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First American Slaves Arrive
First African American slaves arrived in Virginia -
Lucy Terry
Lucy Terry, an enslaved person in 1746, becomes the earliest known black American poet when she writes about the last American Indian attack on her village of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Her poem, Bar's Fight, is not published until 1855. -
Phillis Wheatly
Phillis Wheatley's book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral is published, making her the first African American to do so. -
Slavery is made legal
Slavery is made illegal in the Northwest Territory. The U.S Constitution states that Congress may not ban the slave trade until 1808. -
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin greatly increases the demand for slave labor. -
Fugitive State Law is enacted
A federal fugitive slave law is enacted, providing for the return slaves who had escaped and crossed state lines. -
Gabriel Prosser
Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved African-American blacksmith, organizes a slave revolt intending to march on Richmond, Virginia. The conspiracy is uncovered, and Prosser and a number of the rebels are hanged. Virginia's slave laws are consequently tightened. -
Importation is banned
Congress bans the importation of slaves from Africa. -
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise bans slavery north of the southern boundary of Missouri. -
Denmark Vesey
Denmark Vesey, an enslaved African-American carpenter who had purchased his freedom, plans a slave revolt with the intent to lay siege on Charleston, South Carolina. The plot is discovered, and Vesey and 34 coconspirators are hanged. -
Nat Turner
Nat Turner, an enslaved African-American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of followers launch a short, bloody, rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws. -
July 2
On July 2, 1839, 53 African slaves on board the slave ship the Amistad revolted against their captors, killing all but the ship's navigator, who sailed them to Long Island, N.Y., instead of their intended destination, Africa. Joseph Cinqué was the group's leader. The slaves aboard the ship became unwitting symbols for the antislavery movement in pre-Civil War United States. -
Fredrick Douglas
Frederick Douglass launches his abolitionist newspaper. -
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and becomes one of the most effective and celebrated leaders of the Underground Railroad. -
Uncle Tom's Cabin is published
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin is published. It becomes one of the most influential works to stir anti-slavery sentiments.
