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The African American Story Part 2

The Struggle Continues

“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years,


and I can say what most conductors can't say; I never ran my train
off the track and I never lost a passenger.”

-Harriet Tubman
Long journeys exemplify the African American experience. As we enter the 19th century, changes would
exist in America. Black people back then (both free and enslaved) during the early 1800's dreamed of the
existence of true freedom and they used social activism (from setting up organizations to enacting slavery
rebellions). They did these things for the purpose of establishing justice for black people. In essence, the
early to mid 19th century of America was a time of massive resistance by black Americans. More heroes
fought against tyranny. Victories existed, but challenges still transpired back then too. The Gabriel Posser
rebellion and the Nat Turner rebellion showed the world about how evil the tyranny of slavery is and the
power of black human resistance. Also, black people back then worked in universities, they set up
institutions, many were inventors, and they contributed greatly in society. As America grown in power, its
power continued to grow paradoxically at the expense of slavery and the genocide against Native
Americans. Many racists used the concept of Manifest Destiny as a perverted excuse to plunder and steal
lands all over America (and beyond). It is important to note that many Americans back then opposed
imperialism, racism, and tyranny. Their names should be remembered always. When anyone studies the
history of Black America, we see courage, glorious resiliency, and a sense of hope. Our ancestors were
brave. They carried on despite living in conditions of oppression and overt terrorism.

The antebellum period experience and the Civil War changed American society permanently. To this very
day, we are still influenced by the events of the Civil War. To this day, we celebrate the courageous black
Union soldiers who defeated the Confederate enemy. Those periods of American history caused the
freedom of millions of our Brothers and our Sisters who were once in bondage. Abolitionists (who were
diverse ethnically and divergent ideological wise) heroically fought to end slavery. Women asserted their
humanity and their sacrosanct dignity in promoting gender equality too. Mr. Walker's Appeal, Frederick
Douglas's astounding actions, and Harriet Tubman's heroism outlined Black Excellence in action. From 1804
to 1865, Black America witnessed monumental changes while a long way to go still was a reality.
Still, we rise.
Religion (From B.C. to the Present)
Religion and spirituality have been expressed by people of black African descent for thousands of years.
Africa back then and today is filled with many languages, cultures, ethnicities, and creeds. African religious
traditions had people who believed in a Supreme Being and other traditions were polytheistic. Some of our
black African ancestors believed in ancestor worship. To this very day, tons of black Americans (including
myself as I am a black American from the state of Virginia) acknowledge the courage of our black ancestors.
Many Africans thousands of years ago used rituals not only to celebrate, but to communicate with each
other. Some black American spirituals during the 19th century were used as code in determining ways to
escape from slavery into Canada. Additionally, these spiritual traditions came about to show honor to
human beings, the ancestors, Nature, the stars, and other bodies of space. To many Africans, everything
and every place embody God. Ancient African spirituality was heavily communal in dealing with community
development; therefore a community of deities was worshiped. Some believed that the ancestors were a
gateway in communicating with these deities while the common origin ultimately was created by one
Supreme Being. African societies had rituals to represent the life stages from having birth, puberty,
adulthood, marriage, having children, old age, death, and life after death. The church like worship of God
didn’t exist uniformly in Africa. In East Africa, a common name for the Supreme Being is Mulungu, a word
indicating the Almighty and ever-present creator. The thunder is said to be his voice, lightning is his power,
and he rewards the good and punishes the wicked. In ancient Nubia and in ancient Egypt, many human
beings believed in one Creator too.

From the northern Kalahari through the Congo to Tanzania, the Supreme being is called Leza , perhaps from
the root meaning, "to cherish," as he is the one who watches over people. Leza is said to live in heaven and
is transcendent and incomprehensible. There is a diversity of ancient names for God throughout Africa. As
time went on, Africans merged or mixed spiritual belief systems. Christianity came into Africa early in the
1st century A.D. According to the New Testament, Jesus Christ and his family came into Africa (in Egypt) as
refugees. The reason was that Herod the Great (who established massive building projects in Judea)
wanted to exterminate male newborn Jewish children in Israeli territories according to the book of
Matthew. The New Testament is clear on the history of the apostles traveling worldwide to spread the
Gospel. Ancient Coptic churches were in Egypt. Christianity before 600 A.D. flourished in Ethiopia, Sudan,
and in Northern Africa. Islam came into Africa during the 7th century too. Islam's founder was Muhammad.
Muslims view Muhammad as a prophet. Islam especially spread into Western Africa. In Islam, Muslims
follow the Five Pillars of Islam (one is zakat or giving almsgiving to the poor). Of course, we condemn those
who claimed to be Christians and Muslims who enslaved innocent black Africans. The curse of Ham myth
and other anti-black slanderous lies were used by capitalist slave owners in order for them to allow
oppression to continue. There is nothing wrong with believing in spirituality, but we condemn those who
exploit religion as an excuse for them to spew anti-black racist lies. The vast majority of the victims of the
Maafa were those who followed traditional African religions. Many were originally Muslims and Christians
too. In the Americas, more of the children and grandchildren of Africans (in America) embraced Christianity.

