telegraph

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The Telegraph
How Lincoln used the telegraph to help win the Civil War
The Telegraph.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 220.3 KB

the negro spiritual

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The Negro spiritual
A brief history of the Negro spiritual
The Negro Spiritual.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 167.9 KB

nat turner's rebellion

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Nat Turner's Rebellion
Rebellion of enslaved Black people led by Nat Turner in 1831
Nat Turner's Rebellion.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 170.3 KB

underground railroad

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Underground Railroad
Network of safe places and transport that allowed slaves to escape to the northern free states
Underground Railroad.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 219.1 KB

fugitive slave law convention

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Fugitive Slave Law Convention
Meeting of northern abolitionists in 1850, chaired by Frederick Douglass
Fugitive Slave Law Convention.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 169.5 KB

emancipation proclamation

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Emancipation Proclamation
Story of the document that proclaimed the end of slavery
Emancipation Proclamation.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 199.0 KB


emancipation proclamation text

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Emancipation Proclamation Text
Full text of the Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation Text.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 141.4 KB

june 19, 1865: Juneteenth

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June 19, 1865: Juneteenth
The day federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX to ensure enslaved people were freed
June 19, 1865.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 356.9 KB

w.e.b. du bois

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W.E.B. du Bois
Transformed the way Black lives were seen as American citizens
W.E.B. du Bois.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 200.5 KB

marcus garvey

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Marcus Garvey
Noted civil rights activist
Marcus Garvey.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 199.5 KB

jackie robinson

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Jackie Robinson
African American professional baseball player who broke the color barrier
Jackie Robinson.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 190.6 KB

brotherhood of sleeping car porters & maids

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Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters & Maids
First union among African American workers
Brotherhood of sleeping car porters and
Adobe Acrobat Document 183.7 KB

john lewis

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John Lewis
Civil rights leader and member of Congress
John Lewis.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 202.6 KB

george jackson

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George Jackson
Worked to eradicate racism in prisons
George Jackson.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 166.8 KB

fred hampton

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Fred Hampton
Black Panthers member, killed by Chicago police
Fred Hampton.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 148.8 KB

rosa parks

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Rosa Parks
Black woman who ignited bus boycott
Rosa Parks Ignites Bus Boycott.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 148.9 KB

greensboro lunch counter sit-in

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Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-in
Civil rights protest at Woolworth's lunch counter in 1960
Greensboro Sit-in.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 140.9 KB

birmingham bombing

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Birmingham Church Bombing
4 young girls killed at 16th St. Baptist Church
Birmingham church bombing.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 203.8 KB

march on washington

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The March on Washington
Occasion of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech
The March on Washington.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 234.7 KB

voting rights act

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Voting Rights Act
President Lyndon Johnson gives Black Americans the right to vote
Voting Rights Act.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 153.6 KB

watts rebellion

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Watts Rebellion
6 days of rioting sparked by an arrest in the Watts neighborhood of L.A. in 1965
Watts Rebellion.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 215.2 KB

angela davis acquitted

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Angela Davis Acquitted
Black activist Angela Davis acquitted by an all-white Marin County jury
Angela Davis.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 167.5 KB

barack obama

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President Barack Obama
The 44th President of the United States
Barack Obama.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 220.9 KB

civil war fashion

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Civil War Fashion
Illustrations and descriptions of the clothing styles that were fashionable during the Civil War years.
CIVIL WAR FASHION.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 2.8 MB

Ashokan farewell

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Ashokan Farewell
The theme music of the Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War
ASHOKAN FAREWELL.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 129.4 KB

11 anthems of black pride and protest

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11 Anthems of Black Pride and Protest
Eleven songs that have marked the fight for Black human rights
11 Anthems of Black Pride and Protest.pd
Adobe Acrobat Document 449.8 KB

supplemental reading

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Supplemental Reading
Suggestions for further reading
Supplemental Reading.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 458.1 KB