Black History Month Part 2

HISTORICAL DATES IN BLACK HISTORY

1494 Christopher Columbus brings the first African Americans to Hispaniola.  At this time they are free people.

1501 The Spanish king allows the introduction of slaved Africans into the Spanish colonies.

1518 King Charles I of Spain signs an agreement to allow slaves to be imported to the Americas. 

1526 Leader Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon and Spanish colonists form what is now known as Georgia in the United States; and bring with them what is considered to be the first wave of slaves in the U.S. 

1619 20 black slaves are purchased from a Dutch seller for Jamestown (founded in 1607, Virginia). These are the first slaves in the English North American colonies.

1641 Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize slavery. 

1641 Mathias de Souza, an indentured African, becomes the first and only black person to serve on the colonial Maryland legislature. 

1642 Virginia passes fugitive slave law prohibiting the assistance of runaway slaves. 

  

1663 Black and white servants plan a rebellion in Virginia.  The plan is discovered and the leaders are executed.

1663 Maryland’s slave law dictates that all Africans arriving in the colony are automatically slaves.  Free women who marry enslaved men lose their freedom; children are automatically enslaved as well.  Other colonies soon follow and enact similar laws.  Every new white settler in North Carolina is given twenty acres for each black male slave and ten acres for each black female slave they bring with them.

1664 Colonial law decrees that enslavement is now for life and slavery is transferred to children through the mother.

1670 Massachusetts makes it legal for children to be sold into bondage, separating them from their parents.  

1675 By this point there are approximately 105,000 African’s enslaved.

1688 Quakers in Pennsylvania denounce slavery.  This is believed to be the first recorded protest against slavery in North America.

1711 A public slave market is opened in New York.

1712 In April, the New York Slave Revolt begins.  During this time nine whites are killed and an unknown number of blacks.  Twenty-one slaves are executed by the colonial authorities.  It is also during this year that New York prohibits free blacks from owning land.

1716 The first African slaves arrive in Louisiana.  By 1721 there are more enslaved blacks than free whites in New Orleans.

1741 Thirteen African American men are bound and burned at the stake; seventeen black men, two white men, and two white women are publically hanged; seventy blacks and seven whites are expelled from the city of New York during the New York Slave Conspiracy Trials for planning to burn down the city.

1741 South Carolina passes the most extensive slave laws to date.  These laws prohibit the teaching of enslaved blacks to read and write.  Slaves are no longer permitted to gather in groups or earn money.  The law also allows owners to kill slaves they deem “rebellious”. 

1746 A slave by the name Lucy Terry composes a poem called “Bar Fights”.  It is believed to be the first known poem by an African American.  It is passed along orally until 1855 when it is published.

1758 A school for free black children is opened in Philadelphia. 

1760 An enslaved man, Briton Hammon publishes the first autobiographical work entitled A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprising Deliverance of Briton Hammon. 

1761 Jupiter Hammon, also enslaved, publishes the first volume of poetry published by an African American.  

1773 Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman in Boston, publishes Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.  It is the first book written by an African American woman in the U.S.  Up to this point, published works were dictated to slave owners.

1775 George Washington allows slaved and free blacks to serve in the military.  5,000 African Americans serve in the Revolutionary War.  It is during this year, as well, that the first abolitionist meeting is held in Philadelphia on April 14^th. 

1777 On July 8^th Vermont becomes the first state to abolish slavery.

1778 The first and only black military regime is formed of enslaved and free African Americans. It is the only all-black unit to fight on the Patriot side in the American Revolution.   

1780 Massachusetts abolishes slavery and gives African American men the right to vote.  This is the same year that The Free African Union Society is created, which is the first cultural organization established by blacks in North America.

1785 New York frees all slaves that fought in the Revolutionary War.

1787 The U.S. Constitution is drafted.  It allows the continuation of slavery for the next 20 years. 

1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin. 

1802 Ohio constitution abolishes slavery, but also prohibits freed blacks from voting.

1804 Ohio enacts the “Black Slave Codes”, becoming the first non-slavery state to place restrictions on African American residents.  During this year, Lemuel Hayes receives a Master’s Degree from Middleberry College.  He is the first African American to get an honorary degree. 

1808 While the United States government rules the importation of Africans illegal this year, the law is ignored and from 1808 – 1860 approximately 250,000 blacks are illegally imported into the U.S. 

1809 New York notices marriage in the African American community.

1814 There are 600 African American troops (of 3,000 total) led by General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans.  This army defeats the British.

1815 The Underground Railroad is established by Levi Coffin in Indiana.  It will later spread through North America. 

1827 Slavery is abolished in New York.

1831 North Carolina enacts a law that prohibits the teaching of reading and writing to slaves.  However, it is during this year that Jarena Lee's The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee, A Coloured Lady is the first autobiography published by an African American woman.