Likewise, many traditions from Africa continued to be expressed by the Africans. It was a transformation of
cultures that impacted religious history and spiritual expression in general. In other words, Africans in
America used many spiritual traditions in order for them to advocate for justice, revolutionary change, and
an end to slavery. Gullah Jack or an Angolan priest cooked meals and handed out charms to protect the
men involved in Denmark Vesey’s heroic rebellion. Muslim
slaves in many cases could read, prayed five times a day, fasted
during Ramadan, abstained from drinking, and created Arabic
writings. Many Africans adopted both Christian and African
practices and beliefs since we are a creative people. The Great
Awakening of the 1700’s influenced many people. The
movement was very emotional and many black people
He was a famous early Muslim of converted to Christianity. Many people were inspired by the
early America. His name was Great Awakening to promote religious, class, and racial
Yarrow Mamout. He lived in
tolerance. The Great Awakening in part caused an increased
Washington, D.C. and he was
once a slave. He was freed and amount of black Americans to convert to Christianity. By the
became a great entrepreneur. He time of the Revolutionary War, only 1-2 percent of black people
could read and write in English in America professed Christianity. That would change. Andrew
and Arabic. Yarrow Mamout was a Bryan raised money to build the first black Baptist church in
bricklayer. He could make baskets Georgia. Black people saw the contradiction of some whites
and load ships too. He owned
claiming to be holy while enslaving them in bondage. Also, many
property and held stock too.
white racists back then believed in the lie that God is white
when the first humans on this Earth are black people. That
contradiction represents the hypocrisy of the white racist hypocrites and their spiritual deceptions. Many
freedom fighters of our people believed in God too. Some of our people were agnostic and atheist. As for
me, I will always believe in God. Black people would always fight for freedom.

Religion in Black America has a very long history. Back during the 1770’s, about only 1% of black Americans
were connected to organized churches. These numbers grew by many factors. There was the Anglican
Church using a proselytize campaign especially in Virginia to try to convert black people into the Anglican
Church. The Anglican Church came from Henry VIII, who
broke away from Roman Catholicism out of political reasons
(Henry VIII wanted to control England not the Pope. This
came about during the Reformation era of Europe. The
Reformation was a movement that disagreed with
Catholicism’s bad policies of indulgences, restricting the
Bible from being translated into different languages, and
overt corruption). Many converts didn’t materialize. Black
people merged traditional practices from African religion
into the thirteen colonies. Underground practice of magic
was common back then. Black religious music back and today The Clark Sisters and other religious
uses dances, ring shouts, emotional displays, great oratory, black Americans have shown the
and repetition of concepts. Many black Christians used their power of spiritual expression.
religious views back them to promote freedom. The growth
of black people coming into Christianity had to greatly do
with the First Great Awakening (which lasted from ca. 1730 to 1755). It was spread by missionaries. It
allowed in black people including poor white farmers. Many black people converted to Baptist views by the
1760’s in Virginia. Many slaves were in Baptist congregations, yet many self-proclaimed Baptists back then
were white owned slaves.

The Black church was used as a means of black people to be educated on subjects, to plan social activism,
and to inspire hope in the lives of black Americans. The church was an integral part of the black community.
Christian black people like Bishop Richard Allen formed separate Black denominations, because of
discrimination and racism found in Philadelphia (and throughout America). Free black people formed
churches in the South too before 1860. Most black Christians were Baptists and Methodists. Very few black
people were Catholics. Today, a minority of black Americans are Roman Catholics. The Second Great
Awakening (from 1800-1820’s) caused Afro-Christianity to develop into the next level. After the Great
Awakening, many blacks joined the Baptist Church, which allowed for their participation, including roles as
elders and preachers. For instance, First Baptist Church and Gillfield Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia,
both had organized congregations by 1800 and were the first Baptist churches in the city. From the 18th
century and beyond, black Americans included Muslims too. In fact, black Muslims were in America long
before the 1800’s. Black pastors acted as the leader of the church, counselors, and comforters. In real life, I
have been to a church in Boykins, Virginia which has a long history.

Black Americans have a long history with expressing spirituality in


our lives.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. constantly preached sermons all over America. He was an
advocate for social, racial, and economic justice.

Also, black churches (back then and today) include conversational oratory, prose, dancing, shouting, and
dancing. By the age of Reconstruction, black religious people celebrated the end of slavery. After the Civil
War, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and other churches grew. Many churches worked with
businesses to form infrastructure in black communities. Some black ministers were in state office like AME
minister Charles H. Pearce. He said that, “A man in this State cannot do his whole duty as a minister except
he looks out for the political interests of his people." Over 100 black ministers were elected to state
legislatures during Reconstruction. Several served in Congress and one, Hiram Revels, in the U.S. Senate.
Black churches would be in urban and rural communities. Many would work with black colleges to help
educate human beings. Some hosted Republican Party conventions as the Republicans of the 19th century
supported federal policies to promote civil rights back then. In the 20th century, many churches promoted
political activism while people like Rev. Joseph H. Jackson didn’t want civil rights activism (though Rev.
Jackson supported the Montgomery bus boycott of 1956). Rev. Joseph Jackson disagreed with Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.‘s Chicago Movement. The Pentecostal and Holiness movement impacted the black
community in many ways from emphasizing emotionalism of black worship to focus on spiritual
experiences. African Americans have diverse religious views from Buddhists, Bahia, Mormonism, Black
Hebrew Israelites, Moorish Temple Science, Judaism, etc.
"I have plowed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me. And aren't
I a woman?"
-Sojourner Truth

The Antebellum period (1783-1861)

The first sixty-five years of the 19th century are some of the most important years of human history.
African Americans experienced unspeakable hardships, but our black ancestors used their audacious power
to overcoming daunting odds. By the early 19th century, the racist tyranny of slavery and discrimination
continued in America. The First Black Codes (or anti-black discriminatory measures) began in the early
1800’s too. In August 30, 1800, Gabriel Prosser organized a slave rebellion to end tyranny (which was
slavery) in Richmond, Virginia. It was suppressed. Gabriel was born in slavery in Henrico County, Virginia.
He was 6 ft. 3 or 4 inches tall. Gabriel made plans and he wanted black people to be free from bondage. His
plans were leaked (by 2 slaves who were traitors to black people) before it was executed. Gabriel was
captured in Norfolk, Virginia. Gabriel Prosser (who was also a skilled blacksmith), his 2 brothers, and 23 of
his followers were hanged afterwards. This magnified the paranoia of racist whites, who didn’t desire true
freedom and equality for black human beings. These racists in Virginia along with other state legislatures
passed laws that restricted the rights of free black people. These legislatures also banned the education,
assembly, and hiring out of slaves. These policies were used to attack black human rights and to attack the
heroic rebellion movement in America.

