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Period: Feb 11, 1550 to
From Slavery to Civil Rights
Primary source: Sketches, interviews, Feldson Library, library of Congress -
Slavery
The first Africans at Jamestown were purchased as indentured servants from the Dutch. Over the course of two centuries, however, most Africans in the Americas were bought and sold as a source of slave labor, were denied the most basic human rights and were often subject to abusive treatment. -
Antebelllum
Not all blacks were enslaved during the period prior to the Civil War. However, these free blacks were not treated as equal citizens. Free blacks, found primarily in Northern states, had to carry papers proving they were not slaves. Otherwise, they faced capture and transport to the South where they could be sold into slavery. -
Abolition
Antislavery sentiments in America date back to the 1600s. However, the abolition movement didn't come to the forefront until the early 1800s, when the first abolitionist periodicals were published. The movement gained momentum over the next few decades, leading to Lincoln's 1862 Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in rebel states. -
First African American to recieve a College Degree.
1823
First African American to receive a degree from an American college: Alexander Twilight, Middlebury College -
Argument of John Quincy Adams, before the Supreme Court of the United States
1841 court argument in the Amistad case. Argument of John Quincy Adams, before the Supreme Court of the United States : in the case of the United States, appellants, vs. Cinque, and others, Africans, captured in the schooner Amistad, by Lieut. Gedney, delivered on the 24th of February and 1st of March, 1841 : with a review of the case of the Antelope, reported in the 10th, 11th, and 12th volumes of Wheaton's Reports. -
North Star, June 2, 1848
1848 newspaper edited by Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany
Library of Congress Serial and Government Publications Division. Washington, D.C. 20540 -
The resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia
1850 lithograph portraying the final episode in the flight of slave, Henry Brown -
Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920
1852 advertisement for slaves. First sale advertisment of slaves. -
Civil War
Although they often received lower pay, performed menial duties and faced further discrimination, black soldiers were allowed to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War. They fought in segregated units, under the command of white officers. -
Sojourner Truth, three-quarter-length portrait
1864 carte de visite photograph -
Secession, 1860-1861
Secession, 1860-1861. Civil War begins -
Reconstruction
From 1865 to 1877, the Constitution was amended three times to provide equal rights to black Americans. Slavery was abolished, and citizenship and voting rights were guaranteed. Blacks gained political power as they were elected to office at all levels of government. -
The first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the cabinet
1866 engraved reproduction of painting -
First African American Mayor
First African-American mayor: Pierre Caliste Landry, Donaldsonville, Louisiana -
Progressive Era
Following the formal period of Reconstruction, laws were passed, severely limiting the freedoms given to blacks. Poll taxes and literacy tests made voting difficult, while Jim Crow laws, upheld by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, created segregated public facilities. Schools such as Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute provided quality education for blacks. -
World War I
Even though black soldiers still faced discrimination at home, they fought for freedom abroad. Once again, they fought in segregated units. -
Between the Wars
During World War I, many blacks fled the South seeking new jobs in factories in Northern cities. This great migration continued through the early 1940s. This time period also brought an increased popularity in music and the arts, centered in the Harlem Renaissance. -
World War II
During World War I, many blacks fled the South seeking new jobs in factories in Northern cities. This great migration continued through the early 1940s. This time period also brought an increased popularity in music and the arts, centered in the Harlem Renaissance. -
Little Rock Nine
The first time blacks and whites went to school together. -
Civil Rights
In the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, segregated schools were declared unconstitutional. This landmark decision sparked the modern Civil Rights movement. Led by Martin Luther King Jr., blacks engaged in a series of nonviolent protests throughout the South to bring about the end of segregation and racial domination. -
Rosa Parks, seated on bus.
Rosa Parks spikes a stir. She refuses to be belittled and pushes the start of equality. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Delivers speech
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First Black President
The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009
