People, Locations, Episodes

The First World Anti-Slavery Convention is Held

*On this date in 1840, The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London.   The new society’s mission was “The universal extinction of slavery and the slave trade and the protection of the rights and interests of the enfranchised population in the British possessions and of all persons captured […]

The Ashworth Act is Passed

*The Ashworth Act was passed on this date in 1840. The Texas Senate passed this legislation. It exempted the Ashworth Family, freedmen, and formerly enslaved people in the Republic of Texas from a new law stipulating that all Black Texans either leave or be enslaved. The Ashworths were Portuguese North Africans. They migrated from South Carolina and […]

The Republic of Maryland is Formed

*The Republic of Maryland is affirmed on this date in 1841. Also known as the Independent State of Maryland, it was a country in West Africa that existed from 1834 to 1857 when it was merged into Liberia. The state of Maryland had an increasing proportion of free blacks. During the first two decades after the […]

The United States v. Schooner Amistad is Decided.

*On this date, 1841, United States v. Schooner Amistad, 40 U.S. (15 Pet.) 518 (1841), was decided.  This was a United States Supreme Court case resulting from the rebellion of Africans on board the Spanish schooner La Amistad in 1839.  It was an unusual freedom suit that involved international issues, parties, and United States law. The case was the most important court case involving slavery […]

Prigg v. Pennsylvania is Decided

*On this date in 1842, Prigg v. Pennsylvania was decided. This was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the federal Fugitive Slave Act (1793) precluded a Pennsylvania state law that prohibited Blacks from being taken from the free state of Pennsylvania into slavery. The Court overturned the conviction of slavecatcher Edward Prigg as a result.   Occurring under the presidency […]

Fort Scott, (Kansas) is Founded

Fort Scott, Kansas, is celebrated on this date. The fort was a sensitive military post and town in the years before the Civil War.

The Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation begins

*The Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation began on this date in 1842.  It was the largest escape of enslaved Africans in the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory of America. Before the white-European invasion, the Cherokee practiced enslaving prisoners of war from other Indian tribes. In the late 18th century, some set up European-American-style plantations on their Cherokee […]

The Dawn Settlement is formed

*The Dawn settlement was formed on this date in 1842.  Often called Dawn, this was a Canadian refuge community and a place of work for former American slaves. Josiah Henson and Hiram Wilson formed it with 200 acres of property purchased. Henson also purchased an additional 200 acres of land adjacent to the community, later […]

Henry Garnett Gives His Speech “Address to the Slaves”

*On this date in 1843 Henry Highland Garnett gave his “Address to the Slaves” speech.  Garnett was 27 years old when he addressed the National Negro Convention in Buffalo, New York.  This is an abridged version of Garnet’s speech to the 1843 National Negro Convention, which is often referred to as his “Address to the […]

The Dominican Republic Gains Independence From Haiti

*The Dominican Republic gained independence from Haiti on this date in 1844. At the beginning of the 1800s, the colony of Santo Domingo, which had once been the headquarters of Spanish power in the New World, was in decline. During this time, Spain was embroiled in various wars to maintain control of the Americas. With […]

Steele v. Louisville & N. R. Co. Court Case is Decided

*On this date in 1944, the Supreme Court decided Steele v. Louisville & N. R. Co..   In this case, B. W. Steele, a member of the IARE executive, argued that an agreement between the railway and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (BLFE) was illegal. A whites-only railroad union could not exclude Blacks and deny them better jobs […]

Abolitionist is Branded as a ‘Slave Stealer’

On this date from 1845, we recall the Branding of a Slave Stealer, Massachusetts’s sea captain, Jonathan Walker.

Jonathan Walker, a white man born in 1790, was arrested in 1844 for trying to carry slaves who were members of his church to freedom in the Bahamas. He was apprehended off the coast of Florida. He was jailed for more than a year and branded with the letters “S.S.” for Slave Stealer.

The First Black Law Practice in America Opens

*It was on this date in 1845, Macon B. Allen and Robert Morris Jr. contracted their law firm and became the first Blacks to practice law in America.

They opened their practice on May 3rd of that year in Massachusetts.

The Belmead Plantation is Built

*On this date in 1845, the finished construction of the Belmead plantation is celebrated. This was one of the estimated 46,200 American plantations that existed in 1860. Built with African slave labor, it is located near Powhatan, Powhatan County, Virginia, and designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis for Confederate General Philip St. George Cocke.  After […]

The Mexican American War, a story

*On this date in 1846 the Mexican American War, also known as the Mexican War began. African American Registry briefly writes about this conflict.