The following are short descriptions of major events which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
The California Gold Rush, from 1848 to 1860, began after gold was discovered by carpenter and sawmill operator James W. Marshall on January 24, 1848. After Marshall’s discovery, thousands of people came to the goldfields in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern … Read MoreAfrican Americans in the California Gold Rush (1848-1860)
On Friday, August 21, 1863, the Lawrence Massacre, also known as Quantrill’s Raid, took place. It was a battle between the Free Staters of Lawrence and the supporters of slavery living in Missouri. The result of this bloody confrontation was the death of about 190 … Read MoreThe Lawrence Massacre: Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence, Kansas (1863)
The Compromise of 1850, enacted in September of that year, was a failed attempt to diffuse a tense political situation between free and slave states that had emerged after the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). As a result of Mexico’s defeat, that nation ceded a vast territory … Read MoreThe Compromise of 1850
Bleeding Kansas was a series of violent clashes between supporters and opponents of slavery over control of the new territory of Kansas. It is also known as “Bloody Kansas” and the Border War. The conflict intensified the ongoing debate over the future of slavery in … Read MoreBleeding Kansas (1854-1861)
The four century (1460-1860) transatlantic slave trade is responsible for the involuntary migration of 388,000 enslaved Africans to the United States according to historians’ best estimates. However, the U.S. has witnessed a much larger influx of voluntary African migration since the 1960s. Whether it was … Read MoreAfrican Immigration to the United States (1965- )
The history of West Indian immigration can be traced back to the 17th century when enslaved Africans from Barbados, Jamaica, and Antigua were brought to the British North American colonies to work on plantations. The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) sparked another wave of immigration with thousands … Read MoreWest Indian Immigration to the United States (1900- )
Although Haïtien individuals have been coming to what is now the United States both as enslaved and free people since the colonial era, the single largest group of Haïtien immigrants arrived in 1972, thus initiating a movement that continues to this day. In 1972 thousands … Read MoreHaïtien Immigration to the U.S. (1972- )
By the end of the Civil War, African Americans made up nearly half of the population of Florida. As in other Southern states, most Blacks in Florida before the Civil War were enslaved people and none had the right to vote. The passage of the … Read MoreThe Florida Poll Tax (1889-1941)
Congressman John Conyers, a Black Democratic U.S. representative from Michigan, introduced the first legislation to establish the holiday on April 8, 1968, four days after Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. However, the bill honoring the life and work of the civil and … Read MoreEstablishing MLK Holiday (1983)
The Cicero Riot of 1951 occurred from July 11-12, 1951, when a mob of approximately 4,000 whites attacked an apartment building an African American family had recently moved into in Cicero, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The events leading up to the riot began in June … Read MoreThe Cicero Riot of 1951
