Key Terms and Events in the History of Slavery

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161 Terms

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Royal African Company

One of the three principal English trading companies was formed to trade on the Gold Coast, among others.

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Dutch West India Company

Founded in 1621, it was a chartered trading company that managed Dutch colonial ventures, trade, and resource extraction in the Americas and Africa.

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Triangular Trade

A transatlantic system where Europe exported goods, Africa supplied enslaved people, and the Americas provided raw materials like sugar and cotton.

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Swedenborg

Located in Ghana, it was a European fort used during the transatlantic slave trade to imprison enslaved Africans before their shipment to the Americas.

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Elmina

The first point of contact was with Europeans and the Portuguese. Arriving in 1471, they would trade in gold, spices, ivory, and other African artifacts.

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Cape Coast Castle

Located in Ghana, it was a prominent British fort used during the transatlantic slave trade to imprison enslaved Africans awaiting shipment to the Americas.

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1450

The Portuguese began expanding the transatlantic slave trade, capturing and enslaving Africans to work on sugar plantations on islands like Madeira and Sao Tome.

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1470

The Portuguese established trading posts along Africa's gold coast, initiating large-scale trade in gold and ivory and enslaved Africans for European markets.

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1518

400 Africans were sent to New Spain.

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1607

Jamestown, Virginia, was founded as the first permanent English colony in America, laying the groundwork for the later institutionalization of African slavery in North America.

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1619

For years, a Dutch ship was credited with bringing the first enslaved people to Virginia this year.

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1630

Sugar was introduced to Barbados in this year.

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1661

The year when the Barbados Slave Code was enacted marked the beginning of the legal codification of slavery.

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1655

The English captured Jamaica this year.

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1712

The NY Slave Code of 1712 mandated death for enslaved people guilty of murder, rape, arson, or assault. It allowed enslavers to punish enslaved people at their discretion.

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1741

The New York Uprising occurred in this year.

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1776

Thomas Peters escaped from the Campbell Plantation and joined the Ethiopian Regiment this year.

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1791

The Haitian Revolution began as a slave uprising near Le Cap in the French West Indian colony of Santo Domingo. It led to the establishment of the black nation of Haiti in 1801.

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1793

The cotton gin was invented this year, and waves of white refugees fled to U.S. ports, fleeing the insurrection in Santo Domingo.

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1807

The Abolition Act occurred this year, and Ohio enacted Black Laws requiring every African American resident to post a $500 bond after almost every black man in the city was arrested, disarmed, and marched into custody.

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1808

This year marked the end of the Legal African Slave Trade to the U.S., though it is widely ignored.

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1821

This year included the Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner escaping and returning, New York keeping property qualifications for Black male voters (but not for white voters), Missouri disfranchising free Black male voters, and the ACS sending a rep to buy land north of Sierra Leone.

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1850

In this year, the St. Louis circuit court ruled Scott and his family were free, the Fugitive Slave Law was enacted, and the American League of Colored Workers, the first African American labor union, was formed.

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1833

The American Anti-Slavery Society was created, and Crandall decided to admit an African American student named Sarrah Harris to his academy.

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1840

The American Anti-Slavery Society splits, and white settlers begin flooding Oregon.

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1861

Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state, and the Civil War began.

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1863

The Emancipation Proclamation was enacted, and African Americans profited in the California Gold Rush.

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Gold Coast

This West African region was rich in gold and later became central to the transatlantic slave trade, with many enslaved Black people imported, mainly from present-day Ghana.

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Ivory Coast

Now, Cote d'Ivoire is a West African region historically known for its ivory trade, later involved with the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism.

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Slave Coast

Located in West Africa (now Benin, Tobago, and Nigeria), this region was crucial for capturing and exporting enslaved Africans during the transatlantic slave trade.

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Grain Coast

Now part of Liberia, it was named for the region's rice and grain production. It became a key area in the Atlantic slave trade.

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Benin

Located in West Africa, this region participated in the transatlantic slave trade, capturing and selling enslaved Africans to European traders in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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Liberia

Many enslaved people were brought to South Carolina and Georgia to work on rice and cotton plantations. The Virginia Colonization Society, Quaker Young Men's Colonization Society, and the American Colonization Society combined to form the Commonwealth of Liberia, which became an independent nation in 1847.

