We The People: From Crispus Attucks to Barack Obama

Overview

Historian Frances Latimer argues that enslavement “happened one law at a time, one person at a time.” Throughout the 17th Centuries, as the American colonies grew, human bondage transformed from indentured servitude to a life of enslavement.

1612: Commercial tobacco is raised in Jamestown, Va.

1619: Twenty Africans are transported to Jamestown. They were imported to work as slaves in Great Britain’s American colonies.

1626: The Dutch West India Company brings eleven African-American men to the New Netherlands

1636: Desire, the first carrier in the United States to participate in human trade. The ship is built and first sales Massachusetts. This marks the beginning of colonial North America’s participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

1640: John Punch becomes the first documented slave to receive servitude for life. An African servant, John Punch, is sentenced to life after running away. His white friends, who also ran away, received extended servitude.

1640: Residents of New Netherlands are prohibited from providing any assistance to fugitive slaves.

1641: The D’Angolas become the first recorded marriage between people of African descent.

1641: Massachusetts becomes the first colony to legalize enslavement.

1643: A fugitive slave law is established in the New England Confederation. The Confederation includes Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Haven.

1650: Connecticut legalizes enslavement.

1652: Rhode Island establishes laws restricting and then forbidding slavery.

1652: All black and Native American servants are mandated to take military training by Massachusetts law.

1654: Blacks are granted the right to be slaveholders in Virginia.

1657: Virginia passes a fugitive slave law.

1660: The Council of Foreign Plantations is ordered by Charles II, King of England, to convert slaves and indentured servants to Christianity.

1662: Virginia passes a law establishing hereditary slavery. The law states that children of African-American mothers “shall be bond or free according to the condition of the mother.”

1662: Massachusetts passes a law prohibiting blacks from bearing arms. States such as New York, Connecticut and New Hampshire follow suit.

1663: The first documented slave rebellion takes place in Gloucester County, Va.

1663: The state of Maryland legalizes enslavement.

1663: Charles II gives North Carolina and South Carolina to slave proprietors.

1664: Enslavement is legalized in New York and New Jersey.

1664: Maryland becomes the first colony to make marriage between white women and black men illegal.

1664: Maryland passes a law making lifelong servitude for black slaves legal. Colonies such as New York, New Jersey, the Carolinas and Virginia pass similar laws.

1666: Maryland enacts a fugitive slave law.

1667: Virginia passes a law stating that a Christian baptism will not change a person’s status as a slave.

1668: New Jersey passes a fugitive slave law.

1670: Free Africans and Native Americans are prohibited from owning white Christian servants by Virginia law.

1674: New York lawmakers declare that enslaved African-Americans who convert to Christianity will not be freed.

1676: Slaves as well as black and white indentured servants participate in Bacon’s Rebellion.

1680: Virginia passes laws prohibiting blacks–freed or enslaved–from bearing arms and congregating in large numbers. The law also enforces strong punishments for slaves who try to escape or attack white Christians.

1682: Virginia passes a law announcing that all imported Africans will be slaves for life.

1684: New York prohibits slaves from selling goods.

1688: Pennsylvania Quakers establish the first antislavery resolution.

1691: Virginia establishes its first anti-miscegenation law, prohibiting marriage between whites and blacks as well as whites and Native Americans.

1691: Virginia declares it illegal to free slaves within its borders. As a result, freed slaves must leave the colony.

1691: South Carolina establishes its first set of slave codes.

1694: Importation of Africans increases tremendously into the Carolinas after rice cultivation is established.

1696: The Royal African Trade Company loses its monopoly. New England colonists enter into the slave trade.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/slavery/a/Enslavement-Timeline-1619-To-1696.htm

Overview

In 1857, just a few years before the Emancipation Proclamation is established, a slave named Samuel Dred Scott lost a fight for not only his freedom, but that of his family. For almost ten years, Scott had fought to regain his freedom–arguing that since he lived with his owner–John Emerson–in a free state, he should in fact, be free. However, after a long battle, the United States Supreme Court ruled that since Scott was not a citizen, he could not sue in a federal court. In addition, as an enslaved person, as property, he and his family had no rights to sue in a court of law either.