In 2002, the City of Richmond passed a resolution in honor of Gabriel on the 202nd anniversary of the
rebellion. In 2007, Governor Tim Kaine gave Gabriel and his followers an informal pardon, in recognition
that his cause involved, "the end of slavery and the furtherance of equality for all people—has
prevailed in the light of history.” Gabriel Prosser was a freedom fighter. In 1807, Congress passed the
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves. This makes it a federal crime to import a slave from abroad. It was
urged by President Thomas Jefferson, but this law never banned slavery in American soil. By 1808 on
January 1st, the importation of slaves became a felony. This was the earliest law under the United States
Constitution where a restriction of slavery existed. During this time, black institutions further developed
and the abolitionist movement expanded. In 1816, the first separate black denomination of the African
Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) was founded by Richard Allen. He was elected its first bishop. Sister
Jarena Lee was a black woman who preached too.

There was a colonization movement too. Many people supported it as a way to connect to Africa. Others
supported this movement not as a means to advance equality, but as a means to get rid of the black
population in America. The American Colonization Society was started by Robert Finley in 1816. He wanted
to send free African Americans to Liberia in Africa. The colonization movement in general never had wide
ranging support consistently. Tensions among the North and the South involving slavery grew too. The
Missouri Compromise was passed in March 6, 1820. It allowed the entry as Maine to be a free state and
Missouri as a slave state. It didn’t allow slave states north of the coordinate of 36°30′. The British West
Africa Squadron's slave trade suppression activities are assisted by forces from the United States Navy,
starting in 1820 with the USS Cyane. With the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842, the relationship is
formalized and they jointly run the Africa Squadron. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was
formed in 1821. In July 14, Denmark Vessey’s planned slave rebellion in Charleston, South Carolina was
suppressed. Denmark Vesey wanted justice. He would be murdered in 1822.

In September 1829, a new era of the abolitionist movement existed with David Walker publishing his
abolitionist pamphlet Walker’s Appeal. It was unapologetic in its advocacy of ending slavery and justice for
black people. It was powerful, to the point, and it inspired freedom loving people for years and decades
including centuries to come. His work showed the power of Blackness and refuted the myth of white
inferiority. David Walker was a great writer and he believed in black unity, self-help, and ending injustice.

One of the most heartbreaking stories during this time was the story of Emily. Emily was a black woman
who was enslaved in 1836, he spoke of these words about her experiences losing her family (her mother
and husband were sold in the slave trade) as a result of slavery:

“…A cloud has settled upon me and produced a change in my prospect, too great for words
to express. My husband is torn from me, and carried by his master…I went to see him tried
to prevail on him not to carry my husband away…but mother all my entreaties and tears did
not soften his hard heart…A time is fast approaching when I shall want my husband and my
mother and both are gone!”
African American Spirituals during
the antebellum period gave black
people hope for the future. Go,
Down Moses was a famous spiritual
that was used for a important
message in desiring freedom from
slavery.

His son was Edward G. Walker. Edward was an attorney and one of the first two black men elected to the
Massachusetts State Legislature in 1866. David Walker’s Appeal was revolutionary and many Southern
officials tried to prevent its publication from reaching the South. Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick
Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and other liberation theologians are
influenced plus inspired by David Walker’s important legacy. David Walker passed away in 1830. As Brother
David Walker has mentioned:

“Leadership is building a bridge that connects the vision with the purpose, in
order to empower those who are around us.”
-David Walker

Josiah Henson was the slave who fled and went into Canada. He was an author, abolitionist, minister, and
inspiration behind the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. William Lloyd Garrison published the abolitionist
newspaper called the Liberator in the year of 1831. He said that slavery must end immediately and that
slavery is a sin. William Lloyd Garrison would be an influential abolitionist. He would support women’s
rights too. Garrison wanted an immediate end to slavery via nonviolence and passive resistance. He
rejected taking on holding political office out of moral reasons. He passed away in 1879 in New York City.
The anti-slavery movement further increased the women’s rights movement as women fought for equality
and fought against slavery at the same time. The Seneca Convention called for the equality of men and
women. Angelina Grime and Sarah Grimke promoted women’s equality and they were abolitionists as well.
Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman fought against slavery and desired equality among all sexes too.
Sojourner Truth’s “A’int I A Woman?” speech promoted equality and exposed the misogynoir among many
back then. Sojourner Truth’s heroism is inspirational. The abolitionist movement was powerful and diverse
ideologically. The social gospel spiritually inspired the abolitionist movement in general.

