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The Cultural Significance of Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave
Drugged and beaten, Solomon Northup was illegally kidnapped from his hometown in Saratoga Springs in upstate New York and taken to Washington, D.C. in 1841. He woke up in the slave pen where he was...
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The American Colonization Society 1816-1860: A Solution to Slavery or Racist...
Speaking in the hall of the House of Representatives on January 20, 1827, Whig Party co-founder and Secretary of State Henry Clay affirmed the great potential of the American Colonization Society...
View ArticleGender and Race in the Antebellum Slavery Debates
In 1851, Sojourner Truth, a freed slave from New York, purportedly asked, “Ain’t I a Woman?” at a women’s convention in Akron, Ohio. That same year, William Lloyd Garrison, the editor of the Boston...
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The Boundaries of Law: Slaves and the Court in Antebellum America
On March 6, 1857, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court came to a decision concerning African Americans in the law and the nation. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney declared, “In the opinion of the court,...
View ArticleThe Secrets of Mary Bowser, Black Spy in the Confederate White House
Mary Bowser was a real person born into slavery in Richmond, Virginia. Freed by the daughter of the family that owned her, Bowser was sent North to be educated—but she returned to the South and became...
View ArticleBack to the Future: Historians Against Slavery and the Return of the Scholar...
On September 19, 2013 approximately 120 registrants gathered in Cincinnati’s National Underground Freedom Center for a conference sponsored by Historians Against Slavery (HAS). The event marked a...
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Juneteenth: The Joy of Freedom
This June, Americans across the country will commemorate their past with barbeques, baseball games, parades and speeches. Wait, June? These festivities may remind you of the Fourth of July but, two...
View Article“The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro” by Frederick Douglass, 1852
On July 5, 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass was asked to give a speech in his hometown of Rochester, New York to honor the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. Instead of lauding...
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The Revolution of American Drinking
On Independence Day, you won’t see Americans toast the United States with mugs of tea. Hot weather aside, tea is the villain of Fourth of July celebrations.While the holiday honors the Declaration of...
View ArticleGuided Reading: Harriet Jacobs’ Slave Narrative
What is the role of colorism in black female sexuality and the division of labor in slavery?Most slave narratives have a ‘moment of racial consciousness’ where the speaker first discovers they are...
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The Fourth of July in United States History
The Fourth of July is an iconic American celebration characterized by parades, fireworks, and backyard barbeques. But where did the history of the Fourth of July holiday begin and how did celebrations...
View ArticleGuided Reading: Harriet Jacobs’ Slave Narrative
What is the role of colorism in black female sexuality and the division of labor in slavery?Most slave narratives have a ‘moment of racial consciousness’ where the speaker first discovers they are...
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The Fourth of July in United States History
The Fourth of July is an iconic American celebration characterized by parades, fireworks, and backyard barbeques. But where did the history of the Fourth of July holiday begin and how did celebrations...
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