1795: Samuel “Dred” Scott is born in Southhampton, Va.

1832: Scott is sold to John Emerson, a United States army physician.

1834: Scott and Emerson move to the free state of Illinois.

1836: Scott marries Harriet Robinson, a slave of another army doctor.

1836 to 1842: Harriet gives birth to the couples two daughters, Eliza and Lizzie.

1843: The Scotts move to Missouri with the Emerson family.

1843: Emerson dies. Scott attempts to purchase his freedom from Emerson’s widow, Irene. However, Irene Emerson refuses.

April 6, 1846: Dred and Harriet Scott allege that their home in a free state granted them freedom. This petition is filed in the St. Louis County Circuit court.

June 30, 1847: In the case, Scott v. Emerson, the defendant, Irene Emerson wins. The presiding judge, Alexander Hamilton provides Scott with a retrial.

January 12, 1850: At the second trial, the verdict is in Scott’s favor. As a result, Emerson files an appeal with the Missouri Supreme Court.

March 22, 1852 The Missouri Supreme Court reverses the lower court’s decision.

Early 1850′s: Arba Crane becomes employed by the law office of Roswell Field. Scott is working as a janitor at the office and meets Crane. Crane and Scott decide to take the case to the Supreme Court.

June 29, 1852: Hamilton, who is not only a judge but an abolitionist, denies the petition by the Emerson family attorny to return the Scotts to their owner. At this time, Irene Emerson is living in Massachusetts, a free state.

November 2, 1853: Scott’s lawsuit is filed in the United States Circuit Court for Missouri. Scott believes that the federal court is responsible for this case because Scott is suing John Sanford, the new owner of the Scott family.

May 15, 1854: Scott’s case is fought in court. The court rules in favor of John Sanford and is appealed to the Supreme Court.

February 11, 1856: The first argument is presented to the United States Supreme Court.

May 1856: Lawrence, Kan. is attacked by proponents of slavery. John Brown kills five men. Senator Charles Sumner, who argued Supreme Court cases with Robert Morris Sr, is beaten by a Southern congressman over Sumner’s antislavery statements.

December 15, 1856: The second argument of the case is presented before the Supreme Court.

March 6, 1857: The United States Supreme Court decides that freed African-Americans are not citizens. As a result, they cannot sue in federal court. In addition, enslaved African-Americans are property and as a result, have no rights. In addition, the ruling found that Congress cannot prohibit slavery from spreading into the western territories.

May 1857: Following the controversial trial, Irene Emerson remarried and gave the Scott family to another slave holding family, the Blows. Peter Blow granted the Scott’s freedom.

June 1857: Abolitionist and former slave acknowledged the importance of the Dred Scott decision at the anniversary of the American Abolition Society through a speech.

1858: Scott dies of tuberculosis.

1858:Lincoln-Douglas debates begin. Much of the debates focus on the Dred Scott case and its impact on enslavement.

April 1860: Democratic Party splits. Southern delegations leave the convention after their petition to include a national slave code based on Dred Scott is rejected.

November 6, 1860: Lincoln wins election.

March 4, 1861: Lincoln is sworn as president of the United States by Chief Justice Roger Taney. Taney wrote the Dred Scott opinion. Soon after, the Civil War begins.

1997: Dred Scott and Harriet Robinson are inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/timelines/a/Dred-Scott-Timeline.htm

Overview

Macon Bolling Allen was not only the first African-American licensed to practice law in the United States, he was also the first to hold a judicial post.

Early Life

Allen was born A. Macon Bolling in 1816 in Indiana. As a free African-American, Allen learned to read and write. As a young adult, he gained employment as a schoolteacher.

