Issues Leading People to Freedom 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.

Is it right for one person to own another person?  This is a question people in the US asked from the time the Constitution was written until the Civil War.  Many people, including John Brown and Frederick Douglass were sure they knew the answer -- No!  Follow the slavery link and learn about the history of slavery:  how it came to North America, the things Americans did to stop the spread of slavery into newly forming western states, and what Americans were doing to help slaves in southern states where slavery existed.  After that, come back to The Fight to End Slavery to learn more about the people who helped to end slavery in the United States.

Nat Turner fought against slavery by killing slave owners to make sure slavery would end.  Read about how he gave his life to help end slavery.

Like Nat Turner, John Brown killed people who wanted slavery to continue.  He helped keep slavery from being legal in new states like Kansas and Nebraska, and died trying to help slaves get weapons so they could fight against their masters.

Dred Scott fought against slavery in a more peaceful way.  He believed that he should be free, because had lived in states where slavery was illegal for several years.  Learn how he took his court case to be free all the way to the Supreme Court, and how his plan to win his freedom backfired.

Frederick Douglass was also a peaceful abolitionist.  He gave lectures and wrote books to convince others to help him fight against slavery.  He told others about his life as a slave and why it was wrong to own other people.

The Underground Railroad was a dangerous escape route for slaves.  Learn about the people who helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroad and the dangers slaves faced when they tried to escape.

Harriet Tubman helped many slaves escape from slavery.  She was part of the Underground Railroad.  She wanted slavery to end and risked her life to help slave after slave escape to freedom in the North and Canada.

Sojourner Truth also helped end slavery by teaching others about the evils of slavery.  She also fought for equal treatment for free Blacks and women.

You know that slavery ended at the end of the Civil War, but do you know why?  Find out how slavery was ended to punish the South for breaking away from the country, and how battles over slavery caused the South to secede in the first place.

Abraham Lincoln said that he wouldn't try to free slaves if he became President, but he ended up freeing the slaves at the end of the Civil War.  Learn how Abraham Lincoln gave the Emancipation Proclamation and fought to keep the country together during the Civil War. 

The fight to end slavery was difficult and sometimes dangerous, but abolitionists won!  Slavery ended in the United States in 1865, but the people who were once slaves didn't get treated fairly after slavery ended.  So the Civil Rights Movement continued. 

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