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1700 AD – 1899 AD
1701
AD: The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts is organized by the Church of England to instruct African Americans
in Christianity.
Mid 17th-Mid 19th centuries: Many runaway slaves established
communities in the mountains, swamps, and wilderness areas form South
Carolina and Florida to Louisiana and the West Indies. Called Maroons
from the Spanish term cimarrones, which meant runaways, these escaped
slaves lived in largely self-sufficient camps, often with Native Americans.
1766 AD: Slaves in Massachusetts begin a court action
against their masters, charging them with trespass in an unsuccessful
attempt to challenge the legality of slavery.
1775 AD: George Washington endorses a recommendation
of the Continental Congress to bar African Americans from service in the
army. However, the British Governor of Virginia offers freedom to any
slave who joins the British army.
1779 AD: African Americans in New Hampshire use Thomas
Jefferson’s arguments in the declaration of independence on their
own behalf, petitioning the state legislature to grant their freedom because
it is "an inherent right of the human species."
1793 AD: The United States first fugitive slave law is
passed. In the West Indies slavery is abolished in Santo Domingo.
1807 AD: Congress passes a law to abolish the importation
of slaves from Africa, but illegal cargoes of slaves continue to arrive.
1829 AD: Walker’s appeal, written by African American
activist David Walker, is published in Boston. The pamphlet call upon
slaves to rise up against their masters and its circulation is prohibited
in the South.
1847 AD: Liberia, (Africa) founded by freed slaves, declared
itself independent
1857 AD: The Dred Scott case is settled by the U.S.
Supreme Court. The decision declares that African Americans are not citizens,
that residence in a free state does not bestow freedom on a slave, and
that slavery cannot be excluded from the western territories.
1863
AD:
On January 1, the Emancipation Proclamation frees all American slaves,
except those living in states and areas that are not in rebellion.
1866-67 AD: The nation’s first Civil Right’s
Act is passed in congress over President Andrew Johnson’s veto.
The law confers citizenship on African Americans and assures all citizens
equal rights under the law.
1884 AD: The Berlin Conference, held at the request of
Portugal to sort out the control and colonization of Africa by European
powers. At the time of the conference, 80% of Africa remained under traditional
and local control. What ultimately resulted was a hodgepodge of geometric
boundaries that divided Africa into fifty irregular countries. This new
map of the continent was superimposed over the one thousand indigenous
cultures and regions of Africa. The new countries lacked rhyme or reason
and divided coherent groups of people and merged together disparate groups
who really did not get along.
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