The book includes exercises and notes on several specific concepts. As an adult, Cumming moved with his wife and children from Scotland to North America, eventually settling in Alabama. His daughter, Kate, served as a nurse during the Civil War.
In the book Tait records financial matters, including his account with J. & E. Austill; expenses incurred by his son, Charles, while attending the University of Alabama; the cost of supplies used to build a new house; the purchase of slaves; and...
In the excerpt Peggy Dow discusses passing through present-day Alabama with her husband, Lorenzo, an itinerant preacher from Connecticut. She describes the landscape, accommodations, traveling conditions, and acquaintances met along the way. She...
Robert Gracey died in 1841. The book is divided into three sections. The first notes the payment and collection of debts from 1842 to 1845. The second section deals with the accounts of Minor and his brother John Ivey Gracey; it records the...
In the passages Lyell describes the physical characteristics of the Tombigbee River and gulf coast in Alabama; discrimination against African Americans in both the North and the South; implications of emancipation for the economic and social...
This passage includes a letter written by Gosse, on September 1, 1838. He discusses slavery in Alabama ("a huge deadly serpent"), describing cruel punishments, poor living conditions, and impediments to emancipation. In his view, the institution...
From Claiborne's preface to the work: "As originally written, the narrative was almost literally in his [Dale's] own words. In the present memoir I have preserved his language in many parts, and faithfully expressed his opinions." The first passage...
The first page included here discusses officers of the council and their salaries. The second page discusses the sale of lots in the "colored" cemetery and a new city ordinance that makes it unlawful to "carry on any barber business" on the...
From the introduction by T. Thomas Fortune: "Mr. Washington still lives; and to-day the South possesses no voice stronger than his,--that is teaching Christian love and sympathy and national unity with like power and success...one of the strongest...
In this passage Van Vorst describes living and working conditions for employees of a textile mill in Anniston, Alabama. She gives specific details about the housing and operation of the factory, and she includes several interviews with children who...
In the passage Du Bois critiques Booker T. Washington's methods for the education and assimilation of African Americans in society: "...it has been claimed that the Negro can survive only through submission. Mr. Washington distinctly asks that...
In the passages Gorgas gives a brief history of yellow fever in the United States, particularly in the Mississippi Valley region, and discusses the economic impact of the disease. He then focuses on Cuba, which had suffered recurring epidemics...
Included here is Chapter 20, "The Negro and the World War." The chapter begins by describing African American support for the war effort, but then turns to a discussion of democracy, equality, and civil rights: "Before the war, two expressions were...
The first passage reviews the basic terms of the federal child labor law (which had recently been declared unconstitutional) and explains the scope of this project: "Practically no attention was given in this study to the establishments to which...
These passages include three poems by African American writers: "Helen Keller" by Langston Hughes; "'Courage!' He Said" by Jessie Fauset; and "Spirit Vision" by Countee Cullen.