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Maroon

This term refers to black people who fought with the Spanish for their freedom after the English captured Jamaica in 1655, fleeing to the mountains to resist British rule and maintain their independence.

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Quilombo

Known as palenques, mambos, cumbes, or mambises, these maroon societies varied from small bands lasting under a year to powerful states of thousands that endured for generations.

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Northwest Ordinance

In 1786, Congress enacted an ordinance to formalize procedures for turning territories into states, allowing three to five states north of the Ohio River, equal to the original 13.

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Barbadian Slave Code

This code marked the start of legal slavery, defining enslaved Black people as property for British owners and influencing slave codes in other colonies.

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Code Noir

Established in 1685 by France, it was a set of laws governing the treatment of enslaved Africans in French colonies, defining their rights and restrictions.

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Lowcountry

A region in the southeastern U.S., it was crucial to the plantation economy, relying heavily on enslaved Africans for labor in rice and indigo cultivation.

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Chesapeake

A region in the U.S. consisting of Virginia and Maryland, it relied heavily on enslaved Africans for tobacco cultivation, becoming a significant site of plantation slavery.

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Harpers Ferry

In West Virginia, it was the site of John Brown's 1859 raid, an attempt to incite a slave rebellion and end slavery in the United States.

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Creole

Language often hybridizes when diverse communities communicate, blending influences from various sources. A prominent example of this is Gullah.

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Middle Passage

The brutal transatlantic voyage that forcibly transported enslaved Africans from West Africa to the Americas, enduring horrific conditions and high mortality rates.

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Acculturation

The process through which enslaved Africans adapted to and incorporated elements of European culture while maintaining aspects of their traditions.

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Indentured Servants

Individuals who worked for a set number of years for passage to the Americas are often compared to enslaved Africans in colonial labor systems.

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Miscegenation

Interracial relationships and marriages, especially between enslaved Africans and European colonists, often led to mixed-race children during the era of slavery.

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Compromise of 1850

A series of laws aimed at resolving tensions between free and slave states, including the controversial fugitive slave act.

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Missouri Compromise

In 1819, Missouri's application for statehood sparked a heated debate in Congress about slavery in the Louisiana Purchase. The issue was resolved with a compromise: Maine was admitted as a free state, while Missouri became a slave state, preserving a balance of 12 slave and 12 free states. A line was established at 36 degrees, designating the area above as free.

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Free Soil Party

Active in the mid-1800s, it opposed expanding slavery into new U.S. territories, advocating for free homesteads and labor.

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Quakers

The opposition to slavery began in 165 when their founder emphasized equality. By 1761, they viewed abolition as a Christian duty and advocated nonslaveholding among Society of Friends members, although many still enslaved people.

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American Colonization Society

Founded in 1816, it aimed to resettle free African Americans in Africa, establishing Liberia as a colony for formerly enslaved people.

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Liberator Magazine

An abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831, advocating for the immediate emancipation of enslaved people and equal rights.

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Olaudah Equiano

He was an African American man enslaved in the 18th century who later gained freedom, became an abolitionist, and wrote an influential autobiography detailing slavery's horrors.

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Lord Dunmore and his Proclamation

The royal governor of Virginia issued the 1775 Dunmore Proclamation, offering freedom to enslaved Africans who joined the British forces during the American Revolution.

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Ottobah Cugoano

He was an African-born abolitionist writer, formerly enslaved, who advocated for the abolition of slavery in Britain through his autobiography and writings.

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Crispus Attucks

An African American man, often considered the first martyr of the American Revolution, was killed during the 1770 Boston massacre while resisting British oppression.

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Ethiopian Regiment

A unit of African Americans, including enslaved people, who fought for the British during the American Revolution after lord Dunmore's proclamation offering freedom.

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Gabriel Prosser

An enslaved African American who led an 1800 rebellion in Virginia, aiming to gain freedom for enslaved people, but was ultimately thwarted and executed.

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Haitian Revolution

A successful slave uprising in Saint-Domingue, led by Toussaint L'Overture, resulted in Haiti's independence and the abolition of slavery.

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Benjamin Banneker

He was a free African American scientist, inventor, and abolitionist known for his almanacs and correspondence with Thomas Jefferson advocating for the abolition of slavery.

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Prince Hall

An African American abolitionist and founder of the first African American Masonic lodge, advocating for the rights and freedom of enslaved people.

