Slavery in the US

The Samba Rebellion of 1731 in Colonial Louisiana and the Tragic Fate of Its Conspirators

The Samba Rebellion, a purported slave revolt in French colonial Louisiana, remains one of the lesser-known events in early American history, recorded primarily through the writings of Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz, a French historian who lived in Louisiana. According...

Henrietta Wood: The Woman Who Won the Largest Slavery Reparations Verdict in U.S. History

Henrietta Wood holds a unique place in American history as the formerly enslaved woman who won the largest reparations verdict ever awarded for slavery in the United States. Born into slavery in Kentucky, Henrietta Wood’s life began in bondage under...

Lumpkin’s Jail: The 19th-Century American Slave Breeding Facility for Enslaved Africans

In the shadowed history of the United States, few places symbolize the brutalities inflicted upon enslaved African people as Lumpkin’s Jail in Richmond, Virginia. Known as one of the largest and most notorious slave jails in the 19th century...

Wyatt Outlaw: The Black Politician Lynched by a White Mob in 1870

Wyatt Outlaw, the first African American to serve as Town Commissioner and Constable of Graham, North Carolina, was a pioneering leader and dedicated advocate for African American rights in Alamance County. He faced violent opposition for his stance against...

Lucy Terry: The Author of the Oldest Known Work of Literature by an African American

Lucy Terry was a gifted storyteller, orator, and poet, renowned for being the author of “Bars Fight” (1746), the oldest known literary work by an African American. Lucy Terry was born around 1733 on the African continent. Like many others...

Invisible Churches: How Enslaved Africans in the US Resisted Their Owners’ Obedience Doctrine

During the era of American slavery, Christianity became both a tool for oppression and a source of hope for enslaved African Americans. Slaveholders leveraged the Christian faith, twisting its messages to reinforce submission and obedience to them. Out of...

Celia: The Enslaved Teen Executed for Defending Herself Against Her Master’s Sexual Assault in 1855

The story of Celia is similar to that of Lena Baker, a black maid who was Sentenced to the Electric Chair for Defending Herself Against her Rapist Employer. However, unlike Baker, Celia was a slave with no legal rights,...

Benjamin Boardley: The Enslaved African Innovator in the U.S. Who Sold His Invention to Buy His Freedom

Benjamin Boardley, an African engineer and inventor born into slavery in March 1830, created a steam engine but was denied a patent by the U.S. government due to his enslaved status. As a result, he was forced to sell...

Betty Hemings: The Mixed-Race Slave Gifted as a Wedding Present to Thomas Jefferson’s Father-in-Law

Elizabeth Hemings was an enslaved woman who was given as a wedding gift to John Wayles and Martha Eppes, she spent her life in servitude, eventually bearing children with Wayles, one of whom, Sally Hemings, would later gain prominence...

The Execution of Phillis: The Enslaved African Burnt at the Stake for Poisoning Her Abusive Enslaver

Phillis, was an enslaved African woman in colonial Massachusetts, who was executed by burning at the stake in 1755. Alongside her with another enslaved man, Mark, she was accused of poisoning her abusive enslaver, John Codman, in retaliation for...
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Chiuta’s Gift: The Tumbuka Creation Story and the Origins of Life and Death

The Tumbuka people are an ethnic group primarily found in southeastern Africa, particularly in Malawi, with communities in Zambia...