Issues The Fight to End Slavery Changing the Laws The Right to Vote The Fight for Equal Education The Fight for Desegregation Leading the Country Resistance to the Movement Willing to Give their Lives

Use these links to return to the page you got here from or to investigate other issues related to this topic.  If the Civil Rights Movement is new to you, you can visit our dictionary page from any page in the entire web site by clicking here.

People from Africa were once caught and taken to America to be slaves.  Being a slave was not easy.  They were often whipped and beaten for anything they did wrong, and many times they didn't have enough food and fresh water.  Slaves weren't allowed to marry and could be traded to another master and sent away from their families at any time.  It isn't hard to understand why people fought so hard to end slavery.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was a slave who escaped to freedom.  Although slavery was hard, escaping wasn't easy, either.  Harriet Tubman risked her life to help many others escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad.

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth also helped end slavery through her preaching.  After escaping from her master, she helped her son become free.  Her efforts to end slavery helped black people across the United States.

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was also once a slave and later an abolitionist.  He fought to end slavery by traveling all over the world, giving speeches to teach others that slavery was wrong.  He helped free many slaves by convincing more people to join the fight against slavery.

Nat Turner

Nat Turner was a slave who had a very different idea for how to end slavery.  He thought he could end slavery by killing slave masters and their families and setting their slaves free.  

John Brown

John Brown agreed with Nat Turner.  He used violence to keep slavery out of the new states of Kansas and Nebraska.  Learn about his plans to steal weapons from the army and use them to help slaves kill their masters and escape.

Read more about the people who helped end slavery by working on the Underground Railroad, convincing others to fight against slavery, and even using violence to fight for freedom.  Just click on the picture next to each famous abolitionist to learn more.  Their stories will amaze you!

If you want to be absolutely certain you've looked at every page on our website, check out our site map.

This website is designed to be viewed using Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 or above.