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.
Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 was the last major uprising of enslaved blacks and white indentured servants in Colonial Virginia. One consequence of the failed rebellion was the intensification of African slavery and the social separation of blacks and whites in Virginia. The origins of Bacon’s … Read MoreBacon’s Rebellion (1676)
The Gloucester County Conspiracy also known as the Servant’s Plot or Birkenhead’s Rebellion, took place in Virginia in 1663. The plan involved a rebellion of African, English, Irish, and Indian indentured servants and slaves plotting against authorities in Gloucester County, Virginia. On September 1, 1663, … Read MoreGloucester County Conspiracy (1663)
San Miguel de Gualdape is a former Spanish colony founded in 1526 by Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon. It was the third settlement in North America north of Mexico. In the early 1500s, Spaniards were conducting expeditions to the area now known as South Carolina and … Read MoreSan Miguel de Gualdape Slave Rebellion (1526)
The Jaybird-Woodpecker War was a conflict between two political factions in Fort Bend County, Texas. The origin of the conflict can be traced back to Reconstruction when African Americans, who comprised 80% of the population in the county, dominated politics. That domination was reflected in … Read MoreThe Jaybird-Woodpecker War (1888-1889)
Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the largest historically Black college in the state of Louisiana. In 1970, over 10,000 Black students attended the university. Although the school president and most of the administration were Black, the university itself … Read MoreThe 1972 Southern University Shooting
Early in 1963, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Reverend Ralph Abernathy, and local Birmingham leader of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights Fred Shuttlesworth came together to lead a campaign to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama, a city notorious for its … Read MoreThe Birmingham Children’s Crusade (May 1963)
Following the passage of the 13th Amendment on January 31, 1865, slavery was officially ended throughout the United States, including in the eleven former Confederate States. Almost immediately governments in these states began a process to reestablish white supremacy in the law. The result was … Read MoreMississippi Black Codes, 1865-1866
In the 1856 landmark case Mason v. Smith, Bridget “Biddy” Mason sued her master for her and her family’s freedom, a full year before the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision. In the Dred Scott case, the court ruled that enslaved persons did not become … Read MoreThe Bridget “Biddy” Mason Case, 1856
On September 16, 1928, the Okeechobee Hurricane or Hurricane San Felipe Segundo, one of the most devastating tropical cyclones in Florida’s weather history and one of the ten most intense hurricanes to hit the United States mainland, came ashore near Palm Beach, Florida. It began … Read MoreOkeechobee Hurricane of 1928
On July 28, 1866, the Thirty-Ninth Congress passed the Act to increase and fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States; thus the federal government created six all-Colored Army Regiments. The units identified as the 9th and 10th Colored Cavalry Regiments and the 38th, … Read MoreFormation of the Buffalo Soldiers, 1866
