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David Walker's Appeal
David Walker publishes the first edition of his Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, an incendiary text which provoked significant controversy for being a text of outright insurrection. This text announced the prophetic right and duty of African Americans to claim their role as full and equal citizens. -
Nat Turner Uprising
The bloodiest slave rebellion in American history, organized and led by Nat Turner, broke out on August 22 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner and a group of slaves killed more than fifty whites over a two-day period. Turner's revolt panicked southern slaveholders. White retaliation led to roughly 200 deaths of African Americans and crystallized the tensions between proslavery forces and abolitionists. -
American Anti-Slavery Society
William Lloyd Garrison founds the American Anti-Slavery Society, This is the society Harriet Jacobs references in the text which offers to pay her fare from Philadelphia to New York when she arrives from North Carolina. (127) -
Escape from the Norcom Plantation
Harriet Jacobs escapes the Norcom Plantation and goes into hiding as reported in the text -
African American Population
The total black population of the United States is 2,873,648—of which 386,293 are free and 2,487,355 are slaves. There are 1,440,660 women, of which 1,240,938 are slaves. -
Jacobs escapes to New York
Harriet Jacobs escapes to New York and works for the family of Mary Stace and Nathaniel Parker Willis (Mr and Mrs Bruce in the text) -
AME Denies Women Preaching Rights
The General Conference of the AME Church defeats the first petition to license women to preach. -
Jacobs travels to England
Jacobs travels to England with Imogene Willis - or, Mary in the text(142). This is the same year that Frederick Douglass made his first trip there. -
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass's autobiography is published. -
Temperance
Maine is the first state to enact a law prohibiting consumption of liquor or other intoxicants (139). -
Mexican American War Ends
The Mexican American War ends in 1848, prompting reconfiguration of 500,000 acres of new territory. This also contributes to the negotiations leading to the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Roberts v. City of Boston
The City of Boston's school board barred Sarah Roberts from attending her neighborhood public primary school and assigned her to one of two “schools appropriate to colored children,” Her father, social reformer Benjamin F. Roberts , sued on her behalf. Sarah lost. In Roberts v. City of Boston, The state's highest court ruled that Sarah was not “unlawfully excluded from public school.” Massachusetts. A foundational decision in the establishment of Jim Crow laws and culture in the future. -
Meeting Amy Post in Rochester
Harriet Jacobs meets Quaker and women's rights activist, Amy Post, in Rochester, NY and stays with her for nearly a year. A letter from Jacobs to Post in May of 1849 is the 'first' writing of Jacobs that has been found. This letter begins a rich period of correspondence between Jacobs and Post. -
Jacobs returns to NYC
Jacobs returns to New York City from Rochester, NY to work for Nathaniel Parker Willis and his new wife, Cornelia Grinnell Willis -
African American Population
The total black population in the United States reaches 3,638,808—of which 434,495 are free and 3,204,313 are slaves. There are 1,827,550 women, of which 1,601,779 are slaves. -
Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
Among other things, the Compromise ends the legal sale of slaves in the District of Columbia. The Fugitive Slave Act required all US citizens to capture and apprehend any runaway slave, even in the North. This effectively made Americans in all parts of the country legally responsible for responding to slaveholder media notifying 'society' of a missing slave. (104) -
James Hamlet and the Fugitive Slave Act
Baltimore, Maryland Sun newspaper report of James Hamlet's captureJames Hamlet is the 'first' runaway slave from the South (Baltimore) to be captured in the North (New York City) under the premises of the Fugitive Slave Act (147) -
Period: to
Uncle Tom's Cabin Serialized in The National Era
Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel was published in serialized form during this time period. It was published as a complete novel in 1852, when it gained massive attention. -
Jenny Lind and Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield
Greenfield, an acclaimed concert singer dubbed “The Black Swan” by audiences in the United States and Britain, travels to Buffalo, NY to hear Jenny Lind, "The Swedish Nightingale" perform. Lind was a popular opera singer who made P.T. Barnum a fortune through her performances. (148) -
