African-American genealogical research can be challenging, especially after you hit the brick wall of the 1870 census. There are, however, more and more ways to get over that wall and more resources to learn the techniques for doing so. Included here are some of the best the Internet has to offer, as well as some searchable census sites of particular interest for African-Americans:

• AfriGeneas, an outstanding resource and recommended starting point for "African Ancestored Genealogy," includes a beginner's guide, slave data, surnames, links, state and worldwide resources, newsletter, library, and a mailing list:
  www.afrigeneas.com/
• AfriGeneas's census schedules online:
  http://www.afrigeneas.com/aacensus/
• Christine's African American Genealogy Website, an excellent resource for roots-seekers, includes links to a variety of genealogical sources and African American homepages:
  http://ccharity.com/
• Christine's Genealogy Website's census links for African-Americans:
  http://ccharity.com/contents/censusresearch.htm
• Linda Ball's Ebony Ethnics site:
  http://www.stategensites.com/ebonyethnics/
• African-American Genealogy Ring, dedicated to genealogists who are researching African-American family histories:
  http://afamgenealogy.ourfamily.com/
• About.com's list of links for African-American research:
  http://genealogy.about.com/hobbies/genealogy/msubafrica.htm
• Cyndi's List of African American genealogy resources:
  http://www.CyndisList.com/african.htm
• Researching Your African-American Roots by Christine Sievers:
  http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/genealogy/14871
• Family Tree Maker's articles(look under "African American Research" and the first topic under "Product Reviews"):
  http://www.familytreemaker.com/backissu.html
• Cliff Murray's African American Lifelines' site to help inspire you and help you get over those brick walls in your research:
  http://users.adelphia.net/~cliffmurr/
• University of North Carolina's site of North American Slave Narratives:
  http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/
• Ancestry.com's Slave Narratives:
  http://ancestry.com/search/rectype/biohist/slavnarr/promo.htm