Karen Hill

In June 1839, fifty-three captured Africans were brought from West Africa to Cuba, where they were sold to two Spaniards. On June 28, they were chained belowdecks on a ship, the Amistad, to be taken to their destination. On the fourth night at sea, the Africans, led by a young man named Cinque, broke their … Read more

Harriet Tubman was one of the more famous conductors in the Underground Railroad. She was a Maryland slave who escaped in 1849 by walking one hundred miles to Pennsylvania. Carrying a rifle, she made at least fifteen trips back to the South to help at least three hundred slaves escape, including her parents and six … Read more

When possible, conductors met them at Cincinnati, Ohio, and Wilmington, Delaware, which were at the northern borders of the slave states. Those escaping to Canada went to the lake ports of Detroit, Michigan; Sandusky, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York, where they could sail north. Each safe place long the Underground Railroad was called … Read more

Most of the fugitives came from the states of the upper South, such as Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky, because these states were closest to the North. They were usually young, single males. It was rare that whole families fled together, because it was very risky. The escapees usually sought out isolated stations or vigilance committee … Read more

The Underground Railroad was the name given to a secret network of houses and people who illegally helped escaping slaves reach safety in the non-slave states or Canada in the period before the American Civil War. It was also called the Liberty Line. The name also referred to the escape routes through the North as … Read more

Although most blacks were held in slavery in the 1700s and 1800s, and despite the fact that economic opportunities were rare and risky, even for free blacks, a few free blacks owned businesses. Some, mostly in the North, owned construction companies, inns, tailor shops, or other businesses.

Some free blacks did own slaves. Others bought their own relatives to get them out of slavery. There were also a number of skilled free blacks, such as tailors, shoemakers, and carpenters, who bought slaves and made them apprentices. In 1850, 19 percent of the black tailors in Charleston, South Carolina, owned slaves. According to … Read more

In 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society was established in Philadelphia to advance the abolition of slavery in the United States. The first such society in America, it was made up of smaller local groups. The American Anti-Slavery Society was formed by Theodore Dwight Weld (1803-1895), Arthur Tappan (1786-1865), and Lewis Tappan (1788-1873), who were militant … Read more

The first known black church in America, the African Baptist or Bluestone Church, was established in 1758 on the William Byrd plantation in Mecklenberg, Virginia. The church was named after the nearby Bluestone River. Around 1774, the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Silver Bluff, South Carolina, was founded by a slave preacher named George Liele. … Read more

Abolitionists had many methods and ideas. The Reverend Henry Highland Garnet called for a slave uprising at an 1843 meeting of black representatives. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Maria Stewart, and others helped slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Some fought slavery with the pen. Theodore Dwight Weld collected stories from slaves, slave owners, and slave … Read more

By the middle of the 1700s, the American colonists were very unhappy with the way they were being ruled by the English king. For example, the British had imposed heavy taxes that the colonists believed were unfair. When the colonists refused to pay, the British sent troops to harass them into paying the taxes. The … Read more

Education was one of the first steps toward unlocking the chains of slavery, but it was against the law for a slave to be taught to read or write. Those who wanted to learn used the Bible, or depended on abolitionists and young white school children who considered it an adventure to teach slaves. They … Read more

In the colonists’ opinion, Native Americans were not suited to be slaves because they caught European diseases too easily. Indentured servants were also unsuitable because there weren’t enough of them and they were protected by law from being enslaved. Africans were used as slaves instead because they were strong, not protected by laws, and could … Read more

During America’s colonial period, blacks were not allowed to join the military because colonists feared that blacks would harm whites or even revolt if they were given guns. Some also believed that blacks were inferior and incapable of fighting.

