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Africans in America
Africans first arrived in Virginia as indentured servants. They could earn their freedom working as laborers and artisans for the European settlers. -
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Civil Rights Movement
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Slavery institutionalized
Maryland became the first colony to institutionalize slavery. -
Slave Codes
These codes granted white masters almost absolute authority over their slaves. Only one factor determined whether a person was subject to teh slave codes, and that was COLOR. -
Society of Friends
The Quakers abolished slavery among members. Their fierce antislavery opinions greatly influenced the northerners' opinions to abolish slavery. -
Pennsylvania and Slavery
Pennsylvania was the first state to declare slavery illegal within its borders. After them, all the northern states except New York and New Jersey abolished slavery before the end of the American Revolution. -
Constitutional Convention
At the Constitutional Convention in Philidelphia, the delegates agreed that each slave would be counted as three-fifths of a free person in determining the basis for both representation and direct taxation. -
Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade
On this date, President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill that would officially abolish the Slave Trade in America starting January 1, 1808. It prohibited "the importation of slaves into any port or any place within the jurisdiction of the United States." -
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Underground Railroad
During this time, earlier and later, the Underground Railroad was in use. It was used to help aid fugitive slaves. One of the main conductors was Harriet Tubman. -
Liberia
Liberia became an independent black republic. It was a place for freed African American slaves to return to Africa. The capital was Monrovia, named after the American president who had presided over the initial settlement. -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln formally signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared forever free the slaves inside the Confederacy. The Proclamation did not apply to the border slave states because they didn't secede from the Union. -
Thirteenth Amendment
Abraham Lincoln ratified this amendment to the US Constitution. It outlawed slavery throughout the whole United States. -
Fourteenth Amendment
This amendment provided a definition of American citizenship. It stated that everyone born in the United States, and everyone naturalized, was automatically a citizen and entitled to all the privileges and immunities guaranteed by the Constitution, including equal protection of the laws by both the state and national governments.