African American History
The beginning of anti-slavery #3
- By the mid-19th century, America's westward expansion, along with a growing anti-slavery movement in the North, provoked a national debate over slavery that helped precipitate the American Civil War (1861-65). Though the Union victory freed the nation's four million slaves, the legacy of slavery influenced American history, from the chaotic years of Reconstruction (1865-77) to the civil rights movement that emerged in the 1950s.
- The Compromise of 1850 brought California into the United States as a free state, banned public sale of slaves in the District of Columbia, opened up the rest of the lands seized from Mexico to settlement by slave owners and committed the United States government to enforcement of new fugitive slave law.
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 mandated that a popular vote of the settlers would determine if territories became free or slave states. The newly-formed Republican Party vowed to prevent new slave states and quickly became the majority party in nearly every northern state.
- Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which was won by Republican Abraham Lincoln.
The Real Uncle Tom: Josiah Henson
- Who was Josiah Henson? Born in 1789, according to his autobiography, he was enslaved in Maryland and Kentucky and served as an overseer. Learn more ...
1852 March 20 The anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was published and, by year's end, 300,000 copies were sold in the United States. "Tom shows," dramatizations based on the plot of the novel, were widely performed by traveling companies into the 20th century, spreading common stereotypes of African Americans.
1857 March 6 In Dred Scott vs. Sandford, the United States Supreme Court ruled that blacks were not citizens of the United States and denied Congress the ability to prohibit slavery in any federal territory.
During 1860-1861 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, southern states seceded, and the United States Civil War began. The 1860 census showed the black population of the United States to be 4,441,830, of which 3,953,760 were enslaved and 488,070 free.
On 1863 January 1, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which made it clear that a Union victory in the Civil War would mean the end of slavery in the United States.
1863 July 18 the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry led a heroic attack on Fort Wagner in South Carolina. The 54th was the first all-black regiment recruited in the North for the Union army. As many as 185,000 black soldiers fought on the side of the Union.
The 13th Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment—passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864; by the House on January 31, 1865; and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865—abolished slavery “within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The Impact
Black History Awareness
Fascinating Facts About Black History Month
- It Started as a Week. In 1915
- February Was Chosen for a Reason....
- A Week Becomes a Month
- Honoring African-American Men and Women
Check out more fascinating facts below by clicking the links!
Website: Family ambassador Mrs. Lavina Meeks