Attorney

During the 1840s, Allen moved to Portland, Maine. Although it is unclear why Allen moved to Maine, historians believe it may have been because it was a free state. While in Portland, he changed his name to Macon Bolling Allen. Employed by General Samuel Fessenden, an abolitionist and lawyer, Allen worked as a clerk and studied law. Fessenden encouraged Allen to pursue a license to practice law because anyone could be admitted to the Maine Bar association if they were considered to have good character. However, Allen was initially rejected because he was not considered a citizen because he was African-American. However, Allen then decided to take the bar examination to bypass his lack of citizenship. On July 3, 1844, Allen passed the exam and became licensed to practice law. Yet, despite earning the right to practice law, Allen was unable to find much work as an attorney for two reasons: many whites were not willing to hire a black attorney and there were very few African-Americans living in Maine.

By 1845, Allen had moved to Boston. He walked fifty miles to the exam testing site because he was unable to afford the travel expenses. After passing the exam, Allen opened an office with Robert Morris Sr. Their office became the first African-American law office in the United States.

Although Allen was able to make a modest income in Boston, racism and discrimination were still present–preventing him from being successful. As a result, Allen took an exam to become a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex County in Massachusetts. As a result, Allen became the first African-American to hold a judicial position in the United States.

Allen decided to relocate to Charleston following the Civil War. Once settled, Allen opened a law office with two other African-American attorneys–William J. Whipper and Robert Brown.

The passing of the fifteenth amendment inspired Allen to become involved in politics and he became active in the Republican Party.

By 1873, Allen was appointed a judge on the Inferior Court of Charleston. The following year, he was elected as a probate judge for Charleston County in South Carolina.

Following the Reconstruction period in the south, Allen relocated to Washington D.C. and worked as a lawyer for the Land and Improvement Association.

Abolition Movement

After becoming licensed to practice law in Boston, Allen caught the attention of abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison . Allen attended anti-slavery meeting in Boston. Most notably, he attended the anti-slavery convention in May 1846. At the convention, a petition was passed around in opposition to involvement in the Mexican War. However, Allen did not sign the petition, arguing that he was supposed to defend the United States Constitution. This argument was made public in a letter written by Allen that was published in the Liberator. However, Allen ended his letter arguing that he still adamantly opposed enslavement.

Marriage and Family Life

Very little is known about Allen’s family in Indiana. However, once moving to Boston, Allen met and married his wife, Hannah. The couple had five sons–John, born in 1852; Edward, born in 1856; Charles, born in 1861; Arthur, born in 1868 and Macon B. Jr., born in 1872. According to United States Census records, all of Allen’s sons worked as schoolteachers.

Death

Allen died on October 10, 1894 in Washington D.C. He was survived by his wife and one son.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/biographies/a/Macon-Bolling-Allen.htm

Overview

When Robert Morris completed his first jury trial in 1847, he recalled “there was something in the courtroom that made me feel like a giant. The courtroom was filled with colored people, and I could see, expressed on the faces of every one of them, a wish that I might win the first case that had ever been tried before a jury by a colored attorney in this country…”

Morris was one of the first African-American lawyers in the United States and the very first to file a lawsuit on behalf of a client.

Early Life and Educaiton

Morris was born on June 8, 1823 in Salem, Mass. Morris attended Master Dodge’s School in Salem. As a young adult, he became the apprentice to Ellis Gray Loring, an attorney and abolitionist.

Burgeoning Attorney

In 1847, Morris was granted a license to practice law in the state of Massachusetts and opened a law office with Macon Bolling Allen. The two men made history yet again–opening the first African-American law firm. Yet it was Morris’ work as an attorney that brought him prestige. He was the frist African-American lawyer to file a lawsuit on a behalf of a client in the United States. In addition, Morris won the case.

Abolitionist and Attorney

Throughout Morris’ career as an attorney, he was active in fighting for African-American rights as well as abolitionism. Some of his most notable cases include:

• Morris tried the first civil rights cased to desegregate public schools. In 1848, Robert v. Boston went to trial. It is believed that this was the first challenge to the “separate but equal” stance existing in American society. During the case, Morris and other lawyers argued “It is very hard to retain self-respect if we see ourselves set apart and avoided as a degraded race by others.. Do not say to our children that however well-behaved their very presence is in a public school, is contamination to your children.” Lastly, they said that black schools do not provide the same level of education as the multiple forms of white schools, including “primary, grammar, Latin and high schools.” The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against the plaintiff in the case. As a result, it was used to support the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling in 1896. However, the “separate but equal” mantra was overturned in the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954.

