• Login
  • Register
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Documents
  • Activities
  • Activity Tools
    • All Tools
    • Analyzing Documents
    • Discussion Topic
    • Compare and Contrast
    • Zoom/Crop
    • White Out / Black Out
    • Spotlight
    • Finding a Sequence
    • Making Connections
    • Mapping History
    • Seeing the Big Picture
    • Weighing the Evidence
    • Interpreting Data
  • Popular Topics
    • See All
    • National History Day
    • The Constitution
    • Sports: All-American
    • Rights in America
    • American Indians
    • Women's Rights
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • The Vietnam War
    • 1970s America
    • Congress
    • Amending America
    • Elections
    • What Americans Eat
    • Signatures
    • Nixon and Ford Years
  • Resources
    • Getting Started
    • Document Analysis
    • Activity-Creation Guide
    • Manage Assignments
    • iPad App
    • Presentation Materials
    • Webinars
      • Recorded Webinars
      • Live Webinars
MENU
DocsTeachThe online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives National Archives Foundation National Archives

From Slavery to Juneteenth: Emancipation and Ending Enslavement

Finding a Sequence

Print
Created by the National Archives
Bookmark this Activity in My Activities:
Copy this Activity to My Activities for editing:
From Slavery to Juneteenth: Emancipation and Ending Enslavement

About this Activity

  • Created by:National Archives Education Team
  • Historical Era:Across Historical Eras
  • Thinking Skill:Historical Comprehension
  • Bloom's Taxonomy:Evaluating
  • Grade Level:High School
Start Activity
Please use a tablet or desktop computer to use this activity.
In this activity, students sequence key events related to both the expansion of slavery and the emancipation of enslaved people by placing documents in chronological order.

Documents were chosen to call attention to the struggle’s length, the steps forward and back, and the variety of people (from enslaved people themselves to abolitionists and politicians) who played a role in ending the institution of slavery. 
https://docsteach.org/activities/student/from-slavery-to-juneteenth-emancipation-and-ending-enslavement

Suggested Teaching Instructions

This activity can be used as a review at the end of a unit of study on the Civil War era. It can also be used as an assessment tool. Students can work independently or in groups. The activity is appropriate for grades 8-12. Approximate time needed is 120 minutes.

Open the activity in front of the class and choose one of the documents. Model document analysis. Discuss the following:
 
  • Identify the type of document.
  • What are some unique characteristics?
  • Identify the date and author(s).
  • Speculate for whom it was written, its content, and why it was created.

If necessary, share the following historical context:
From its beginnings in the the 16th and 17th centuries through its abolition with the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 6, 1865, millions of enslaved people toiled for hundreds of years throughout the United States.

Though it never mentioned the words slave or slavery by name, the U.S. Constitution protected and strengthened the institution by giving increased power to the Southern slave-owning states.  In its infamous Three-Fifths clause, "all other persons" (i.e. slaves) were counted as 3/5s of a person for purposes of representation in Congress--inflating the South's political power.

As the United States expanded west with the Louisiana Purchase and following the Mexican-American War, the slavery also spread west.  Though Congress banned the importation of enslaved people in 1808, the domestic slave trade continued and grew during the 19th century. At the same time, a burgeoning abolitionist movement and a continued resistance from enslaved people pushed for the end of slavery. 
Direct students to continue working through the activity individually, in pairs or in small groups. They should briefly read through each primary source and analyze each document, noting the specific dates for each.  Students should then place the documents in chronological order. 

As students analyze, students should discuss whether the document represents a step forward towards emancipation or a step backward towards continued slavery.  Ask students to explain the strengths and weaknesses of some of the steps forward and backward (e.g. the DC Emancipation Act only applying to DC; the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to areas in open rebellion, etc).