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James Forten

A free African American inventor, businessman, and abolitionist who fought for the Continental Navy during the American Revolution and advocated for emancipation.

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Oney Judge

An enslaved woman who belonged to George Washington. She escaped in 1796, seeking freedom in New England, and lived as a fugitive for the rest of her life.

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Toussaint L'Overture

A former enslaved Haitian revolutionary leader who led the Haitian revolution, overthrowing French colonial rule and abolishing slavery in Haiti.

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Mary Prince

An enslaved Afro-Bohemian woman who became an abolitionist after gaining freedom, writing her autobiography exposes the brutal realities of slavery.

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Phyllis Wheatley

An enslaved African American poet who became the first published African American woman, using her writing to address slavery and racial inequality.

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Stono Rebellion

Occurring in 1739 in South Carolina, it was a slave uprising where enslaved Africans fought for freedom, leading to stricter slave codes.

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Isabella Baumfree

Later known as Sojourner Truth, she was an abolitionist and women's rights activist born into slavery, and she became famous for her powerful speeches.

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Nat Turner

An enslaved African American who led a violent 1831 rebellion in Virginia, aiming to overthrow slavery, resulting in many deaths and reprisals.

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William Lloyd Garrison

A prominent abolitionist, journalist, and the founder of The Liberator, an anti-slavery newspaper advocating for the immediate emancipation of enslaved people.

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Charlotte Forten

An African American abolitionist, educator, and writer who worked to support the Union cause during the Civil War and advocated for African American rights.

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Maria Stewart

An African American abolitionist, educator, and writer known for her powerful speeches advocating for racial equality, women's rights, and the abolition of slavery.

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Pio Pico

The last Mexican governor of California owned enslaved people before California became a state where slavery was officially abolished in 1850.

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John Brown

An abolitionist who led violent raids, including the 1859 Harpers Ferry raid, aiming to incite an armed slave rebellion and end slavery.

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Robert Purvis

A prominent African American abolitionist, a key member of the Pennsylvania anti-slavery society, and an active conductor on the Underground Railroad.

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Dred Scott

An enslaved African American sued for his freedom in 1857, but the Supreme Court ruled against him, reinforcing slavery's legal status.

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Charles Sumner

An abolitionist and U.S. senator known for his strong anti-slavery stance, he was famously beaten in 1856 after criticizing pro-slavery forces in Kansas.

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Elijah P. Lovejoy

An abolitionist newspaper editor who was killed by pro-slavery activists in 1837 while defending his printing press in Alton, Illinois.

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Biddy Mason

An African American woman born into slavery who gained freedom became a successful businesswoman in California and supported abolitionist causes.

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Martin Delaney

An African American abolitionist, physician, and writer known for advocating black nationalism and the emigration of freed enslaved people to Africa.

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Elizabeth Keckley

An African American seamstress, former enslaved woman, and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln, advocating for the rights of freedpeople during Reconstruction.

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Granville Sharpe

A British abolitionist and one of the society's founding members for effecting the abolition of the slave trade.

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Arthur Tappan

A prominent abolitionist and philanthropist who played a key role in the American anti-slavery society and supported the abolition of slavery in the U.S.

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James Beckwourth

An African American frontiersman, explorer, and former enslaved person known for his role in the Western expansion and as the trailblazer in the American West.

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Joseph Roberts

First president of Liberia, a free African American.

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Andrew Jackson

Seventh U.S. president, supported slavery's expansion.

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William Still

Abolitionist who documented escaping enslaved people's stories.

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Prudence Crandall

Teacher who founded a school for African American girls.

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13th Amendment

Abolished slavery, except as punishment for crime.

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Racialization

Categorizing individuals based on race for oppression.

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Castas

Mixed origin people in Spanish colonial hierarchy.

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Kansas Nebraska Act

Allowed territories to decide on slavery's legality.

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Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Required citizens to capture runaway enslaved people.

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Emancipation Proclamation

Declared freedom for enslaved people in rebellion states.

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Chattel Slavery

Individuals treated as property, forced into labor.

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Debt Bondage

Forced labor to repay debts under harsh conditions.

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Sex Trafficking

Forced exploitation in prostitution or pornography.

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Forced Labor

Coerced work under threat or abuse.

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Skilled Labor

Enslaved people working in trades like carpentry.

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Domestic Servants

Enslaved individuals providing household labor.