Photos | Videos | Audio | Interactives
Photo Galleries (4)
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Slave Life
Slave Life(9 Photos)
9 Photos
View pictures of North American slave life during the 18th and 19th centuries, featuring pictures of slaves themselves and the environments in which they worked and lived.
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The Battle Over Slavery
The Battle Over Slavery(12 Photos)
12 Photos
Explore images of abolitionists, the Underground Railroad and much more as you learn about the battle over slavery in the United States.
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The Slave Trade
The Slave Trade(10 Photos)
10 Photos
Explore images of the Atlantic and African Slave Trades, from holding cells in Africa to auction houses in Atlanta.
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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln(19 Photos)
19 Photos
See pictures from the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln.
Videos (10)
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The Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation ProclamationVideo Clip (2:14)
Video Clip (2:14)
Issued after the Union victory at Antietam, the Emancipation Proclamation had both moral and strategic implications for the ongoing Civil War.
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Origins of Slavery in America
Origins of Slavery in AmericaVideo Clip (3:01)
Video Clip (3:01)
In 1619, the Dutch introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cuelty that would ultimately divide the nation.
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Legacy of the Civil War
Legacy of the Civil WarVideo Clip (1:22)
Video Clip (1:22)
One hundred and fifty years after it began, the Civil War is still an important component of our national character.
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Civil War's Greatest Myth
Civil War's Greatest MythVideo Clip (2:41)
Video Clip (2:41)
What you think you know about the Civil War may not be the whole truth.
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The Failure of Reconstruction
The Failure of ReconstructionVideo Clip (2:35)
Video Clip (2:35)
Reconstruction turns the south into a different type of battleground. Constitutional amendments grant freedom and suffrage to African-Americans but equality remains elusive.
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America and the Civil War
America and the Civil WarVideo Clip (4:04)
Video Clip (4:04)
Discover how the bloodiest war in American history transformed the face of the nation.
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Civil War Turning Point
Civil War Turning PointVideo Clip (3:08)
Video Clip (3:08)
Find out what event turned the tide of the Civil War.
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Civil War in One Word
Civil War in One WordVideo Clip (1:13)
Video Clip (1:13)
If you had just one word to describe the Civil War, what would it be?
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After the Emancipation
After the EmancipationVideo Clip (3:30)
Video Clip (3:30)
Four million slaves were formally freed when the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863, but with the Civil War still raging, their future was far from certain.
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Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln Issues the Emancipation ProclamationVideo Clip (2:31)
Video Clip (2:31)
The Emancipation Proclamation refocuses the purpose of the Civil War to address the issue of slavery.
Speeches & Audio (7)
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Brown v. Board of Education Ruling
Brown v. Board of Education RulingAudio Clip (1:02)
Audio Clip (1:02)
On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling against the "separate but equal" mandate and demanded desegregation of schools. Outside the courtroom, the attorneys who argued the Brown v. Board of Education case, James Nabrit Jr., Thurgood Marshall and George Hayes, give a press conference.
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Lyndon Johnson Rebukes Adam Clayton Powell
Lyndon Johnson Rebukes Adam Clayton PowellAudio Clip (2:29)
Audio Clip (2:29)
In a heated telephone conversation on March 1, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson accuses Adam Clayton Powell of holding up the passage of an education bill.
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John F. Kennedy on Desegregation at Ole Miss
John F. Kennedy on Desegregation at Ole MissAudio Clip (3:18)
Audio Clip (3:18)
When Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett refused to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling demanding desegregation at the University of Mississippi and the admittance of James Meredith, President John F. Kennedy was forced to intervene. In his address to the nation on September 30, 1962, Kennedy explains his decision to federalize the state national guard in order to maintain law and order while Meredith registers at the college.
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Lyndon Johnson Twists Senator Ribicoff's Arm
Lyndon Johnson Twists Senator Ribicoff's ArmAudio Clip (3:30)
Audio Clip (3:30)
In early 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson wanted to pass an excise tax bill, but, with two members of his party opposing, the bill was likely to die in the Senate. In a secretly recorded telephone call to Senator Abraham Ribicoff on January 23, Johnson is heard applying his power of persuasion.
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Lyndon Johnson Pressures Senator Hartke
Lyndon Johnson Pressures Senator HartkeAudio Clip (1:45)
Audio Clip (1:45)
In a secretly recorded telephone conversation with Democratic Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana on January 23, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson pressures Hartke to vote for his excise tax bill, which is hung up in the Senate. On June 21, 1965, Johnson signed the Excise Tax Reduction Act into law.
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John F. Kennedy Intervenes in James Meredith Case
John F. Kennedy Intervenes in James Meredith CaseAudio Clip (4:38)
Audio Clip (4:38)
In defiance of the Supreme Court ruling that the University of Mississippi desegregate and allow James Meredith to attend, Gov. Ross Barnett physically blocked the African-American student from entering the building to register on September 20, 1962. Nine days later, President John F. Kennedy telephones Barnett to persuade him to cooperate with the Court's ruling. Barnett does little to reassure Kennedy, and attempts to pawn off the decision on his lawyer friend Tom Watkins.
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Obama Releases His Birth Certificate
Obama Releases His Birth CertificateAudio Clip (2:46)
Audio Clip (2:46)
People seeking to undermine Barack Obama's legitimacy as president circulated a rumor that he was not born in the United States. On April 27, 2011, Obama releases his long-form birth certificate and asks that the American people and press put an end to the "silliness" and focus on more important matters.
Interactives (1)
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Civil War 150
Civil War 150Interactive
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Read More about Thirteenth Amendment
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially abolished slavery in America, and was ratified on December 6, 1865, after the conclusion of the American Civil War.
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