An Extensive Catalog of African American History

Featuring perspectives from African American scholars and historians, The African American Experience brings voice and context to the lived experiences of African Americans in U.S. history.

Expertly curated primary and secondary sources illustrate diverse threads of African American social, political, and cultural history. Student activities and historical commentary encourage sensitive investigations of key events, from Reconstruction to civil rights and modern social justice movements.

Content Includes:

  • More than 7,000 primary and secondary sources, including overview essays, biographies, slave narratives, speeches, court cases, quotations and more
  • 1,000 biographies of famous political and social figures, including W.E.B. DuBois, Barack Obama, Frederick Douglass, and Oprah Winfrey
  • 40 transcript excerpts providing a birds-eye view of the Civil Rights Movement

Other Features Include: 

  • Commentaries from noted scholars that reflect multiple points of view and stimulate critical thinking
  • Standards-based curriculum updated daily by a team of subject-specific editorial experts and supported by an extensive range of instructional material
  • Basic and advanced search options to return the most relevant results
  • Academic Success Corner with resources to help students develop reading, writing and research skills
  • Educator Support Site containing valuable professional development tools, curriculum guides, lesson plans and more

Topic Centers Include: 

  • Africa and the Atlantic: 500–1550
  • Africans in Colonial North America: 1550s–1760
  • Hopes for a New Nation: 1763–1816
  • Antebellum: 1816–1846
  • Civil War and Emancipation: 1846–1877
  • Rise of Jim Crow: 1877–1895
  • The Progressive Era: 1895–1917
  • World War I to the Great Depression: 1917–1939
  • World War II and Post-War Integration: 1939–1954
  • Civil Rights Movement: 1954–1965
  • Black Power Movement: 1965–1979
  • Urban Politics and the Shifting Landscape: 1979–1991
  • Dawning of a New Era: 1992–2000
  • New Millennium: 2001–Present