The fight to end slavery was a long struggle in America, but it was a just cause. The number of free Black
people grew during this time as well. By 1830, there were 319,000 free Black people in the United States.
About 150,000 lived in the northern states. Black human beings generally settled in cities creating the core
of black community life in the region. They established churches and fraternal orders. Many black people
sued for their freedom and other black people escaped. During the antebellum period, black people worked
as stevedores, construction workers, and grave diggers. Many were businessmen. Black women worked as
teachers, nurses, medical professionals, etc. Black doctors and lawyers formed their own power structure
like James Forten. Blacks organized to help strengthen the Black community and continue the fight against
slavery. One of these organizations was the American Society of Free Persons of Colour, founded in 1830.
This organization provided social aid to poor black human beings and organized responses to political
issues. Black churches were key in fighting slavery and discrimination back then too.

In August of 1831, Nat Turner led a powerful slave rebellion in America. It occurred in Southampton
County, Virginia where my ancestors are from. I have visited Southampton County too recently in
December of 2016. Nat Turner wanted justice and retribution against those harming his people. The
rebellion led by Turner caused up to 60 white people to die in a few days. This event was a reminder of how
vicious slavery was and the courage of the resistance against such evil. There are little sources about Nat
Turner’s life. Nat Turner was a very intelligent man. Even slave owners admitted to this. Thomas
Wentworth Higginson and Thomas R. Gray wrote about him. His or Nat Turner’s testimony in court
interrogation on October 31 showed his views. Nat Turner was born in October 1800. His mother was
Nancy. He could read, write, and he studied the Bible. He was romantically involved with a young woman
named Cherry. They married. Many slave families were split up and Nat Turner was split from his wife. Nat
Turner met his wife from time to time, but they were separated unjustly. He used his spiritual ideas as a
religious and political motivation to try to change things. He believed that God will enact vengeance against
evil slave owners and he was God’s instrument in doing so. He planned his actions meticulously. According
to Higginson (who was an abolitionist), he wrote that,
“Whatever Nat Turner’s experiences of slavery might have been, it is certain that his plans were not
suddenly adopted, but that he had brooded over them for years.”

Turner and his men killed Joseph Travis (or a plantation owner). They went from plantation to plantation
and grown to 70 fighters. Nat Turner wanted to go into Jerusalem, Virginia (or Courtland today) in order to
gather weapons and fight it out. Later, militia forces defeated Turner’s forces. The State of Virginia tried
and sentenced to death 56 black people after the rebellion, reimbursing slave masters. Also, white racist
mobs and militias killed black people randomly after the capture of Nat Turner. These racists killed at least
200 black people. They were killed after the crushing of the rebellion. In one particularly gruesome
massacre, a company of militia from North Carolina killed 40 innocent black people in one day. Those
accused of participating in the Nat Turner uprising were beheaded, and their heads mounted on poles at
crossroads to terrify slaves. To this day, part of Virginia State Route 658 is labeled “Blackhead Signpost
Road” as a sick, disgusting mentioning of this racist bloodbath. Nat Turner was tried and convicted. He was
hanged on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia. His body was flayed, beheaded, and quartered. Nat Turner
was a man on a mission and he was the prelude of the end of the Civil War (after the Civil War, legal slavery
was ended once and for all). Nat Turner was a man of his convictions and his life should never be forgotten.

The rebellion was suppressed and Nat Turner plus his allies were executed. This caused states in the South
to pass more strict pro-slavery laws. Many Southern states even banned black people from owning a gun
during the 19th century. The Haitian Revolution and other slavery revolts caused Southern white slave-
owners to promote a harder line in favor of injustice. The growth of the cotton gin caused slavery to
increase profits. These profits existed in the South and the North too as Northern industries took cotton
from the South to be shipped into England. Therefore, the North in many cases benefited from the
injustices of slavery economically. The Industrial Revolution was key in the expansion of American slavery
and the violation of workers’ rights in Europe.

A Great Black Woman Hero: Sister Sarah Mapp Douglas.

Sarah Mapp Douglas was one of the greatest black heroes in human history. She was an
abolitionist and a great black educator. Her grandfather, Cyrus Bustill, worked in the Free
African Society, which helped African Americans. She was a member of the Philadelphia Female
Anti-Slavery Society. She was born in Philadelphia. She worked hard for the goal of freedom of
black people.
As the North focused more on manufacturing and commerce, slavery caused the South to be more
dependent on agriculture. In 1832, Sarah Harris Fayerweather, an aspiring teacher, was admitted to
Prudence Crandall's all-girl school in Canterbury, Connecticut, resulting in the first racially integrated
schoolhouse in the United States. Her admission led to the school's forcible closure under the Connecticut
Black Law of 1833. William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan formed the American Anti-Slavery Society in
1833. Frederick Douglas was a key member of the group. Institutions grew in the black community too. In
February of 1837, there was the African Institute being formed. It was renamed as the Institute of Coloured
Youth (ICY) in April of 1837. Today, it is known as Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. It was the first
Institute of higher education for African Americans. In 1839, slaves revolted in the La Amistad ship. The ship
illegally kidnapped black people. They landed in America and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling called United
States v. The Amistad granted the black human beings their freedom. In 1840, the Liberty Party broke away
from the American Anti-Slavery Society due to grievances with William Lloyd Garrison's leadership. The U.S.
Supreme Court ruled, in Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842), that states do not have to offer aid in the hunting or
recapture of slaves, greatly weakening the fugitive slave law of 1793.

