TIMELINE OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA 1501-1865

[Troy]

Someone shared this with me this morning. It was unattributed, so I can't share the source, but I learn it I will.  This reminds me of the HISTORIA AFRICANA DATES FOR MAJOR AFRICAN EVENTS  @Mel Hopkins shared a few months ago.

 

1501 
African Slaves in the New World Spanish settlers bring slaves from Africa to Santo Domingo (now the capital of the Dominican Republic).

1522 
Slave Revolt: the Caribbean Slaves rebel on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which now comprises Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

1562 
Britain Joins Slave Trade. John Hawkins, the first Briton to take part in the slave trade, makes a huge profit hauling human cargo from Africa to Hispaniola.

1581 
Slaves in Florida Spanish residents in St. Augustine, the first permanent settlement in Florida, import African slaves.

1612 
The first commercial tobacco crop is raised in Jamestown, Virginia. 

1619 
Twenty slaves in Virginia Africans brought to Jamestown are the first slaves imported into Britain’s North American colonies. Like indentured servants, they were probably freed after a fixed period of service.

1626
The Dutch West India Company imports 11 black male slaves into the New Netherlands. 

1636
Colonial North America's slave trade begins when the first American slave carrier, Desire, is built and launched in Massachusetts.

1640
John Punch, a runaway black servant, is sentenced to servitude for life. His two white companions are given extended terms of servitude. Punch is the first documented slave for life. 

1640
New Netherlands law forbids residents from harboring or feeding runaway slaves. 

1641 The D'Angola marriage is the first recorded marriage between blacks in New Amsterdam. 

1641
Massachusetts is the first colony to legalize slavery. 

1643
The New England Confederation of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New 
Haven adopts a fugitive slave law. 

1650
Connecticut legalizes slavery. 

1652
Rhode Island passes laws restricting slavery and forbidding enslavement for more than 10 
years. 

1652
Massachusetts requires all black and Indian servants to receive military training.

1654
A Virginia court grants blacks the right to hold slaves. 

1657 
Virginia passes a fugitive slave law. 

1660
Charles II, King of England, orders the Council of Foreign Plantations to devise strategies for converting slaves and servants to Christianity.1662 Hereditary Slavery Virginia law decrees that children of black mothers “shall be bond or free according to the condition of the mother.”

1662
Massachusetts reverses a ruling dating back to 1652, which allowed blacks to train in arms. New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire pass similar laws restricting the bearing of arms. 

1663
In Gloucester County, Virginia the first documented slave rebellion in the colonies takes place. 

1663
Maryland legalizes slavery.

1663
Charles II, King of England, gives the Carolinas to proprietors. Until the 1680s, most settlers in the region are small landowners from Barbados. 

1664
New York and New Jersey legalize slavery.

1664
Maryland is the first colony to take legal action against marriages between white women 
and black men. 

1664
The State of Maryland mandates lifelong servitude for all black slaves. New York, New Jersey, the Carolinas, and Virginia all pass similar laws. 

1666
Maryland passes a fugitive slave law.

1667
Virginia declares that Christian baptism will not alter a person's status as a slave. 1668 New Jersey passes a fugitive slave law.

1670
The State of Virginia prohibits free blacks and Indians from keeping Christian (i.e. white) servants. 

1674
New York declares that blacks who convert to Christianity after their enslavement will not be freed.

1676
In Virginia, black slaves and black and white indentured servants band together to participate in Bacon's Rebellion. 

1680
The State of Virginia forbids blacks and slaves from bearing arms, prohibits blacks from congregating in large numbers, and mandates harsh punishment for slaves who assault Christians or attempt escape. 

1682
Virginia declares that all imported black servants are slaves for life.

1684
New York makes it illegal for slaves to sell goods.

1688
The Pennsylvania Quakers pass the first formal antislavery resolution.

1691
Virginia passes the first anti-miscegenation law, forbidding marriages between whites and blacks or whites and Native Americans. 

1691 
Virginia prohibits the manumission of slaves within its borders. Manumitted slaves are forced to leave the colony.

1691
South Carolina passes the first comprehensive slave codes.

1694
Rice cultivation is introduced into Carolina. Slave importation increases dramatically. 

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

1700
Pennsylvania legalizes slavery.

1702
New York passes An Act for Regulating Slaves. Among the prohibitions of this act are meetings of more than three slaves, trading by slaves, and testimony by slaves in court. 

1703
Massachusetts requires those masters who liberate slaves to provide a bond of 50 pounds or more in the event that the freedman becomes a public charge. 