In 1776, the thirteen colonies voted to declare their independence from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson put their declaration in writing. This document was called the Declaration of Independence, and was signed by fifty-six representatives of the colonies. The Declaration of Independence is written in language that is easy to understand. It has three parts. The … Read more

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), born a slave in Maryland, escaped to New York at the age of twenty-one. He educated himself and became the greatest anti-slavery speaker of his time. In his speeches, he told of the conditions that slaves lived in, how they were treated, and how they felt. In 1847 he established the North … Read more

Many slaves did sue for their freedom, but these freedom suits did not challenge slavery itself. They alleged that the slave was being unlawfully held in bondage. In one 1735 case, Re Negro James, a slave named James petitioned a Massachusetts court for his future freedom, since his master’s will stated that James would be … Read more

There were many instances of violent slave revolts during the American colonial period. These were very desperate actions, because they were doomed to fail. The most famous slave revolts were led by Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner, and Denmark Vesey. The first major slave uprising in America happened in 1739. In the early morning hours of … Read more

In 1800, inspired partly by the biblical story of Moses leading the Israelites out of bondage, Virginia slave Gabriel Prosser planned to attack and seize parts of the city of Richmond, killing as many whites as possible in the process. He spread word of his plan to over one thousand slaves; they gathered, only to … Read more

Prominent among black abolitionists were Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman (ca. 1820-1913), Sojourner Truth (ca. 1797-1883), the Reverend Henry Highland Garnet (1815, 1882), and Frances Harper (1825-1911). The self-trained black scientist Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was the compiler of The Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris, published annually from 1791 to 1802. He sent the … Read more

For free blacks, being free did not mean living freely. State laws in every region restricted the rights of free blacks, often limiting their ability to earn a living. In Maryland and North Carolina, for instance, free blacks had to have special licenses to sell corn, wheat, or tobacco. At all times, free blacks had … Read more

In the 1600s, slaves were bought in Africa for about $25 or its equivalent in goods. They were sold in the colonies for about $150 each. The price depended on their condition, age, abilities, and, in the case of women, their ability to have children. In the early 1800s, the prices of prime field hands … Read more

Slaves were bought and sold at slave markets and auctions, which were held in public. Most auctions were held at the county courthouse. There, licensed traders, who represented the seller or the buyer, would buy or sell slaves. They examined the slaves carefully, looking for whip scars (which meant that the slave might be unruly) … Read more

Slaves during the American colonial period protested their condition in many ways, both subtle and aggressive. Some rebelled on the slave ships by overpowering the captain and crew and escaping back to land. Many ran away as soon as the ship reached its destination. Others refused to eat, or to take medicine if they were … Read more

The extremely unsanitary conditions at sea inevitably caused violent sickness. Because of rampant illness, violence, suicide, and murder, many of the captives, an estimated one to two million, did not survive these cruel voyages. Many others arrived psychologically damaged or near death. An estimated one in every seven captives died during the Middle Passage.

The ocean voyage from Africa to colonial America or the West Indies lasted between five and twelve weeks, and was known as the Middle Passage because it was the middle leg of the slave ship’s three-part trip: from the ship’s country of origin to Africa, then from Africa to the West Indies, then from the … Read more

Captured Africans were taken to the forts and held until there were enough Africans to fill up a ship. The captives were loaded onto slave ships for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Most were taken to the West Indies or South America, but about half a million were brought directly to North America. Slaves … Read more

According to census reports for the years 1855 to 1865, one thousand slaves fled each year; however, that number was a small fraction of the total. Slaves in the deep South usually did not run away to the North because it was too far. Instead, they hid in the wilderness. There, groups of runaways that … Read more

Although white slaveholders tried to suppress African culture (they believed slaves could be controlled more easily if they spoke only English and depended on what the slaveholders taught them), slaves created their own African American culture by combining English and Christianity with their African culture. They recognized their African heritage, but accepted America as home. … Read more

Slavery was always controversial. Antonio Montesino and Bartolome de las Casas, sixteenth-century Spanish missionaries in North America, were critical of slavery. In the seventeenth century, English and American Quakers opposed slavery and the slave trade. During the eighteenth century, British abolitionists (people who fought against slavery) spoke out against the slave trade, knowing that their … Read more

Slaves in early colonial America could be bought and sold, and their families could be separated. They were usually not paid for their hard work, could not choose how to make a living, or decide where to live. At the whim of their owners, slaves could be beaten, imprisoned, tortured, or even killed if they … Read more

According to the 1790 census, the first census taken in the new nation, there were 697,897 enslaved blacks in the original thirteen states.