Sojourner Truth continued to preach for the end of slavery in the 1840’s. One of the most important events
of the antebellum period was Henry Highland Garnet’s “Call to Rebellion” speech. It was a call for African
Americans to use self-defense and resist slavery. He believed that the only method to end it was by
physically defeating it, which is true. It is important to show the ideological diversity of abolitionists. Martin
Delaney and Henry Highland Garnett desired emigration of black people to Africa or areas in the Western
Hemisphere. After the Civil War, Garnett worked in the suffrage movement and fought for equal rights.
Martin Delaney was a lifelong advocate of emigration to Africa and he was one of the founding fathers of
modern Black Nationalist thinking. Garrison was a pacifist and believed in moral suasion and passive
resistance to end slavery. Frederick Douglass was different than all of these men on many issues. Frederick
Douglass believed in arms to fight slavery, but he believed in creating alliances with non-blacks to defeat it
too. He also believed in self-defense. Unlike Garrison, Douglas believed in using political action in fighting
for freedom. Frederick Douglas knew of the class components of the time. In other words, the rich suffer
less than the poor from political and economic standpoints. All of these abolitionists believed in the same
goal, which is the abolition of slavery completely and freedom for black people. In 1847, Frederick Douglas
started his publication of the abolitionist newspaper the North Star. Douglas had a long split with Garrison
on ideology. They reconciled decades later. Joseph Jenkins Roberts of Norfolk, Virginia in 1847 was the first
President of Liberia. By April 27, 1848, the French Empire banned slavery in all of its territories. In 1849,
Roberts v. Boston seeks to end racial discrimination in Boston public schools. Black abolitionists were
courageous leaders. There were National Negro Conventions that spoke in favor of equality.

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the
strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."
-Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery to Philadelphia in 1849 too. Harriet Tubman was born in ca. 1822 in
Eastern Shore, Maryland. She started to help other slaves escape via the Underground Railroad. Harriet
Tubman was a hero who freed hundreds of human beings. One of the most historic policies of the time
period was the Compromise of 1850. It allowed California to be a free state, Texas traded some territorial
claims for debt relief, and New Mexico became New Mexico Territory (with slavery undecided). The
disgraceful Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required any federal official to arrest anyone suspected of being a
runaway slave. That is why many black people in the North (who were born free and born slave) were
kidnapped to be sent into slavery via the usage of that Fugitive Slave Act. Many black people by the 1850’s
traveled into the West Coast in order to find freedom. Some worked in gold mines and others worked in
civil rights like Samuel D. Burris was a key person in the early civil rights movement of San Francisco. Black
communities grew in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Denver, and other places of the West during the 19th
century. Oberlin College of Ohio during the antebellum helped to educate a lot of black Americans. It was
created by John Shipherd and Philo Stewart in 1833. Elizabeth Greenfield was a black woman who had one
of the greatest voices of all time. She sang to audiences worldwide and she was known as the “Black Swan.”

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published in 1852. This book inspired debate and motivated
anti-slavery advocates in their causes. It also angered Southerners who believed in the evil of slavery too.
Uncle Tom's Cabin tells the story of the life of a slave and the brutality that is faced by that life day after
day. It would sell over 100,000 copies in its first year. The popularity of Uncle Tom's Cabin would solidify
many from the North in its opposition to slavery. Lincoln would later invite Stowe to the White House in
honor of this book that changed America. In December of 1852, “Clotel or The President’s Daughter” was
the first novel published by an African American. Its author was United States author and playwright
William Wells Brown. President Franklin Pierce signs the Kansas–Nebraska Act in 1854, which repealed the
Missouri Compromise and allowed slaves to be brought to the new territories.

In opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, the Republican Party is formed with an anti-slavery platform in
1854. These policies caused more tensions among slavery opponents and slavery supporters. By 1855, John
Mercer Langston was one of the first African Americans elected to public office when elected as a town
clerk in Ohio. In 1856, there was the Sacking of Lawrence in Bleeding Kansas. This event took place in May
21, 1856 when pro-slavery extremists attacked and ransacked the town of Lawrence, Kansas. The area was
founded by anti-slavery settlers to help ensure that Kansas would be a free state. This incident caused
guerrilla warfare. John Brown retaliated against this incident in the Pottawatomie event. John Brown was a
vociferous opponent of slavery and gave his life in martyrdom (including Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, and
so many other black people) in order for our ancestors to be free. Wilberforce University is founded by
collaboration between Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal representatives in 1856. In
1856, Charles Sumner was assaulted by House member Preston Brooks of South Carolina. Sumner was an
anti-slavery leader and a Massachusetts congressman who was nearly killed. Sumner was praised in the
North. He was a leader of the Radical Republicans and fought to end slavery and promote equal rights for
black people.

One of the greatest abolitionist, suffragist, poet, and author in American history was the black woman
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland in September 24, 1825. She worked her
whole life to promote freedom and justice. She worked in the Underground Railroad to help people go into
Canada. She was a great public speaker too and a political activist. He joined the American Anti-Slavery
Society in 1853. She was raised by her maternal aunt and uncle, who was Rev. William Watkins, who was a
civil rights activist. She was educated at his Academy for Negro Youth. She wrote great literature. She wrote
Forest Leaves, published in 1845 when she was 20. Her second book, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects
(1854), was extremely popular. She wrote short stories and poetry. In 1859, her story of “The Two Offers”
was published in the Anglo-African Magazine. She was the first black woman to publish a short story. In
1858, she refused to give up her seat or ride in the segregated section of a segregated trolley car in
Philadelphia (which was almost 100 years before Rosa Parks). In 1866, Harper gave a moving speech before
the National Women's Rights Convention, demanding equal rights for all, including Black women. During
the Reconstruction Era, she worked in the South to review and report on living conditions of freedmen. She
desired racial and sexual equality. She wanted the federal government to protect rights, and to promote
the general welfare. She and Mary Church Terrell helped to create the National Association of Colored
Women in 1894. She was elected vice President in 1897. Frances Watkins passed away on February 25,
1911. She was 85 years old.
Rest in Power Sister Frances Ellen Watkins.

