Dec. 26, 1835: Second Seminole War
Africans and Native Americans formed Florida’s Seminole Nation and defeated a heavily armed U.S. invading army during the Second Seminole War.
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Period: 1800–1849
Early 19th Century: 1800 – 1849
April 26, 1937: The Bombing of Guernica
During the Spanish Civil War, the Nazis tested their new air force on the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain.
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April 15, 1848: The Escape on the Pearl Schooner
Seventy-seven enslaved people attempted to flee Washington, D.C. by sailing away on a schooner called The Pearl.
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Jan. 27, 1847: Crosswhites Escaped to Canada
Several hundred citizens of Marshall, Michigan, helped Adam and Sarah Crosswhite escape slavery and kidnapping and flee to Canada.
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Jan. 6, 1832: New England Anti-Slavery Society Founded
The New England Anti-Slavery Society was founded at the African Meeting House in Boston.
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May 22, 1843: “Great Emigration” of the Oregon Trail
Thousands of Native Americans were displaced when the “Great Emigration” on the Oregon Trail began.
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Dec. 23, 1815: Henry Highland Garnet Born
Henry Highland Garnet, abolitionist and minister, called for a militant slave revolt.
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July 3, 1835: Paterson Silkworkers Strike
In Paterson, New Jersey, 2,000 workers went on strike from 20 textile mills.
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July 27, 1816: The “Negro Fort” Massacre
The U.S. Army firebombed a fort on the Apalachicola River in Florida.
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Aug. 30, 1843: Liberty Party Convention
The Liberty Party held its second convention.
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Feb. 15, 1848: Benjamin Roberts Filed the First School Desegregation Suit
Benjamin Roberts, African American, filed the first school desegregation suit after his daughter Sarah was barred from a public school because of her race in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School
Picture book. By Janet Halfmann. Illustrated by London Ladd. 2018. 40 pages.
Tells the story of Lilly Ann Granderson, an enslaved woman who taught hundreds of people in Kentucky and Mississippi to read.
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Tells the story of Lilly Ann Granderson, an enslaved woman who taught hundreds of people in Kentucky and Mississippi to read.
Freedom on the Move: Rediscovering the Stories of Self-Liberating People
Digital collection. Crowdsourcing project that provides access to information, through thousands of print advertisements, about freedom-seekers and their would-be enslavers in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge
Book — Non-fiction. By Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleve. 2019. 272 pages.
This is the true story of Ona Judge who escaped from enslavement by George and Martha Washington.
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This is the true story of Ona Judge who escaped from enslavement by George and Martha Washington.
May 13, 1846: U.S. Congress Approves Declaration of War Against Mexico
The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico.
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The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
Film. Directed and produced by Stanley Nelson. 1999. 83 minutes.
This documentary chronicles 150 years of Black journalists, printers, and Black-owned newspapers in the United States.
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This documentary chronicles 150 years of Black journalists, printers, and Black-owned newspapers in the United States.
Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark: Challenging Dominant Narratives in K–12 Curriculum
Book — Non-fiction. By Alison Schmitke, Leilani Sabzalian, Jeff Edmundson. 2020. 216 pages.
This much-needed guide unpacks the colonial narrative that dominates most mainstream histories of the Corps of Discovery expedition.
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This much-needed guide unpacks the colonial narrative that dominates most mainstream histories of the Corps of Discovery expedition.
Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American Slave Trade Database
Digital collection.
Through this website, over 130,000 voyages made in the Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American slave trade can be searched, filtered, and sorted by variables including the port of origin, the number of enslaved Africans on board, and the ship's name.
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Missing from Presidents’ Day: The People They Enslaved
By Clarence Lusane
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Schools across the country are adorned with posters of the U.S. presidents and the years they served in office. U.S. history textbooks describe the accomplishments and challenges of the major presidential administrations — George Washington had the Revolutionary War, Abraham Lincoln the Civil War, Teddy Roosevelt the Spanish-American War, and so on. Children’s books put students on a first-name basis with the presidents, engaging readers with stories of their dogs in the Rose Garden or childhood escapades. Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian Institution welcomes visitors to an exhibit of the first ladies’ gowns and White House furnishings.
Nowhere in all this information is there any mention of the fact that more than one in four U.S. presidents were involved in human trafficking and slavery.
Nowhere in all this information is there any mention of the fact that more than one in four U.S. presidents were involved in human trafficking and slavery.
Aug. 1, 1834: Britain Passes Slavery Abolition Act
August First Day became a symbol of hope for enslaved people and abolitionists in the United States when Britain passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1834, abolishing slavery throughout its colonies around the world.
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Aug. 15 – 22, 1829: The Cincinnati Riots
White mobs in Cincinnati, Ohio, rioted for a week, assaulting the city’s Black residents and destroying their property .
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Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction
Book — Non-fiction. By Kate Masur. 2021.
The movement for equal rights in the decades before the Civil War.
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The movement for equal rights in the decades before the Civil War.
Aug. 21, 1831: Nat Turner Launches Rebellion
Nathaniel Turner launched one of the most historic revolts to end enslavement.
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Sept. 16, 1837: Abolitionist William Whipper Advocated Non-Violence
William Whipper published “An Address on Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression.”
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