In 1841, a group of enslaved African-Americans aboard the American brig Creole staged a daring revolt that would become the most successful slave revolt in U.S. history. Led by Madison Washington, the rebels seized the ship, killed one slave...
John Anthony Copeland Jr. was a man whose life and death embodied the struggle for freedom and justice in a nation deeply divided by slavery. Born free on August 15, 1834, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Copeland was arrested, tried,...
The Decatur slave-ship mutiny was an act of resistance that took place in April 1826 aboard a coastwise slave ship sailing from Baltimore, Maryland, to the New Orleans slave market. This mutiny was part of the broader struggle against...
Slavery in America was one of the darkest chapters in its history, built on violence, fear, and dehumanization. Plantation owners relied on terror to maintain control over the enslaved, and fear was their most powerful weapon. Enslaved people who...
In the early 19th century, a remarkable figure emerged in the fight against oppression and systemic racism in the United States. John Berry Meachum, a freed African reverend, educator, abolitionist and entrepreneur, defied the odds and built a legacy...
In March 1860, Rev. Jermain Wesley Loguen, a formerly enslaved man turned abolitionist, received a shocking letter from Sarah Logue, the wife of his former enslaver. In the letter, Sarah demanded that Loguen either return to her as a...
Ona Judge Staines, also known as Oney Judge, was an enslaved woman who famously escaped the household of the first president of the United States, George Washington, and became a symbol of resistance against slavery.
Ona Judge was born around...
The Christmas holiday, a time typically associated with joy and festivity, held a complex and multifaceted significance for enslaved Africans across the Americas and the Caribbean. While some slaves embraced the brief moments of relaxation and celebration, others saw...
In December 1765, Charleston, South Carolina, was thrown into chaos when rumors of an impending slave insurrection by enslaved Africans disrupted the city’s Christmas festivities. The fear of rebellion cast a shadow over the season’s celebrations, leaving white residents...
Louis Hughes, was one of the many enslaved African Americans who experienced the horrors of slavery in the United States. Hughes’ story, recounted in his memoir Thirty Years a Slave, reveals the cruelty of a system that dehumanized African...
