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 first Black settlers in what is now the western United States were Spanish speakers who came north from what is now central Mexico. Their roots there began in 1519, when Black men were among the Spanish conquistadores who invaded and destroyed the Aztec Empire, … Read MoreNorth from Mexico: The First Black Settlers in the U.S. West
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)
In the mid 1600’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was a busting port for enslaved Africans. The city was also a place where the abolition movement saw its beginnings. The first document drafted in support of giving enslaved Africans their freedom was created in 1688 by four German … Read MoreThe Founding of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society (1775)
The Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery was the first documented protest of enslavement of African Americans made by a religious body in the 13 colonies. The colony of Pennsylvania was established in 1681 by William Penn, and in 1683, Francis Daniel Pastorius, an educator, lawyer, … Read MoreGermantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery (1688)
William A. Jackson briefly gained notoriety in the early years of the Civil War as an escaped slave and spy. When the Civil War started, Jackson was held in bondage in Richmond, Virginia where he worked as a messenger in the courts and also drove … Read MoreWilliam A. Jackson (1831/ 2(?)- )
Jack Sisson was an enslaved African American who became a militia volunteer and was instrumental in the capture of British Gen. Richard Prescott in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. Sisson was born around 1743 and was owned by Thomas Sisson of Tiverton, Rhode Island. … Read MoreJack Sisson (1743?-1821)
John Hanson was a Liberian senator during the mid-19th century who has been erroneously claimed as the first Black president of the United States. Not much is known about Hanson’s early life. He was born into slavery in Baltimore, Maryland, around 1791. According to some … Read MoreJohn Hanson (1791-1860)
James “Jim” Hill was born into slavery in the late 1830s on the J. Hill Salem Road Plantation in Marshall County, Mississippi. He was a leader of the Reconstruction Era Republican Party, chairman of the Republican state executive committee, and national committeeman of the Republican … Read MoreJames Hill (1837?-1903)