The correct order for the sources is:
 
  1. Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Vice President John Adams with Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery (2/1790)
  2. Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 (2/12/1793)
  3. Petition Against the Slave Trade (12/30/1799)
  4. Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves (3/2/1807)
  5. Bill of Sale for Slave Named George (1833)
  6. Anti-Slavery Petition from the Women of Philadelphia (1844)
  7. The Compromise of 1850 (1/29/1850)
  8. Petition from Citizens of New York Asking that Slavery and the Slave-trade may be Expressly Prohibited by Act of Congress in all the Territories of the United States (3/25/1851)
  9. Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 (5/30/1854)
  10. Judgment in the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford (3/6/1857)
  11. House Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to Prohibit Congress from Abolishing Slavery (3/2/1861)
  12. Newspaper Advertisement in the "True Democrat" for Runaway Slaves (ca. 1862)
  13. Lincoln's Recommendation for Gradual Emancipation (3/6/1862)
  14. DC Emancipation Act (4/16/1862)
  15. Presidential Proclamation 90 by President Abraham Lincoln Revoking General David Hunter's Order of Military Emancipation (5/19/1862)
  16. Emancipation Proclamation (1/1/1863)
  17. U.S. Brigadier General R. H. Milroy's Order to Citizens of Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia in Reference to the Emancipation Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln (1/5/1863)
  18. Circular Entitled Colored Soldiers! Equal State Rights! And Monthly Pay with White Men! (12/15/1863)
  19. Joint Resolution Proposing the Thirteenth Amendment (1/31/1865)
  20. General Order No. 3 (Juneteenth General Order) (6/19/1865)
 
After the students complete the sequencing of the sources, they should click on "When You're Done."  Direct students to write 1-3 paragraphs about the key events that led to the end of slavery. Students should include details about several of the documents included in this activity and explain how each played a role in ending slavery. Students should note in their answers which documents represent steps forward towards emancipation and/or backward towards strengthening slavery.



Documents in this activity

  • DC Emancipation Act
  • Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves
  • Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
  • Anti-Slavery Petition from the Women of Philadelphia
  • Bill of Sale for Slave Named George
  • Circular Entitled Colored Soldiers! Equal State Rights! And Monthly Pay with White Men!
  • Emancipation Proclamation
  • General Order No. 3 (Juneteenth General Order)
  • House Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to Prohibit Congress from Abolishing Slavery
  • Joint Resolution Proposing the Thirteenth Amendment
  • Judgment in the U.S. Supreme Court Case Dred Scott v. John F. A. Sandford
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854
  • Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Vice President John Adams with Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery
  • Lincoln's Recommendation for Gradual Emancipation
  • Newspaper Advertisement in the "True Democrat" for Runaway Slaves
  • Petition from Citizens of New York Asking that Slavery and the Slave-trade may be Expressly Prohibited by Act of Congress in all the Territories of the United States
  • Petition Against the Slave Trade
  • Presidential Proclamation 90 by President Abraham Lincoln Revoking General David Hunter's Order of Military Emancipation
  • The Compromise of 1850
  • U.S. Brigadier General R. H. Milroy's Order to Citizens of Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia in Reference to the Emancipation Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln

CC0
To the extent possible under law, National Archives Education Team has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to "From Slavery to Juneteenth: Emancipation and Ending Enslavement".

  • Explore Primary Source Documents
  •  
  • Discover Activities You Can Teach With
  •  
  • Create Fun & Engaging Activities
Follow us on Twitter:twitter
Follow us on Facebook:facebook
Please enter a valid email address

View our webinars:youtube

Get our iPad app:apple
New Documentsshare
New Activitiesshare

The National Archives

DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives.

The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's record keeper. We save documents and other materials created in the course of business conducted by the U.S. Federal government that are judged to have continuing value. We hold in trust for the public the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — but also the records of ordinary citizens — at our locations around the country.
  • All Education Programs
  • Student Visits
  • Distance Learning
  • Professional Development
  • National Archives Museum
  • Presidential Libraries
  • Archives.gov
  • National Archives Foundation




Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise noted, DocsTeach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Primary source documents included on this site generally come from the holdings of the National Archives and are in the public domain, except as noted. Teaching activities on this site have received the CC0 Public Domain Dedication; authors have waived all copyright and related rights to the extent possible under the law. See our legal and privacy page for full terms and conditions.