  However, in April of 1855, Massachusetts’ governor Henry Gardner signed a law desegregating public schools in the state. As a result, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to pass a law regarding the prohibition of racial segregation.

• Working with abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Loring and Wendell Phillips, Morris fought to oppose the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

  Most notably, Morris worked with African-American abolitionists such as Lewis Hayden to assist fugitive slave Shadrack Minkins escape from a Boston courthouse and make his way to Canada. In addition to Minkins’ case, Morris defended Anthony Burns, another fugitive slave. Although Morris was unsuccessful, the case received media attention in newspapers across the country. As a result, Burns’ freedom was purchased by Boston abolitionists. Gaining his freedom, Burns attended Oberlin College and became a preacher.

In addition to fighting legal battles for the African-American community in Boston and the abolitionist cause, Morris was also an avid fundraiser for the movement. In 1859, for instance, Morris worked with the Vigilance Committee to raise more than $6,000 in aid for fugitive slaves.

During the 1850s, Morris was appointed as a justice of the peace. He was also able to practice law before U.S. District Courts. Morris was able to serve as a magistrate in courts throughout Boston and Chelsea, Mass.

At the start of the Civil War, Morris assisted in the recruitment of the 54th Regiment. In addition to helping with the recruitment initiative, Morris continued to discuss discrimination in the United States Army.

Death

Morris died in Boston on December 12, 1882.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/biographies/a/Robert-Morris-Sr.htm

Robert Morris Sr may not have been the first African-American attorney to be granted a license in the United States, but he was the very first to file a lawsuit on a behalf of a client.

Throughout Morris’ career, he worked with earnest to provide civil rights for freed African-Americans. Trying the first civil rights cases to desegregate schools, Morris argued, “It is very hard to retain self-respect if we see ourselves set apart and avoided as a degraded race by others.. Do not say to our children that however well-behaved their very presence is in a public school, is contamination to your children.”

In addition, Morris worked to aid fugitive slaves from returning to bondage. In 1850, he helped Shadrack Minkins and Anthony Burns remain free African-Americans.

For Morris’ efforts, he will always be honored in not just African-American, but American history.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/b/2013/04/30/robert-morris.htm

By Femi Lewis, About.com GuideApril 30, 2013

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Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/b/2013/04/30/dred-scott.htm

By Femi Lewis, About.com GuideApril 30, 2013

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Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/b/2013/04/30/timeline-1850-to-1859.htm

Macon Bolling Allen was the first African-American to be granted a license to practice law in the United States. He was also the first to hold a judicial post.

Yet, although he achieved greatness in a time when African-Americans were enslaved in the South and fighting for rights in the North, Allen’s ability to work as a lawyer did not make things easy for him. Initially granted the right to practice in the state of Maine, Allen relocated to Boston after he could not find clients. Once in Boston, he became involved in the abolitionist movement and opened the first African-American law firm with Robert Morris Sr.

Following the Civil War, Allen moved again–this time to Charleston. He believed that through the

fifteenth amendment he would be able to become actively involved in politics. And for a time he was an active member of local and state politics. However, following the Reconstruction period, his rights, like other African-American men were revoked through poll taxes, literacy tests and Grandfather clauses.

Although Allen was able to achieve greatness just by being “the first,” it was not any easier for him. Allen’s life, like so many other African-Americans of this time, proves the consistent need to fight oppression and overcome societal obstacles.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/b/2013/04/30/macon-bolling-allen-the-first-african-american-lawyer.htm

Overview

The Negro Baseball Leagues were professional leagues in the United States for players of African descent. At its height of popularity–from 1920 through World War II, Negro Baseball Leagues were an integral part of African-American life and culture during the Jim Crow Era.