Africans were very religious. Many believed in a supreme god who created the earth. They also believed in ancestor worship, and that the spirit still existed after the death of the individual. About one-fifth of the enslaved Africans held Islamic beliefs. When the Africans came to America, most of their religious practices were banned and … Read more

Before slavery became official, a small population of free black men and women already lived in the North American colonies. Many of these were indentured servants who had completed their service and were freed. Following their freedom, some began to accumulate money, property, and servants. Some slaves purchased their freedom with money earned on the … Read more

Some slaves were prisoners of African tribal and national wars. Slave traders formed trading companies and set up trading stations (known as forts) in areas where they wanted to obtain slaves. Representatives of the companies went to do business with the local chiefs. By plying the chiefs with various trade goods, trinkets, and liquor, the … Read more

In this land of tropical forests, vast deserts, and grasslands, many societies were matrilineal; this means that inheritance and property rights descended through the mother. When a man and woman married, the groom left his family to join his bride’s clan. West Africans believed that spirits were all around them, living in rivers, rocks, animals, … Read more

An indentured servant was any person, white or black, who worked as a servant under a contract-like arrangement for a set period of time, usually seven years. When that time was up, they were given a small amount of money, clothing, or plots of land to assist their transition to freedom.

The first known Africans to inhabit this region were a group of about twenty who arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, on a Dutch ship with the English colonists. They were believed to be indentured servants, not slaves.

Slave traders paid for the Africans with either currency or products from Europe. In North and South America, they sold slaves for currency or commodities, such as tobacco, rice, sugar, and cotton, which were sold in Europe at a high profit.

In Africa, the family was extremely important. Families might have hundreds of members and consist of several generations. But slave traders had no respect for African families. They would buy or sell a child, parent, or spouse whenever they wanted to, especially if the price was right. As a result, African families were routinely broken … Read more

Long before European slavery, there were powerful, wealthy kingdoms in West Africa. Among them were ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhai (sometimes spelled Songhay), which flourished between the eighth and sixteenth centuries. They were located in the western Sudan, where the nations of Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Mali stand now. Their wealth came from their … Read more

Slaves were taken from hundreds of African villages and towns on the west coast of Africa and central Africa. By the late 1700s, there were also some taken from southern and eastern Africa. They came from many ethnic groups: Ashanti, Ibo, Hausa, Yoruba, Mandingo, and dozens more. By the 1690s, about 10,000 slaves a year … Read more

Elias Neau, a Frenchman, operated a school for African Americans in New York as early as 1704. The first blacks to be employed as teachers were named Harry and Andrew (last names unknown). They started a school for slaves in South Carolina, where they taught basic reading and writing. The first black school in U.S. … Read more

Many West Africans were skilled farmers and artists. In South Carolina, where slaves became a majority of the population, planters sought slaves from particular regions of Africa who possessed desired skills, such as the knowledge of rice cultivation, boat building, or coastal navigation. Some tribes made textiles and baskets; others worked with animal skins and … Read more

In the early eighteenth century, a slave taught Reverend Cotton Mather how to inject a patient with a smallpox vaccine, which was a serum made from a weaker form of the disease. A perfected version of that method is still used today to make vaccines for many illnesses, including the flu. Another slave, known only … Read more

For field slave families, home was a small one or two room cabin where as many as twelve people might live. Archaeologists excavating seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sites found that slave dwellings in those early years of slavery had clay walls and thatch roofs, similar to those in West Africa. By the nineteenth century, log cabins … Read more

At night, on Saturday afternoons, and on Sundays, most slaves were allowed to go hunting and fishing, do personal chores, work in their own gardens, and get together with other slaves. If they had a pass from their owner, they could visit friends on nearby plantations.

