*The Barbados Slave Code was enacted on this date in 1661. Officially titled as An Act for the better ordering and governing of Negroes, it was a law passed by the Parliament of Barbados to provide a legal basis for slavery in the English colony of Barbados. Throughout British North America, slavery evolved in practice […]
learn more*The Bussa Rebellion began on April 14, 1816. Lasting three days, it was the largest slave revolt in Barbadian history. The rebellion, which took its name from the African slave Bussa, who led it, was the first of three mass slave rebellions in the British West Indies. It was eventually defeated by the colonial militia […]
learn more*The Freedman’s Savings Bank opened on this date in 1865. It was the first federal bank in America. Also known as the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company, it was a private savings bank chartered by the U.S. Congress to collect deposits from newly emancipated slaves. At the end of the American Civil War, the poor […]
learn more*The ‘Navassa Island Riot’ is affirmed on this date in 1889. Navassa Island is a small uninhabited island northeast of Jamaica, south of Cuba. In September 1875, the fierce 1875 Indianola hurricane swept over the island, destroying much of the company’s infrastructure, including the rail line and workers’ homes. The storm caused an estimated $25,000 […]
learn more*Biafra was founded on this date in 1967. Officially, the Republic of Biafra was a partially recognized state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Early modern maps of Africa from the 15th to the 19th centuries, drawn from accounts written by explorers and slave traders, show references. According […]
learn more*The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, began on this date in 1967. It was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra. This secessionist state had declared its independence from Nigeria earlier in 1967. General Yakubu Gowon and Biafra led Nigeria by Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. The conflict […]
learn more*Black History and Bleeding Kansas is affirmed on this date in 1854. Bleeding Kansas, or the Border War, was five years of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory and western Missouri, a slave state since 1821. The conflict centered on whether Kansas would join the Union as a slave or free state. The question was […]
learn more*On this date in 1936, The Hall of Negro Life debuted at the Texas Centennial Exposition. The Hall of Negro Life was a popular attraction and is believed to be the first recognition of African American culture at a World’s Fair. This world’s fair exhibit ran until November 29, 1936, at Fair Park, Dallas, Texas. […]
learn more*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 […]
learn more*On this date in 1791, the Saint-Domingue revolt began. This was a confrontation by African and Indigenous people against French slave traders. At the time, Saint-Domingue occupied approximately one-third of the western portion of Hispaniola, the island Christopher Columbus claimed for Spain in 1492. Spanish exploitation quickly reduced the native Arawakan population to such a […]
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