1859: The first documented baseball game between two African-American teams is played on November 15 in New York City. The Henson Baseball Club of Queens played the Unknowns of Brooklyn. The Henson Baseball Club defeated the Unknowns, 54 to 43.

1885: The first African-American professional team is founded in Babylon, NY. They are named the Cuban Giants.

1887: The National Colored Baseball League is established, becoming the first professional African-American league. The league begins with eight teams–the Lord Baltimores, Resolutes, Browns, Falls City, Gorhams, Pythians, Pittsburgh Keystones, and the Capital City Club. However, within two weeks the National Colored Baseball League will cancel games as a result of poor attendance.

1890: The International League bans African-American players, which will last until 1946.

1896:The Page Fence Giants club is established by “Bud” Fowler. The club is considered one of the best teams in early African-American baseball history because players toured in their own railroad car and played against major league teams such as the Cincinnati Reds.

1896: The United States Supreme Court upholds Louisiana’s “separate but equal” laws concerning public facilities. This decision affirms racial segregation, de facto segregation and prejudice throughout the United States.

1896: The Page Fence Giants and Cuban Giants play a national championship. The Page Fence Club wins 10 out of 15 games.

1920: At the height of the
Great Migration, Andrew “Rube” Foster, owner of the Chicago American Giants organizes a meeting with all the Midwest team owners in Kansas City. As a result, the Negro National League is established.

1920: On May 20, the Negro National League begins its first season with seven teams–the Chicago American Giants, Chicago Giants, Dayton Marcos, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABCs, Kansas City Monarchs and Cuban Stars. This marks the beginning of the “Golden Era” of Negro Baseball.

1920: The Negro Southern League is established. The league includes cities such as Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, New Orleans and Chattanooga.

1923: The Eastern Colored League is established by Ed Bolden, owner of the Hilldale Club, and Nat Strong, owner of the Brooklyn Royal Giants. The Eastern Colored League consists of the following six teams: Brooklyn Royal Giants, Hilldale Club, Bacharach Giants, Lincoln Giants, Baltimore Black Sox and the Cuban Stars.

1924: The Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League and the Hilldale Club of the Eastern Colored League play in the first Negro World Series. The Kansas City Monarchs win the championship five games to four.

1927 – 1928: The Eastern Colored League faces many conflicts between various club owners. In 1927, New York’s Lincoln Giants left the league. Although the Lincoln Giants returned in the following season, several other teams including the Hilldale Club, Brooklyn Royal Giants and Harrisburg Giants all left the league. In 1928, the Philadelphia Tigers were brought into the league. Despite several attempts, the League disbands in June of 1928 over player contracts.

1928: The American Negro League is developed and includes the Baltimore Black Sox, Lincoln Giants, Homestead Grays, Hilldale Club, Bacharach Giants and the Cuban Giants. Many of these teams were members of the Eastern Colored League.

1929: The stock market crashes, placing financial strains on many facets of American life and business, including Negro League baseball as ticket sales slump.

1930: Foster, founder of the Negro National League dies.

1930: The Kansas City Monarchs end their ties with the Negro National League and become an independent team.

1931: The Negro National League disbands after the 1931 season as a result of financial strains.

1932: The Negro Southern League becomes the only major African-American baseball league operating. Once considered less lucrative than other leagues, the Negro Southern League is able to begin the season with five teams including the Chicago American Giants, Cleveland Cubs, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABCs and Louisville White Sox.

1933: Gus Greenlee, a business owner from Pittsburgh forms the new Negro National League. Its first season begins with seven teams.

1933: The inaugural East-West Colored All-Star Game is played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. An estimate 20,000 fans attend and the West wins, 11-7.

1937: The Negro American League is established, uniting the strongest teams on the West Coast and south. These teams included the Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago American Giants, Cincinnati Tigers, Memphis Red Rox, Detroit Stars, Birmingham Black Barons, Indianapolis Athletics and St. Louis Stars.

