African American People in History

Study Triumph over Racism using Online Video

Use these online educational video titles to follow Benjamin Banneker, Mary McLeod Bethune, and George Washington Carver in their struggles against, and eventual triumphs over, racism.

Learn how these African Americans of vision, determination, and dedication defied the odds to become great achievers, changing the lives and attitudes of many--both black and white--in the process. Travel back to the time of slavery in America, and trace the stories of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Robert Smalls in their risky but successful escapes from bondage and their selfless and dangerous work to free others.

Learn how they worked to end the oppression that attempted to rob blacks of their dignity, labor, culture, and future.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore the contributions of African Americans to American history and culture, then trace the life of educator and public servant Mary McLeod Bethune and identify her achievements, including being a founder of Bethune-Cookman College and serving as a special adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt and a United Nations delegate.
• Study the life of botanist George Washington Carver and identify his achievements, including a long and distinguished teaching career at Tuskegee Institute and finding, as an agricultural chemist, new commercial uses for the peanut and sweet potato.
• Review the life of mathematician and astronomer Benjamin Banneker and identify his achievements, including the compilation of an almanac, assisting with the survey of the future District of Columbia, and defending the intellectual capabilities of blacks.
• Explore the contributions of African Americans to American history and culture Survey the life of U.S. Congressman Robert Smalls and identify his achievements, including the commandeering and delivery of a Confederate gunboat to Union forces; serving heroically in the Union navy; and election to the House of Representatives.
• Trace the life of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and identify his achievements, including the founding of the abolitionist newspaper North Star; the recruitment of blacks as Union army soldiers; and oratory denouncing the institution of slavery.
• Study the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman, the "Moses of her people", and identify her achievements, including leading 300 slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad and serving as a nurse and Union army spy during the Civil War.

• History > African American History > Leading Black Americans2
• Robert Smalls (Runtime: 13:29)
• Frederick Douglass (Runtime: 12:41)
• Harriet Tubman (Runtime: 15:29)