People, Locations, Episodes

Knight v. Wedderburn is Upheld

*On this date in 1778, the Justices of the Peace court in Perth Scotland ruled on the case of Knight v. Wedderburn. This Scottish slavery decision predated the very similar Dred Scott ruling in America.

An Act for The Gradual Abolition Of Slavery is Passed

*An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery passed on this date in 1780. Approved by the Fifth Pennsylvania General Assembly, it prescribed an end to slavery in Pennsylvania. It was the first Act abolishing American slavery in human history to be adopted by a democracy. The Act prohibited further importation of enslaved people into the state. […]

America’s Articles of Confederation Are Enacted

*The Articles of Confederation of the United States of America were enacted on this date in 1781. Formally called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, it was an agreement that served as America’s first constitution after being ratified by all 13 states. It was approved between July 1776 and November 1777 by the Second […]

The Naturalization Act of 1790 is Passed

*On this date, 1790, the Naturalization Act of 1790 was passed. This law of the United States Congress set the first uniform rules for granting United States citizenship by naturalization. The law limited naturalization to “free white person[s] … of good character”. It excluded Native Americans, indentured servants, Black slaves, free Blacks, and later Asians, […]

The 1793 Fugitive Slave Act Is Signed

*The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was signed into law on this date.   This was an Act of the United States Congress to give effect to the Fugitive Slave Clause of the US Constitution (Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3), which the Thirteenth Amendment later superseded. The former guaranteed a right for a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave. The […]

The Slave Trade Act of 1794 is Passed

*The Slave Trade Act of 1794 was passed on this date in 1794. This law, passed by the United States Congress, prohibited American ships from engaging in the international slave trade. It was signed into law by President George Washington and was the first of several anti-slavery trade acts of Congress. In 1800, Congress strengthened […]

The Slave Trade Act of 1800 is Passed

*On this date in 1800, the Slave Trade Act of 1800 was passed. It was signed into law by President John Adams and was among several acts of Congress that eventually outlawed the importation of enslaved people to the United States. The United States Congress enacted this to build upon the Slave Trade Act of […]

Ellis Gray Loring, Attorney born

*Ellis Gray Loring was born on this date in 1803. He was a white-American attorney, abolitionist, and philanthropist.   From Boston, he was the son of James Tyng Loring, a druggist, and Relief Faxon Cookson Loring. He attended the Boston Latin School and was awarded the school’s Franklin Medal for scholarship in 1819. He studied at Harvard, where he was a Phi Beta […]

The British Slave Trade Act is Passed

*On this date, in 1807, the Slave Trade Act was passed. Officially, the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was a bill of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire.   It did not abolish the practice of slavery; it encouraged British action to press other nation-states to abolish their slave trades. Many of […]

Salmon P. Chase, Abolitionist, and Judge born

Salmon Portland Chase, a white man, was born on this date in 1808. He was a White American teacher, abolitionist, lawyer, and judge.

Jonathan Wright, Lawyer, and Politician born

*On this date in 1809, Jonathan Jasper Wright was born. He was an Black lawyer and politician.

Wright attended Lancaster University. Upon completing his legal studies, he attempted to stand the Pennsylvania bar, but it wasn’t allowed, presumably because of his race. Wright accepted a position in Beaufort to open a school and teach the newly freed slaves. In addition to teaching school, he taught the Black citizens of the community. He lectured every Thursday evening on legal and political matters. He gave legal advice, particularly on labor relations.

George Ashburn, Judge born.

*George Ashburn was born on this date in 1814. He was a 19th-century white white-American judge, Radical Republican, and Senate candidate. George W. Ashburn was born in North Carolina and moved to Georgia around 1830. He married Georgia Ryley in 1843. They had one daughter. He opposed the Secession of Georgia. During the American Civil War, he […]

Benjamin Ignatius Hayes, Lawyer, and Judge born

*Benjamin Hayes was born on this date in 1815. He was a white-American pioneer, lawyer, and judge. Benjamin Ignatius Hayes was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from St. Mary’s University. On November 16th, 1848, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Emily Martha Chauncey of Harford County, Maryland, and in 1849, he “set out from Independence, […]

Miguel de Castro v. Ninety-five enslaved Africans is Decided

On this date in 1819, Miguel de Castro v. Ninety-five enslaved Africans was decided. This was a Libel case for restitution against American chattel slavery. In October 1817, ninety-five enslaved Africans were taken by pirates from the Portuguese ship “Jesu Nasareno,” owned by Miguel de Castro. Originally bound for Havana, Cuba, the Africans were brought […]

The Missouri Compromise Is Ratified

*The Missouri Compromise with legislative measures was enacted on this date in 1820. This measure allowed The United States Congress to thus regulate the extension of slavery in the United States for the next three decades.