1937: Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard help the Homestead Grays begin its nine-year streak as champions of the Negro National League.

1946: Jackie Robinson , a player for the Kansas City Monarchs, is signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. He plays with the Montreal Royals, and becomes the first African-American to play in the International League in more than sixty years.

1947: Robinson becomes the first African-American player in major league baseball by joining the Brooklyn Dodgers. He wins National League Rookie of the Year.

1947: Larry Doby becomes the first African-American player in the American League when he joins the Cleveland Indians.

1948: The Negro National League disbands.

1949: The Negro American League is the only major African-American league still playing.

1952: More than 150 African-American baseball players, most from the Negro Leagues, have been signed to Major League Baseball. With low ticket sales and a lack of good players, the era of African-American baseball comes to an end.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/timelines/a/Negro-Baseball-League-Timeline.htm

Overview

In 1827, Samuel Eli Cornish and John B. Russwurm became the publishers and editors of Freedom’s Journal the first African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper served an estimated 300,000 free blacks throughout the United States. In addition, it offered African-Americans the opportunity to fight against racism and prejudice existing in mainstream newspapers.

Considered a reform paper, Freedom’s Journal published current events, anecdotes of everyday people, and editorials. The purpose of the paper was to take a strong stance against slavery and colonization. In addition, the paper served as an advocate for the political rights of African-Americans such as voting and fighting against violent acts against African-Americans.

Samuel Eli Cornish

Cornish was considered a leader in New York’s African-American community because of his work as a minister, abolitionist and newspaper publisher.

Born in Delaware to free parents in 1795, Cornish moved to Philadelphia in 1815 as a young man. In 1821, Cornish moved to New York City. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1922 and established the New Demeter Street Presbyterian Church, the first African-American Presbyterian congregation in New York City. He later presided over the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia and Emmanuel Church in New York. Cornish was also one of the four founding African-American members of the American Missionary Association in 1846 and held high positions in the American Bible Society.

Although Cornish’s stint as a publisher of Freedom’s Journal was short lived, he did return two years later. Cornish attempted to republish the paper and changed its name to The Rights of All but the publication closed in less than a year. Cornish became editor of another newspaper, Colored American from 1837 to 1839.

As an abolitionist, Cornish was one of the founding members of the American Anti Slavery Society and was active until 1840. That same year, Cornish joined the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. In this position, Cornish used his abilities as a writer to inform the readers about abolitionism.

Cornish was married to Jane Livingston and the couple had four children. He died at the age of 63 on November 6, 1958 at his home in Brooklyn, NY.

John Brown Russwurm

Like Cornish, Russwurm was an abolitionist. However, the men differed in their ideas on colonization.

Russwurm was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica in 1799 to a slave and English merchant. At the age of eight, Russwurm was sent to live in Quebec. Five years later, Russwurm’s father moved him to Portland, Maine where his father remarried. Russwurm attended the Hebron Academy and taught at an all black school in Boston. In 1824, he enrolled in Bowdoin College. Following his graduation in 1826, Russwurm became Bowdoin’s first African-American graduate and the third African-American to graduate from an American college.

After moving to New York City in 1827, Russwurm met Cornish. The pair published Freedom’s Journal, a news publication whose aim was to fight against enslavement. However, once Russwurm was appointed senior editor of the journal, he changed the paper’s position on colonization–from negative to advocate of colonization. As a result, Cornish left the newspaper. Two years later, Russwurm resigned and immigrated to Liberia.

From 1830 to 1834, Russwurm worked as the colonial secretary for the American Colonization Society. In addition he edited the Liberia Herald. After resigning from the news publication, Russwurm was appined superintendent of education in Monrovia.

In 1836, Russwurm became the first African-American governor of Maryland in Liberia. He used his position to persuade African-Americans to immigrate to Africa.

Russwurm married Sarah McGill in 1833. The couple had three sons and one daughter. Russwurm died in 1851 in Cape Palmas, Liberia.

Article source: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/biographies/a/Publishers-Of-Freedoms-Journal.htm