1832 Ohio forms Oberlin College; it admits African American men and women as well as white women.  In Salem, MA the Female Anti-Slavery Society is formed.  It is the first African America women’s abolitionist organization.  Savannah, GA opens the Georgia Infirmary, the first hospital in the U.S. dedicated to patient care of black persons.

1845 Frederick Douglass publishes his autobiography The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.

1847 The first African American graduates from medical school. David Jones Peck receives his diploma from Rush Medical College in Chicago.

1849 Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and begins her efforts in helping other slaves escape. 

1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 

1855 The Massachusetts Legislation outlaws racially segregating schools.  This is the same year that Frederick Douglas is nominated to the Liberty Part of New York as the secretary of state, making him the first black candidate of any state to be elected for a statewide office.

1861 The First Confiscation Act is passed by congress; this prevents Confederate slave owners from re-enslaving runaways.

1861 – 1865 During the course of the Civil War there were approximately 200,000 blacks (freed and runaway) serving in the unit.  Almost 20,000 of those are killed in battle.

1862 Slavery is abolished in the District of Columbia.  On July 17^th of this year Congress allows for the enlistment of African Americans into the U.S. Army.

1863 Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Declaration goes into effect, stating that all individuals enslaved at that time are free on January 1^st of that year. 

1864 On April 9^th, The 13^th Amendment takes effect and outlaws slavery throughout the United States.  Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes the first African American woman to earn a medical degree. 

1866 Congress approves the 14^th Amendment on June 13^th.  The amendment grants citizenship to all African Americans.

1867 Congress grants black citizens the right to vote in D.C.  Two days later the Territorial Suffrage Act is passed, which allows all African Americans in the western states to vote.

1873 There are seven black members as part of the 43^rd Congress.

1875 The Jim Crow Laws are enacted, allowing for segregation between races.

1883 There are no black members in the 50^th U.S.  Congress.  Voting amongst blacks is also low due to intimidation at the polls.

1887 The directors of the International League (minor league baseball) prohibit the signing of black players.  By 1889 there are no African American baseball players in the minor league.

1892 This year, 230 people are lynched in the United States:  161 are black and 69 white.  Between 1882 and 1951 it is reported that in that 69 year period, 4,730 people were lynched including 3,437 blacks and 1,293 whites. 92 women were victims of lynching, 76 were black and 16 were white.  Every state in the continental U.S. (with the exception of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont) reported lynching deaths sometime during the 69 year period.

1990 An estimated 30,000 black teachers have been trained since the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865.

1901 Booker T. Washington is the first African American to dine at the White House.  He is invited by President Theodore Roosevelt.   That same year, Booker’s autobiography is published.

1907 Madame C.J. Walker develops and markets her hair straightening method.  It is one of the most successful cosmetic firms in the nation, and continues to be so through current day.

1916 Marcus Garvey founds the New York Division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association with sixteen members. Four years later the UNIA holds its national convention in Harlem. At its height the organization claims nearly two million members.

1917 The United States enters into the Civil War.  There are approximately 370,000 African American troops.

1917 The first civil rights movement takes place.  10,000 African Americans (and supporters) walk the streets of New York in a silent parade to protest race riots, lynchings and the denial of their rights. 

1920 August 26^th sees the ratifying of the 19^th Amendment, giving women the right to vote.  However, like black men, African American women are commonly denied at the polls.

1926 Negro History Week is established in February by Carter G. Woodson.

1946 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that segregation on interstate bus travel is unconstitutional.

1954 Segregation in schools is declared unconstitutional. 

1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is established, prohibiting discrimination in public accommodations and by employers. 

1965 Malcom X is assassinated in February.  The following month Martin Luther King Jr. leads a 54 mile march to protest the continuous denial of blacks and their voting rights.  The march lasts five days and grows from 3,300 protestors to 25,000.  The Voting Rights Act is signed into law on August 6^th, assuring voting rights in the south.

1966 The Black Panther Party is formed.  The original purpose of the group was to patrol African American neighborhoods and offer protection against police brutality. 

1967 The Supreme Court strikes down the bans on interracial marriages.  Thurgood Marshal takes his seat as the first African American Justice on the Supreme Court. 

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated.

1973 Coleman Young is elected the first black mayor of Detroit.

1983 Alice Walker’s book, The Color Purple wins the Pulitzer Award.

1984 The Cosby Show makes its debut.  It will run for eight season to become the most successful series featuring a mostly all black cast. 

1986 The first Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is celebrated.

1996 California voters pass Proposition 209, outlawing affirmative action throughout the state.

2000 Lillian Elaine Fishbourne becomes the first female admiral in the U.S. Navy.

2008 Barack Obama is elected as the first African American president. At the time of his election he was the only sitting African American U.S. Senator.   He will be reelected in 2012. 

2015 Currently there are 46 black members in the House of Representatives and 2 in the Senate.