1703
Connecticut assigns the punishment of whipping to any slaves who disturb the peace or assault whites. 

1703 
Rhode Island makes it illegal for blacks and Indians to walk at night without passes.1705 Slaves as Property Describing slaves as real estate, Virginia lawmakers allow owners to bequeath their slaves. The same law allowed masters to “kill and destroy” runaways.

1705
The Virginia Slave Code codifies slave status, declaring all non- Christian servants entering the colony to be slaves. It defines all slaves as real estate, acquits masters who kill slaves during punishment, forbids slaves and free colored peoples from physically assaulting white persons, and denies slaves the right to bear arms or move abroad without written permission. 

1705 New York declares that punishment by execution will be applied to certain runaway slaves.

1705
Massachusetts makes marriage and sexual relations between blacks and whites illegal. 

1706
New York declares blacks, Indians, and slaves who kill white people to be subject to the 
death penalty.

1706
Connecticut requires that Indians, mulattos, and black servants gain permission from their masters to engage in trade. 

1708 
The Southern colonies require militia captains to enlist and train one slave for every white soldier.

1708
Rhode Island requires that slaves be accompanied by their masters when visiting the homes of free persons. 

1708
Blacks outnumber whites in South Carolina.

1710
New York forbids blacks, Indians, and mulattos from walking at night without lighted lanterns. 

1711
Pennsylvania prohibits the importation of blacks and Indians.

1711
Rhode Island prohibits the clandestine importation of black and Indian slaves. 

1712
Pennsylvania prohibits the importation of slaves.1712 Slave Revolt: New York Slaves in New York City kill whites during an uprising, later squelched by the militia. Nineteen rebels are executed.

1712
New York declares it illegal for blacks, Indians, and slaves to murder other blacks, Indians, and slaves.

1712
New York forbids freed blacks, Indians, and mulatto slaves from owning real estate and holding property. 

1712 
In Charleston, South Carolina slaves are forbidden from hiring themselves out.

1715
Rhode Island legalizes slavery.

1715
Maryland declares all slaves entering the province and their descendants to be slaves for life.

1717
New York enacts a fugitive slave law.

1723
Virginia abolishes manumissions.

1724
French Louisiana prohibits slaves from marrying without the permission of their owners. 

1730-1750
The number of male and female slaves imported to the North American British colonies balances out for the first time.

1731
The Spanish reverse a 1730 decision and declare that slaves fleeing to Florida from Carolina will not be sold or returned. 

1732 
Slaves aboard the ship of New Hampshire Captain John Major kill both captain and crew, seizing the vessel and its cargo.

1733
Quaker Elihu Coleman's A Testimony against That Anti-Christian Practice of MAKING SLAVES OF MEN is published.

1735
Under an English law Georgia prohibits the importation and use of black slaves.

1735 
Georgia petitions Britain for the legalization of slavery.

1735
Louis XV, King of France, declares that when an enslaved woman gives birth to the child of a free man, neither mother nor child can be sold. Further, after a certain time, motherand child will be freed. 

1738
Georgia's trustees permit the importation of black slaves.

1738
Spanish Florida promises freedom and land to runaway slaves.

1739
Slaves in Stono, South Carolina rebel, sacking and burning an armory and killing whites. Some 75 slaves in South Carolina steal weapons and flee toward freedom in Florida (then under Spanish rule). Crushed by the South Carolina militia, the revolt results in the deaths of 40 blacks and 20 white The colonial militia puts an end to the rebellion before slaves are able to reach freedom in Florida. 

1740
South Carolina passes the comprehensive Negro Act, making it illegal for slaves to move abroad, assemble in groups, raise food, earn money, and learn to read English. Owners are permitted to kill rebellious slaves if necessary.

1740
Georgia and Carolina attempt to invade Florida in retaliation for the territory's policy toward runaways.

1749
Georgia repeals its prohibition and permits the importation of black slaves. 

1751 
George II repeals the 1705 act, making slaves real estate in Virginia. 

1758
Pennsylvania Quakers forbid their members from owning slaves or participating in the slave trade. 

1760
New Jersey prohibits the enlistment of slaves in the militia without their master's permission.

1767
The Virginia House of Burgess boycotts the British slave trade in protest of the Townsend Acts. Georgia and the Carolinas follow suit. 

1770 
Escaped slave, Crispus Attucks, is killed by British forces in Boston, Massachusetts. He is one of the first colonists to die in the war for independence.

1772
James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw's writes the first autobiographical slave narrative. 

1773 
The first separate black church in America is founded in South Carolina.

1773
Slaves in Massachusetts unsuccessfully petition the government for their freedom. 

1773
Phillis Wheatley becomes the first published African-American poet when a London publishing company releases a collection of her verse. 