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin after it was serialized in The National Era. Stowe's text is written largely in response to the Fugitive Slave Act. -
Harriet Jacobs Purchased by Cornelia Grinnell Willis
Cornelia Grinnell Willis contacts a friend associated with the New York Colonization Society to assist in her purchasing of Jacobs from the Dr. Norcom's daughter's husband, David Messmore (155) -
Harriet Jacobs Writes Initial Texts on Her Experiences
Harriet Jacobs writes "Letter from a Fugitive Slave" and "Cruelty to Slaves" in the New York Tribune. She also begins writing Incidents at this time. -
Dred Scott Decision
After having lived as a free person in two different free states (Illinois and Wisconsin), and marrying a women whom his owner purchased as well, Dred Scott sued for his freedom following his owner's death. The decision stated that because Scott was black, he was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue. The decision also declared the Missouri Compromise of 1820, legislation which restricted slavery in certain territories, unconstitutional. -
Amy Post Speaks on Jacobs's Behalf
From Rochester, NY, Amy Post writes a statement in support of Harriet Jacobs's book, and its interest to the reader as it relates the condition of the country. -
African American Population
The black population of the United States totals 4,441,830—of which 488,070 are free and 3,953,760 are slaves. There are 2,225,086 women, 1,971,135 of whom are enslaved. -
Abraham Lincoln Elected President
Abraham Lincoln wins the presidential election on the Republican platform of the non-extension of slavery. Following the lead of South Carolina, seven states secede from the Union and in early 1861 establish the Confederate States of America with Jefferson Davis as president. -
Incidents Published
After traveling to England in search of a publisher in 1858, and having little luck, Harriet Jacobs publishes her text in the United States in 1861. -
Civil War - First Official Shots Fired
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Incidents Published in England
Harriet Jacobs publishes Incidents in England under the title The Deeper Wrong -
Period: to
Activist Work
Harriet Jacobs committed herself to activist work, where she and her daughter Louisa Matilda worked to benefit recently freed slaves and their children. They distributed clothing, provided health care, established schools and taught. In this time she also continued her activist work back in Edenton, and then also returned to England to promote funding for an orphanage there. She returns to the US to run an elderly home in Savannah. After fleeing Savannah, she runs a boarding house in Cambridge. -
Thirteenth Amendment Passes Senate
View of Thirteenth Amendment DocumentThe US Senate passes the Thirteenth Amendment to then be reviewed by the House of Representatives in January -
13th Amendment Passed
Congress passes Thirteenth Amendment which abolishes slavery -
Final Surrenders of the Civil War April-May 1865
The final surrenders of the remaining Confederate troops occurred from April - May 1865 -
Thirteenth Amendment Ratified
The Thirteenth Amendment states: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." -
End of Temperance (for now)
Maine is the last state left that still has a liquor prohibition law. -
14th Amendment Ratified
The Fourteenth Ammendment is ratified promising US citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States including former slaves. This amendment also allows for the right of all citizens to due process of the law in any state. -
African American Population
The black population of the United States is 4,880,009, or 12.7 percent of the total population. There are 2,486,746 women. -
15th Amendment Ratified
The Fifteenth Amendment is ratified, granting African American men and all other men of color the right to vote. Women would not receive the right to vote until August 28, 1920 (19th Amendment) -
Late in Life
Jacobs returned to Washington -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the Louisiana statute of segregation as constitutional. Speaking for a seven-man majority, Justice Henry Brown wrote: "A statute which implies merely a legal distinction between the white and colored races -- has no tendency to destroy the legal equality of the two races. ..." -
Harriet Jacobs's Death
Harriet Jacobs passes away in Washington, and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, in Cambridge with her brother and her daughter. -
Up From Slavery
Booker T. Washington publishes Up From Slavery -
Publication of The Souls of Black Folks
W.E.B. DuBois publishes The Souls of Black Folks