This Sister on the left is Sarah Parker Remond. She was an abolitionist, a lecturer, and she supported
the Union cause. She traveled the world and studied medicine too. The Brother to the right was
Octavius Otto. He was an abolitionist and a civil rights activist in the great city of Philadelphia. He
worked with Frederick Douglas to recruit black soldiers to fight for the Union. He fought against racial
injustice and he believed in voting rights for black people.

The Underground Railroad is one of the most


heroic stories of the antebellum period. It was a
network of routes that saved tons of black
people who escaped the South to go into the
North and Canada. Some escaped into the
Caribbean, Latin America, and Mexico via the
Underground Railroad too. Members of the
Underground Railroad were diverse. They
included both black and white abolitionists (like
Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, William
Still, Levi Sutton, Josiah Henson, Charlotte
Jenkins, Sarah Mapp Douglas, etc.), enslaved
African Americans, Native Americans,
Quakers, Methodists, Baptists, and other
human beings who desired freedom for African
Americans.
One of the most evil Supreme Court decisions in history was the Dred Scott decision. Dred Scott was a slave
who escaped from bondage. He fought for his freedom in the court system. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld
slavery in the decision. This is one of the reasons of why the American Civil War existed in the first place.
After the decision, Dred Scott and his family would be free. He worked in St. Louis and he passed away in
1858. Harriet E. Wilson wrote the autobiographical novel “Our Nig” in 1859. In Ableman v. Booth the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that state courts cannot issue rulings that contradict the decisions of federal courts;
this decision upheld the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. As the antebellum period ended, the North and the
South had economic, political, culturally, and social tensions. Many people wanted slavery to maintain a
racist, caste system. Other human beings heroically opposed slavery to fight for freedom and human
justice.

John Brown and his allies used a raid on Harpers Ferry in October 16, 1859. This was done by abolitionists
who wanted to get weapons, cause a massive rebellion, and end with the end of slavery in America. It was a
brave move. Many people wanted to talk John Brown out of it, but he persisted. Harpers Ferry is located in
West Virginia. He had 22 people with him. The raid failed as U.S. Marines defeated Brown. The Marines
were led by First Lieutenant Israel Greene. Colonel Robert E. Lee was in command of the operation to
retake the arsenal. He asked Tubman to join him, but Tubman had an illness. Frederick Douglas didn’t join
Brown since he thought that it would fail. John Brown and others would be hanged. John Brown’s
martyrdom inspired the abolitionist cause and further shown that Brown wasn’t afraid to die for the cause
of human freedom. Many people who were involved in the raid escaped and were never captured like
Barclay Coppock, Osborne Perry Anderson (he was a black man who wrote about his experiences in the raid
too. He fought as a Union soldier and he lived until 1872 when he passed away in Washington, D.C.), Owen
Brown, Francis Jackson Meriam, and Charles Plummer Todd.
Sister Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823- Sister Elizabeth T. Greenfield Sister Maria Stewart (1803-1879) was a
teacher, an abolitionist, and a women’s
1893) was an activist who fought for (1824-1896) was a magnificent
rights advocate. She fought for
freedom. She edited the Provincial singer who traveled the word
freedom throughout the duration of
Freeman in 1853. She was born in to express her talent. She lived her life. African-American women
Wilmington, Delaware. She recruited in Philadelphia and she was a preachers of the era, such as Jarena
black Union soldiers in the Civil strong black woman. Lee, Julia Foote and Amanda Berry
War. Also, she was a lawyer and Smith, undoubtedly influenced
moved into Washington, D.C. after Stewart. David Walker influenced her
too. Her literature was found in the
the Civil War. She lived in Canada
Liberator.
and in America. She fought for
gender equality too.

One of the greatest black heroes of the 19th century was William Still. He was an abolitionist from
Philadelphia and he was part of the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves to escape into freedom. He
lived from October 7, 1821 to July 14, 1902. Before the American Civil War, Still was chairman of the
Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, and directly aided fugitive slaves and kept
records to help families reunite. After the war, he remained an important businessman and philanthropist,
as well as used his meticulous records to write an account of the underground system and the experiences
of many refugee slaves, entitled The Underground Railroad Records (1872). He helped to free as many as
800 slaves. He has been called the Father of the Underground Railroad. He fought for equal educational
opportunities for all African Americans. He loved his family and he cared for the poor. He was a great man.
Rest in Power Brother William Still.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election. He was a President who changed history forever.
His views on race was reactionary, his views on slavery have been debated, and he, as time went onward,
would be more progressive on the issue on slavery in 1865 than in 1860. President Abraham Lincoln, in
essence, represents the views of many. Also, he was pushed to be more strident in the cause to defeat the
Confederates by progressive black people and progressive white people. The Southern supporters of
slavery were so extreme, that they seceded from the Union from 1860 to 1861. The Confederacy would
begin in the cause of their promotion of evil and oppression against black people. President Abraham
Lincoln thought about what to do about these developments and the Civil War was plainly inevitable.

*On another note: The trailer of the 2nd season of Underground is very emotional and powerful. It
certainly gives many audiences a glimpse of the profound history of the antebellum period of America. That
period changed not only America, but the world. During that era, heroes opposed the unjust Fugitive Slave
Act, saved lives, and rescued many victims of slavery. Black men, black women, and black children back
then experienced bondage and tyranny at the hands of evil, ruthless criminals. Yet, our ancestors used
determination and strength to fight back against evil.