1774
The First Continental Congress bans trade with Britain and vows to discontinue the slave trade after the 1st of December. 

1774 
Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Georgia prohibit the importation of slaves.

1774
Virginia takes action against slave importation.

1775
The slave population in the colonies is nearly 500,000. In Virginia, the ratio of free colonists to slaves is nearly 1:1. In South Carolina it is approximately 1:2. 

1775
Georgia takes action against slave importation.

1775
Abolitionist Society Anthony Benezet of Philadelphia founds the world’s first abolitionist society. Benjamin Franklin becomes its president in 1787.

1775
In April, the first battles of the Revolutionary war are waged between the British and Colonial armies at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Black Minutemen participate in the fighting. 

1775
In July, George Washington announces a ban on the enlistment of free blacks and slaves in the colonial army. By the end of the year, he reverses the ban, ordering the Continental Army to accept the service of free blacks.

1775
In November, Virginia Governor John Murray, Lord Dunmore, issues a proclamation announcing that any slave fighting on the side of the British will be liberated. 

1776
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, members of the Continental Congress sign the Declaration of Independence. 

1776 
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, forbids its members from holding slaves.

1776
Delaware prohibits the importation of African slaves.

1777
Vermont is the first of the thirteen colonies to abolish slavery and enfranchise all adult males. 

1777 
New York enfranchises all free propertied men regardless of color or prior servitude.

1778
Rhode Island forbids the removal of slaves from the state.

1778
Virginia prohibits the importation of slaves.

1780
Delaware makes it illegal to enslave imported Africans.

1780
Pennsylvania begins gradual emancipation.

1780
A freedom clause in the Massachusetts constitution is interpreted as an abolishment of slavery. Massachusetts enfranchises all men regardless of race.

1783
American Revolution Ends Britain and the infant United States sign the Peace of Paris treaty.

1784 
Abolition Effort Congress narrowly defeats Thomas Jefferson’s proposal to ban slavery in new territories after 1800.

1790
First United States Census Nearly 700,000 slaves live and toil in a nation of 3.9 million people.

1793 
Fugitive Slave Act The United States outlaws any efforts to impede the capture of runaway slaves.

1794
Cotton Gin Eli Whitney patents his device for pulling seeds from cotton. The invention turns cotton into the cash crop of the American South—and creates a huge demand for slave labor.

1808 
United States Bans Slave Trade Importing African slaves is outlawed, but smuggling 
continues.

1820
Missouri Compromise Missouri is admitted to the Union as a slave state, Maine as a free state. Slavery is forbidden in any subsequent territories north of latitude .

1822 
Slave Revolt: South Carolina Freed slave Denmark Vesey attempts a rebellion in Charleston. Thirty-five participants in the ill-fated uprising are hanged.

1831 
Slave Revolt: Virginia Slave preacher Nat Turner leads a two-day uprising against whites, killing about 60. Militiamen crush the revolt then spend two months searching for Turner, who is eventually caught and hanged. Enraged Southerners impose harsher restrictions on their slaves.

1835 
Censorship Southern states expel abolitionists and forbid the mailing of antislavery propaganda.

1846-48 
Mexican-American War Defeated, Mexico yields an enormous amount of territory to the United States. Americans then wrestle with a controversial topic: Is slavery permitted in the new lands?

1847 
Frederick Douglass’s Newspaper Escaped slave Frederick Douglass begins publishing the North Star in Rochester, New York.

1849 
Harriet Tubman Escapes After fleeing slavery, Tubman returns south at least 15 times to help rescue several hundred others.

1850 
Compromise of 185 In exchange for California’s entering the Union as a free state, northern congressmen accept a harsher Fugitive Slave Act.

1852 
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Published Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel about the horrors of slavery sells 300,000 copies within a year of publication.

1854 
Kansas-Nebraska Act Setting aside the Missouri Compromise of 1820, Congress allows these two new territories to choose whether to allow slavery. Violent clashes erupt.

1857 
Dred Scott Decision The United States Supreme Court decides, seven to two, that blacks can never be citizens and that Congress has no authority to outlaw slavery in any territory.

1860 
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois becomes the first Republican to win the United States Presidency.

1860
Southern Secession South Carolina secedes in December. More states follow the next year.

1861-65 
United States Civil War Four years of brutal conflict claim 623,000 lives. 

1863 
Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Lincoln decrees that all slaves in Rebel territory are free on January 1, 1863. 1865 Slavery Abolished The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution outlaws slavery.

[ProfD]

This should be required learning in every U.S. History class. 

 

Of course, forcing slavery to be a part of the course curriculum would make those conservative red heads explode.