Most slaves treated themselves and other slaves and rarely saw white doctors when they got sick. Slaves were quite successful in treating everything from coughs to backaches and snake bites with natural remedies, and many of these remedies were also sought by whites. Slave women acted as midwives, handling the birth of most of the … Read more

By age five or six, children would do small tasks such as helping in the big house or in the field fetching water, picking up stones, or working in the trash gang. At the age of ten or twelve, children, both boys and girls, were given a regular field routine.

Virginia was the first colony to create slave codes, or laws, and the other colonies followed suit. These laws stated that slaves were property, not people, and could be sold at any time; that they could not marry, learn how to read or write, hold unauthorized religious services, or gather for any reason without permission. … Read more

A plantation is a large farm. In colonial America, plantations were found mostly in the southern colonies because they had the largest tracts of rich farmland. Plantations were often built alongside rivers, as it was faster and easier to ship goods by water than by land. The plantations needed many people to work the land, … Read more

In the North and South, many slave owners were whites who owned small farms. Usually there were about twenty slaves on these farms. Other southern slave holders owned large plots of land, or plantations, on which they grew a crop that they sold.

Although no one knows for sure when the first Africans came to what is now the continental United States, there is solid evidence of some early black explorers in the area. One of Christopher Columbus’ companions on his voyage in 1492 was Pedro Alonzo Nino, a man who appears to have been of African descent. … Read more

Typically, slaves were given very small amounts of food, which might include meat, flour, milk, lard, cornmeal, and greens. Throughout the South, their major staple was corn. Although rice was available, it was worth more, and so was saved for export (or sale abroad). Slaves ate corn with pork and beef and supplemented the meat … Read more

Clergymen in favor of slavery found passages in the Bible that they believed supported slavery. The most frequently used was Genesis 9:25-27. In these passages, Noah, upset by the misbehavior of his son Ham, who was thought to be black, cursed all the descendants of Ham’s son Canaan. The curse was that they would be … Read more

Virginia made slavery legal in 1661 and passed a law the following year that stated that children born to a slave mother would also be slaves. During the 1600s, slavery based on race slowly became a way of life throughout all thirteen American colonies. By the beginning of the 1700s, new laws had been created … Read more

Slavery is the practice in which people are treated as property. A slave is owned by a master, made to do work for no pay, and can be sold or traded to someone else at any time. Slavery was known in almost every ancient civilization, and society, including Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, Ancient India, Ancient … Read more

In the South, most slaves worked on cotton, tobacco, and rice plantations. Slaves also worked in Louisiana’s salt mines, rope factories in Kentucky, the iron factories of Virginia, and the North Carolina cotton mills. In the North, the slaves worked in cities, on farms, and on ships. On plantations, field slaves (or field hands, as … Read more

Colonial America itself began in 1607 when Englishmen set up a colony (a settlement started by a government in another country) at Jamestown, Virginia, followed by others on the eastern coast of North America. Under the king’s rule, these colonies were still considered to be a part of England (also known as Great Britain). By … Read more

Human slavery began in prehistoric times. Originally, it had nothing to do with race: It was a system of using prisoners of war as servants or laborers for those who had captured them. Other slaves were criminals or people who could not pay their debts. Ancient Greeks, Romans, Africans, and Egyptians enslaved whomever they conquered. … Read more

By the end of the sixteenth century, Holland had become the leading African slave trader, followed by England and France after 1700. In the 1800s, the Danes, Swedes, and Germans all participated in the slave trade.

One of the most significant jazz musicians and composers, Duke Ellington (1899-1974) began his performance career playing jazz for white audiences at Harlem’s Cotton Club in 1927. It was at this popular night spot that Duke first expressed the music of a “black experience,” yet his popularity proved that his music was for everyone. By … Read more