*Freeborn Garrettson was born on this date in 1752. He was a white American preacher and abolitionist. Born in 1752 on the west side of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, near what is now known as Bush River Neck, Freeborn Garrettson was the third generation in his family to live there. The Garrettson family owned […]
learn more*The birth of Hester Patterson is celebrated on July 9, 1805. She was a Black domestic and abolitionist. Hester was born in Mississippi and was enslaved on a cotton plantation until she was about 60 years old. During the American Civil War’s Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, in an uncommon act of bravery, she escaped […]
learn more*The London Anti-Slavery Society was founded on January 31, 1823. Also known as the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions, it was commonly referred to as the Anti-Slavery Society. It was founded with a meeting of men at the King’s Head tavern in London. The Society aimed to […]
learn more*The Demerara Rebellion of 1823 began on this date in 1823. This uprising involving about 12,000 African slaves took place in the British colony of Demerara-Essequibo in what is now Guyana. The rebellion took place a few months after the founding of the Anti-Slavery Society and had a substantial impact on Britain. Although public sentiment […]
learn more*Quamina’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1778. He was a Black Guyanese slave and abolitionist. Quamina Gladstone (surnamed after his master) was a carpenter who lived and worked on the “Success” plantation in Demerara. Quamina was African-born from the Akan ethnic group in modern-day Ghana. He and his mother were sold into slavery […]
learn more*The Berbice Rebellion began on this date in 1763. This was a year-long slave rebellion in Guyana that lasted into 1764. The Dutch colony of Berbice was owned by four Amsterdam merchants who founded the Society of Berbice as a public company listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The colony was unsuccessful compared to other […]
learn more*Alexander II was born on this date in 1818. He was a white Russian Emperor, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland. Born in Moscow, Alexander Nikolayevich was the eldest son of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia. His uncle, Emperor Alexander I, died childless. Grand Duke Konstantin, the next-younger brother of […]
learn more*The Contraband Relief Association was formed on this date in 1862. Washington, D.C., in 1862, became a beacon of liberty for enslaved individuals in bordering slave states like Maryland and Virginia. Many of these individuals ran away and crossed into the District to pursue their liberation. That year, Congress passed the Compensated Emancipation Act, ending […]
learn more*This date in 1527 is celebrated as the birth date of Jacques Francis, A Black British slave salvage diver. Francis was from Arguin Island, Mauritania. However, records at the time described him as a “Guinea diver” and exceptionally talented. He had been working for Piero Corsi on a 1546 salvage attempt of the Mary Rose, […]
learn more*Sara Forbes Bonetta’s birth is celebrated on this date in c. 1843. She was Queen Victoria’s Black African goddaughter. Originally named Aina (or Ina), she was born in a Yoruba village in West Africa, Nigeria, after its collapse to the Kingdom of Dahomey. In 1848, Oke-Odan was invaded and captured by the army of Dahomey. […]
learn more