It is false to say that our ancestors didn't have hands. Nat Turner had hands. Harriet Tubman had hands.
Frederick Douglas had hands too. All of these human beings opposed the unspeakable abuse of black
human beings. The cast in this season has shown grit, power, and great seriousness in conducting their
acting. The courage and the solidarity of black people are in full display. The gorgeous Sister Aisha Hinds
playing Harriet Tubman is great news. She is a magnificent actress. Some people are intrinsically born to
play a role. Aisha Hinds was born to play Harriet Tubman on the show of Underground. Her message to her
cast mates and to the audience (or people watching) in general makes home the accurate point that Harriet
Tubman saved lives and has inspired generations past the 19th century in the cause of liberty. Liberty or
freedom is beyond just an ideal. Freedom is part of courageous actions too which relates to our aspirations
and the same goal (which is the total liberation of black people in the world). We are all in awe of Sister
Aisha Hinds' amazing talent and her wisdom.

This series also gives people more of an opportunity to research the history of that time from abolitionists,
black freedom fighters, and black people who escaped slavery to go into Oberlin College (and other former
black slaves who enacted great institutions in a firm fashion). So, the series Underground outlines the
power of Blackness and the necessity of action. We believe in action and that show truly has very powerful,
inspirational qualities. Like always, our goal is freedom and justice. Our cause is right and just.
The Civil War and Emancipation (1861-1865)
The American Civil War started in April 12, 1861. The Union fortress of Fort Sumter was attacked by
Confederate forces and then the war started. During this war, thousands of African Americans (both free
and enslaved) would join the Union cause. Many people escaped from slavery to just join the Union to fight
for justice. Many black people learned to read and write in contraband camps. Back then, many black
people would escape the South and treated as contraband by Union forces. They shouldn't be treated a
contraband, but as total human beings. Many traveled with the Union army. By the end of the war, more
than 180,000 African Americans fought with the Union Army and Navy including members of the U.S.
Colored Troops and sailors. Most African American soldiers came from the South. In the early part of the
war, General Benjamin Butler refused to extradite 3 escaped slaves. He declared them contraband of war in
May 24, 1861. In August 6, 1861, there was the Confiscation Act of 1861. This policy authorized the
confiscation of any Confederate property. It called for all slaves to be held, who fought or worked for the
Confederate military. The Fremont Emancipation took place in Missouri in August 30, 1861. This is about
Major General John C. Fremont to place the state of Missouri under martial law and it all slaves would be
declared free. Lincoln eventually ordered Frémont to rescind the edict on September 11, 1861. In 1862,
African Americans fought in the Union side, but it wasn’t part of official policy until 1863.More than
179,000 black Americans were in the Union Army. These men served in over 160- units. Many served in the
Navy and in support positions.
African American slaves were freed in Washington, D.C. by April 16, 1862. General David Hunter of the
Union declared emancipation in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. It was rescinded by Lincoln in May 19.
At September 22, 1862, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation to go into effect at January 1,
1863. The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in Confederate territories. It affected 3 million black
human beings, but the South wasn’t going to enforce such a policy. In January 31, 1863, the U.S. Army
commissions the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, a combat unit made up of escaped slaves. Black soldiers
were brave in the war. Black men and Black women fought in the Union side with valor, courage, and
sacrifice. By May 22, 1863, the U.S. Army recruits United States Colored Troops. (The 54th Massachusetts
Volunteer Regiment would be featured in the 1989 film Glory).

Black men and Black women courageously worked together to defeat the evil Confederacy.

Brother Roberts Smalls was a historic black man. He was a Sister Susie King Taylor was born a slave in
ship’s pilot and sea captain. He was a politician too. He Savannah, Georgia in 1848. She was 14 years old
purchased his family’s freedom. He freed himself, his crew, when the Union Army attacked nearby Fort
and their families from slavery on May 13, 1862. He got a Pulaski (in April 1862). Taylor fled with her uncle's
Confederate ship to escape into the Union. He traveled from family and other blacks to St. Simons Island,
Charleston harbor into the U.S. Union territory. He fought Georgia, where slaves were being liberated by the
for the Union during the Civil War. When the war ended in army. Since many black people in that region were
April 1865, Smalls was on board the Planter in a ceremony in illiterate, it was soon discovered that Taylor could
Charleston Harbor. Following the war, Smalls continued to read and write. Later, she helped the Union troops
push the boundaries of freedom as a first-generation black when they traveled into South Carolina, Georgia,
politician. He founded the Republican Party of South and Florida. She taught African Americans too.
Carolina. He served in the South Carolina state assembly and Taylor's experiences as a black employee of the
senate and for five nonconsecutive terms in the U.S. House Union Army are recounted in her diary, published
of Representatives (1874-1886) winning elections to the as Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33rd
South Carolina State legislature, and the United States House United States Colored Troops Late 1st S.C. Volunteers.
of Representatives.
In June 1, 1863, Harriet Tubman led the 2nd South Carolina
Volunteers to liberate 750 people with the Raid at
Combahee Ferry. Mary Touvestre was a black woman who
fought against the Confederate as a pro-Union spy. Her
heroism should be noted. After obtaining a copy of the
Confederate plans for the creation of the ironclad ship CSS
Virginia (in Norfolk, VA), she daringly crossed enemy lines to
take this information to Secretary of the Navy, Gideon
Welles, which caused the Union to crank up construction of
its own ironclad warship, the U.S.S. Monitor. Mary Elizabeth
Bowser was a black woman who fought for the Union as
well. She was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1839. One of the
worst events of the Civil War era was the New York Draft
Riots in NYC from July 13-16, 1863. Many ethnic Irish
immigrants scapegoated black people because of draft rules
and many of them murdered many black people, burned
down orphanages, and used outright terrorism in black
neighborhoods in New York City. It was so bad that a
compensation fund existed to help the black victims of
terrorism.
This was the 1863 recruitment poster
The Second Battle of Fort Wagner begins in July 18, 1864 for getting black men to fight for the
when the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Union.
an African-American military unit, led by white Colonel
Robert Gould Shaw, attacked a Confederate fort at Morris Island, South Carolina. The attack on Fort
Wagner by the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry failed to take the fort and Gould was killed
in the battle. However, the fort was abandoned by the Confederates on September 7, 1863, after many
could not stand the constant weeks of bombardment. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln won reelection
for the Presidency. The Battle of Fort Pillow and its massacre of April 12, 1864 was one of the most brutal
events of African American history. When people surrendered, Confederates murdered black soldiers and
others in cold blood. Nathan Bedford Forrest (who was a founder of the wicked Ku Klux Klan) was involved
in the massacre of black men. By October 13, 1864, emancipation existed in Maryland. Black Union
prisoners of war were treated harshly by Confederate forces. In 1863, the Confederate Congress
threatened to punish captured Union officers of black troops and enslave black Union soldiers. Lincoln
responded by issuing General Order 233, which threatened reprisal against Confederate POWs. Black Union
troops had a major role in the Battle of the Crater during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. They made up a
huge force of the Union during the Battle of Nashville. Almost 40,000 black Union forces died. Nearly
20,000 Brothers were in the Union Navy.