 

Making slavery a mandatory part of U.S. History would also draw out the fake liberals/closet racists too.

[Jeromex]

Troy

with all due respect, you are doing a disservice to our community by constantly posting victimhood propaganda. We all know slavery happened. Why not make a post about how our community can improve and what can our people do to make their futures better rather than telling us we are victims and we are being held back by the 1800’s . I think thats so wrong.

Did your post include how Africans hunted down their own people and not only enslaved them but Sold them to slave traders?

Did you also include how Africa still engages in slavery today?

You like to post about the past way too much and never really offer solutions.

What you just did kind of embodies what many black leaders and the media does- you hustle victimhood. Im sorry but thats how I feel and its wrong.

[Troy]

9 hours ago, Jeromex said:

you are doing a disservice to our community by constantly posting victimhood propaganda.

Oh please, now you try to mask your own propaganda with fake deference. I guess you missed the Black excellence forum; a place you’ll never be able to post, as that is a concept that escapes you.

 

@ProfD well they are banning books so it is important to share history at every turn.

[Jeromex]

Give me a break ! Banning books, thats a lie.

Your slavery time line has been known for years although I notice you conveniently extended the time line.

Again, stop with the victimhood nonsense. No one cares !

[Troy]

@Jeromex you obviously care.  The motivation of trolls never made sense to me.

 

Did you miss the Black excellence forum?  Post something positive there and ignore the rest of what you claim you don't care about.

[Jeromex]

Stop with your race hustling bs. No one cares about your useless victimhood propaganda.

[Chevdove]

LOL!

 

I have never understood the victimhood perspective!

I've heard people say things like, I am not going to be the victim anymore, etc., but I just do not understand that position in many circumstances.

For instance, there have been many people that have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for years and then later due to such evidences as DNA testing, released from prison, and I ask myself, 'SHOULD THEY TAKE THAT POSITION OF NOT PLAYING THE VICTIM ANYMORE!?'

 

This just sounds crazy to me because in this case, they have certainly been victimized severely. For them, it's not playing the victim, rather,

they are the victim and this should be acknowledged and deserve some kind of recompense.

In other words, if the law just simply released them from prison, and gave them no economic recompense and more, then that would be wrong.

 

[Troy]

Yes that is wrong. And financial compensation should be made in these cases.

[Pioneer1]

On 9/17/2023 at 6:45 PM, Chevdove said:

LOL!

 

I have never understood the victimhood perspective!

I've heard people say things like, I am not going to be the victim anymore, etc., but I just do not understand that position in many circumstances.

For instance, there have been many people that have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for years and then later due to such evidences as DNA testing, released from prison, and I ask myself, 'SHOULD THEY TAKE THAT POSITION OF NOT PLAYING THE VICTIM ANYMORE!?'

 

This just sounds crazy to me because in this case, they have certainly been victimized severely. For them, it's not playing the victim, rather,

they are the victim and this should be acknowledged and deserve some kind of recompense.

In other words, if the law just simply released them from prison, and gave them no economic recompense and more, then that would be wrong.

 

 

POWERFUL observation and statement.

This entire "stop playing victim" theme was really born out of the 80s with Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement as they tried to shame Black folks into not complaining about racism.

-Stop playing victim.
-Get over the past.
-Stop with all the complaining.
-No one likes a complainer
-Stop the bitching and moaning

All of these are terms that White folks love to use....ON BLACK FOLK when we speak up and stand up for ourselves or point out injustice.
However if you notice they never use them on eachother!

When a White woman gets on televison crying about how she's been raped, you never hear a White man tell her to "stop playing victim".

When White Republicans get on television or the radio complaining about a law or state of the nation, you don't hear White folks tell them to "stop complaining" or "if you don't like this country than leave it".

It's a form of reverse psychology or perhaps gas-lighting to try to turn the tables on the victim so that they'll be ashamed to speak up.
 

[Chevdove]

On 9/24/2023 at 12:45 PM, Pioneer1 said:

POWERFUL observation and statement.

This entire "stop playing victim" theme was really born out of the 80s with Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement as they tried to shame Black folks into not complaining about racism.

-Stop playing victim.
-Get over the past.
-Stop with all the complaining.
-No one likes a complainer
-Stop the bitching and moaning
 

 

 

 

I did not know that this is the origin of it! @Pioneer1

 

On 9/24/2023 at 12:45 PM, Pioneer1 said:

 

It's a form of reverse psychology or perhaps gas-lighting to try to turn the tables on the victim so that they'll be ashamed to speak up.
 

 

 

Unfortunately, this type of reverse psychology has worked on many Black women because, I have heard many of them say this!