People, Locations, Episodes

Fort Greene, New York City, a story

*Fort Greene, NYC, is celebrated on this date in 1860. This diverse neighborhood is in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.   As of 2010, the racial makeup of the neighborhood was 27.9% (7,289) White, 42.5% (11,081) African American, 0.3% (67) Native American, 7.3% (1,897) Asian, 0.0% (7) Pacific Islander, […]

The Slave Ship Clotilda Arrives In Alabama

*On this date in 1860, the last American slave ship (on record) docked in Mobile, Alabama. Called the Clotilda, the ship was a two-massed schooner, 86 feet (26 m) long with a beam of 23 feet. (7.0 m).  The ship arrived at Mobile Bay with 110-160 Black captives from Africa to the United States.  The […]

The Confederate States of America is Formed

*On this date, 1861, the Confederate States of America was formed. Commonly referred to as the Confederacy, it was an unrecognized republic in North America that existed from 1861 to 1865.  The Confederacy was originally formed by seven secessionist slave-holding states: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas in the Lower Antebellum South region.   Their economy depended heavily on agriculture, mainly cotton, and a plantation system that relied upon the labor […]

The Emancipation Reform of Russia is Enacted

*The Emancipation Reform of Russia, also known as the Edict of Emancipation of Russia, was enacted on this date in 1861. It was the first and most crucial liberal reform enacted during the reign of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. The reform effectively abolished serfdom throughout the Russian Empire. The 1861 Emancipation Manifesto proclaimed the […]

The American Civil War Begins

On this date in 1861, the Civil War began. This war is also referred to as “The War Between the States”, “The War of Rebellion”, or “The War for Southern Independence.”

Confederate Slave Contraband, and the American Civil War, a story

*Confederate slave contraband and the American Civil War are affirmed on this date in 1861. On that date, Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory, and James Townsend were Black field hands owned by Charles Mallory, rowed across the James River in Virginia, and claimed asylum in a Union-held citadel. Fort Monroe, Va., a fishhook-shaped spit of land near the […]

The American Civil War, a Summary

The American Civil War, waged from 1861 to 1865, is remembered on this date.

Before and during the Civil War, the North and South differed greatly on economic issues. The war was about slavery, but primarily about its economic consequences. The northern elite wanted economic expansion that would change the southern (slave-holding) way of life.

The southern states saw Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans making enormous changes to their way of life using free slave labor. Southerners believed that Abraham Lincoln, if elected, would restrict their rights to own slaves.

The First American Civil War Battle Occurs

The first encounter of the Civil War happened on this date in 1861 at the Fairfax Court House in Arlington Mills, Virginia.

The result was that all mail delivery between the US and the Confederacy stopped. The following year, 1862, on the same date, slavery was abolished in all United States possessions.

The Confiscation Acts are Introduced

*The Confiscation Acts were introduced on this date in 1861.   In U.S. history, this series of laws passed by the federal government during the American Civil War were designed to liberate Black slaves in the seceded confederate states. The first Confiscation Act passed on Aug. 6, 1861, authorized the Union seizure of rebel property, and […]

The Fremont Proclamation is Revoked

On this date in 1854, John C. Fremont, issued a proclamation freeing the slaves of Missouri rebels. Lincoln revoked his proclamation.

A major in the Union Army, Fremont would become a Civil War general. After the war, he became California’s first senator and ran for president of the United States.

The First Blacks Serve in the Union Navy

On this date in 1861, The Union Navy admitted Blacks for military service for the first time, almost a year before the army opened its ranks. Some former slaves risked their lives to enlist, swimming or rowing boats from plantations to Union ships anchored nearby.

The Port Royal Experiment Begins

*The Port Royal Experiment began on this date in 1861. This educational program involved former slaves successfully working on the land abandoned by white-American planters.    It started during the American Civil War after the Union captured the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and their main harbor, Port Royal. The whites fled, leaving behind 10,000 Black slaves. Several private Northern charity organizations stepped in to help […]

The Statehood of West Virginia, a story

On this date in 1861, West Virginia began the Secessionist Convention that would result in its breaking away from the Confederate state of Virginia, the only state to form by seceding from a Confederate state and one of three states to secede from another state. It was a key Civil War “border state.”

Slave-Trader Is Prosecuted, and Hhnged

*On this date in 1862, Nathaniel Gordon was hanged for slave trading. He is the only person in American history executed for slave-trading. Gordon captained the slave ship Erie.

Slavery is Abolished in Washington D.C.

On this date in 1862, the nations capitol ended slavery. President Lincoln signed an act abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, an important step in the long road toward full emancipation and enfranchisement for African Americans.

Before 1850, slave pens, slave jails, and auction blocks were a common site in the District of Columbia, a center for domestic slave trade.