There were a minority of African Americans who were in the Confederate side. They were slaves and served
mostly in labor position. On January 2, 1864, Confederate major general Patrick Cleburne proposed arming
slaves. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, ordered that the proposal be suppressed. Desperate,
the South allowed slaves to enlist (in March 13, 1865), but very few actually did.
More Information on the Experiences of the Civil War

The death toll from the U.S. Civil War was huge. The above graph
comes from civilwar.org. More than 600,000 people died from the
war. There were more Union causalities than Confederate causalities.
Americans died more from the American Civil War than from any
other war that America participated in throughout U.S. history.

In March 1862, the


Monitor and Merrimack
ironclad ships battled off
Hampton Roads,
Virginia. The image to
the left is from the
Library of Congress.

The Union siege of Vicksburg was historic


in it caused the Union to divide the
Confederacy in half along the Mississippi
River. Civilians in Vicksburg fled homes
and shots were constantly being fired
among both sides. The siege lasted from
May of 1863 to July 4, 1863 when the
Confederates surrendered. This image above shows the Provost Guard of the 107th Colored
Infantry, as found in Fort Corcoran, in Washington, D.C. on the
date of 1863. African Americans constituted less than 1 percent of
the northern population, yet by the war's end made up 10 percent
of the Union army. A total of 180,000 black men, more than 85
percent of those eligible, enlisted.
Sixteen black soldiers won the Congressional Medal of Honor for their brave service
in the Civil War. Brave Black Women and Black Men worked to cause the Union to
be victorious.
1865 would be the year of the end of the Civil War. By January 16, 1865, the Sherman's Special Field
Orders, No. 15 allocated a tract of land in coastal South Carolina and Georgia for Black-only settlement. This
is where the concept of "40 acres and a mule" came from. The United States Congress passed the
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in January 31, 1865. This meant that the states
must ratify it. In March 3, 1864, Congress passed the bill which formed the Freedman’s Bureau. It
mandated distribution of "not more than forty acres" of confiscated land to all loyal freedmen and
refugees. In May 29, 1865, Andrew Johnson gave an amnesty proclamation that initiates return of land to
pre-war owners. Andrew Johnson later would be not only one of the most racist Presidents in history, but a
bad President in general. The Civil War ended by April of 1865 and Lincoln celebrated. Yet, he was brutally
assassinated in April 14, 1865. The murderer was John Wilkes Booth, who hated how Lincoln wanted to give
some black people voting rights.
By June 1865, the Union Army controlled the entire Confederacy and liberated
all of the designated slaves. Shaw Institute is founded in Raleigh, North
Carolina, as the first black college in the South would exist in December 18,
1865. Atlanta College was founded in the same day. In the date of December
18, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed. Emancipation existed in
She was Sylvia Conner Delaware and in Kentucky by 1865. Juneteenth is a celebration found in Texas
and this picture was and all over America (by black Americans) on the end of the Civil War and the
taken on June 5, 1863. end of overt, legalized slavery in America. The Civil War era was over by this
She was a time and the era of Reconstruction for black Americans begins. Reconstruction
businesswoman who would change society forever indeed. Cultural power was shown during this
worked as a seamstress time too. Mary Edmonia Lewis was a famous African American sculptor, who is
in New Bern, North very famous in the 19th century as making art describing the black experience.
Carolina during the The antebellum period and the Civil War have shown the greatness of black
Union occupation. people. It outlines our beauty, our intellectual power, our resistance to slavery,
and our courage.

She was Margaret "Mag" Palm. She was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She was part
of Gettysburg's African-American community during the mid-nineteenth century. Before the Civil
War, she served as a conductor along the local branch of the Underground Railroad. Margaret was
nicknamed Maggie Bluecoat for the blue circa-1812 military uniform coat she wore while
conducting fugitive slaves north from the area. She used a gun to protect herself and the people
she saved. She had a husband and a son.
Soon, part 3 of this series will include Reconstruction, early Jim Crow, and the civil rights
movement of the late 19th century and the early 20th century.
Never Forget and Stay Woke.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a historic landmark and a
testament to our strength, our history, our culture, and our Blackness.
Black is Beautiful and We still rise.

By Timothy

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