People, Locations, Episodes

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 […]

Nigger (the word), a story

On this date, we look at the history of word “nigger” in America, a word that still sits at the center of anti-Black verbal distortions.

*Note: some of the content in this writing may be offensive to children.

Freedmen, and Freedwomen in America, an article

*The term Freedmen or Freedwomen from 1800 is briefly described on this date.  By definition, they are formerly enslaved persons who have been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed either by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners) or emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group). A fugitive slave is a person who escaped slavery.   During the Middle Passage and […]

Haiti Gains its Independence From France

On this date in 1804, Haiti emerged as the first independent Black-led republic in the modern (western) world.

The Haitian Revolution was one of the most successful slave rebellions in history. Having shed the burden of slavery and French colonial rule, the revolutionaries of Haiti (formerly Saint-Domingue) inspired people of African descent around the world, particularly those who remained in slavery.

The State of Ohio Enacts ‘Black Laws’

On this date in 1804, “Black Laws” were enacted in the state of Ohio. The Congress of the Buckeye state became the first legislative body in the country to enact Black Laws, intended to restrict the rights of free blacks.

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 […]

The Prospect Hill Plantation, a brief story

*The Prospect Hill Plantation is affirmed on this date in 1808. This was a former 5,000-acre plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi. In the early 19th century, the plantation was owned by planter Isaac Ross of South Carolina, who enslaved African people to farm cotton as a cash crop. In 1830, Ross and other major planters […]

The West Africa Squadron Is Created

*This date, 1808, confirms that the West Africa Squadron was formed. It was a regiment of the British Royal Navy. Also known as the Preventative Squadron, its goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed after the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act 1807 and based out of […]

Chile Declares Independence From Spain

*On this date in 1808, Chile declared its Independence from Spain. This declaration eventually led to over a decade of violence and war, which did not end until the last royalist stronghold fell in 1826. At the start of 1808, the Captaincy General of Chile – one of the smallest and poorest colonies in the […]

Black History and the Spanish American Wars of Independence

*On this date in 1808, the Spanish-American Wars of Independence and Black history are shared briefly. These Spanish-American wars of independence began on this date and were the numerous encounters against Spanish rule in Spanish America during the early 19th century. Based on the Middle Passage and its suppression of African slave labor and indigenous […]

The Corps of The Colonial Marines, a story

*The Corps of Colonial Marines began on this date in 1810. It was two British Marine units raised from former Black slaves for service in the Americas. At the behest of Alexander Cochrane, the units were created at two separate points during the wars (Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812). They were later disbanded once […]

Afro Mexicans, a story

*Afro Mexicans, also known as Black Mexicans, were first celebrated on this date in 1500. They have a predominant heritage from Sub-Saharan Africa.   As a single community, Afro Mexicans include individuals descended from Black slaves brought to Mexico during the Middle Passage era in the transatlantic African slave trade, as well as others of […]

Billy Bowlegs, Seminole Chief born

*November is Native American history month, and on this date, Chief Billy Bowlegs’s birth in 1810 is celebrated.   He was a Native American leader of the Seminoles and slave owner of Africans in Florida during the Second and Third Seminole Wars against the United States.  Bowlegs was born into a family of hereditary chiefs descended from Cowkeeper of the Oconee tribe of the Seminole in the […]

Archer Alexander, Laborer, and Sculptor Model born

*The birth of Archer Alexander is celebrated on this date in c. 1810. He was a former slave and laborer who served as the model for the emancipated slaves in the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C. He was the subject of an 1885 biography, The Story of Archer Alexander, written by William Greenleaf Eliot.  Archer Alexander was born a […]

The German Coast Uprising (Slave Revolt), a story

On this date in 1811, Black slaves rebelled against their white masters in Louisiana. Charles Deslondes and other slaves began the revolt on the plantation of Manual Andry.