Slavery in the US

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 19th century Richmond,...

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...

William Gibbons: The African Who Was Enslaved by a Professor at the University of Virginia

William Gibbons, born around 1825 in Albemarle County, Virginia, was an African American who was enslaved by a professor at the University of Virginia.

Charles Colcock Jones: The Slaveowner Who Used the Gospel to Keep Enslaved Africans Obedient

Charles Colcock Jones was a slaveholder, and missionary who dedicated his life to teaching the Christian gospel to enslaved people with the specific goal of making them more obedient and submissive.
- Advertisement -

Latest News

The Devil of Haiti: Jean-Baptiste de Caradeux, the French Slaver Nicknamed “The Cruel” for His Brutality Against Enslaved Africans

Jean-Baptiste de Caradeux de La Caye remains one of the most despised figures in the history of French Saint-Domingue,...