Harder Terms African American History

George Bancroft

Was a romantic, statesman, and politician. Was from the original thirteen colonies, having a strong nationalist history. Known for his contributions in American history and education.

George Washington Williams

Ohio state legislator, a clergyman, and a soldier. He fought in the Civil War, serving the Union army. His works looked at the struggles and achievements of African Americans.

John Hope Franklin

A African American historian, educator, and civil rights advocate. He is widely recognized for his groundbreaking work in the field of African American history, particularly for his efforts to reshape the way African American history was understood and taught.

Lerone Bennett Jr.

An influential African American scholar, journalist, and historian who wrote the first popular history of African Americans. He was a senior editor of Ebony Magazine, known for his work on race relations in the United States.

General Toussaint Louverture

Inspired millions of free and enslaved people of African descent to seek freedom and equality throughout the Atlantic world through the Haitian Revolution. Defeated the oppressors of the Atlantic slave society. Created the second independent Republic in the western hemisphere.

William Wilberforce

A British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic Slave Trade. Became an independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire.

Lorenzo Johnston Greene

A pioneering African American historian and educator. He addressed Black Life in New England saying that Black people were at the colonial foundation of the country and part of New Egland. He played a role in the Civil Rights movement calling for open housing and desegregation.

Hannah Nicole Jones

An African American journalist, covering civil rights in the United States. Creator of the landmark The 1619 Project.

James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw

Was an enslaved African man who is considered the first published African in Britain. He published the first slaved narrative in England.

David Walker

An American abolitionist, writer, and anti-slavery activist. Published one of the most important documents of the 19th century, denouncing slavery and racism. His appeal was widely read by 1830.

Jupiter Hammon

Known as a founder of African American literature, as his poem published in 1761 in New York was the first by an African American man in North America. He subsequently published both poetry and prose.

Charleston

Settled as a British 1670 based on plantation slavery in Barbados. Direct importation of slavery from the African continent began circa 1710. Was a site of an expansive slaveholding society in North America.

Natal Alienation

The profound disconnection and severance of an individual from their heritage, kinship, cultural traditions, and history, also developed by Orlando Patterson. Signifies the loss of ties of birth in both ancestral and future generations, rendering the individual “socially dead“ by stripping them of their social identity and place within any legitimate order.

Colonial working Class

A broad group of the colonial population that consisted of farmers, unskilled laborers, artisans, and indentured servants, working to survive.