Reconstruction: A 13-year-old boy sharecropping (1937) The end of slavery: Reconstruction During the Civil War, in 1863 AD, President Lincoln announced the end of slavery. When the North won the war, in 1865, Congress and [...]
Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby A famous Br'er Rabbit story This is a story about Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox. Br'er Fox was sick and tired of Bre'r Rabbit tricking him. [...]
Phillis Wheatley Peters Enslaved at seven years old When Phillis Wheatley Peters was seven years old, somebody sold her to European slave-traders, and she left Senegal or Gambia on a slave ship to North America. [...]
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) Who was Mark Twain? He lived in the United States in the late 1800s AD, and he wrote books for both children and grown-ups. His real name was [...]
American literature: Rock Art from Utah, about 1700 AD Native American languages In 1500 AD, people living in North America spoke many different languages. None of them were written down. Many of these [...]
Tom Sawyer (1876) The first time you read Tom Sawyer, you'll want to just read it fast all the way through, because it's an exciting story. The second time, slow down [...]
Harriet Beecher Stowe Arrival in the Land of Freedom (1853) LOOK on the travellers kneeling, In thankful gladness, here, As the boat that brought them o'er the lake, Goes steaming [...]
Reciting poetry There's nothing better for your memory than learning to recite poetry. And in addition then you have a piece of poetry always with you. You can take it [...]
Edgar Allan Poe Annabel Lee (1849) It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By [...]
Clement Moore A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823) 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were [...]
