Key Terms for Slavery and African American History in APUSH

Enslaved Africans in the Americas

The arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Spanish and Portuguese colonies, marking the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade and the exploitation of AFrican Labor

le PassageMid

The journey across hte Atlantic Ocean that enslaved Africans endured

Virginia Slave Code date

1660s

Virginia Slave Codes

Laws that codified slavery in Virginia, establishing it as the hereditary and racially based institution, which laid the foundation for slavery in the American colonies

Stono Rebellion date

1739

Stono Rebellion

A significant slave uprising in South Carolina

Lord Dunmores Proclamation date

1775

Lord Dunmores Proclamation

Offered freedom to enslaved people who joined the British army during the Revolutionary War

Gradual Emancipation Laws

Northern states like Pennsylvania passed laws to solowly abolish slavery

Northwest Ordinance date

1787

Northwest Ordinance

Banned slavery in the Northwest Territory

3/5 Compromise date

1787

3/5 Compromise

Constitutional provisions counting enslaved people as 3/5 of a person for representation

Haitian Revolution

Successful slave revolt in Haiti that inspired enslaved people and abolitionists in the US

When was the Haitian Revolution

1791-1804

Cotton Gin

Invention that increased the demand for enslaved labor in the south by making cotton production more profitable

WHen was the Cotton Gin created

1793

Who created the Cotton Gin

Eli Whitney

Gabriels Rebellion

A planned slave revolt in Virginia that was thwarted leading to stricter slave laws and hightened fears of rebellion

When was Gabriels Rebellion

1800

Underground Railroad

A network of secret routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people excape to free states

American Colonization Society date

1817

American Colonization Society

Organization that aimed to send free African Americans to AFrica

Missouri Compromise date

1820

Missouri Compromise

admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state

Nat Turners Rebellion date

1831

Nat Turners Rrebellion

A viiolent slave uprising in Virginia that resulted in stricter slave codes and heightened sectional tensions

American Anti-Slavery SOciety date

1833

American Anti-Slavery Society

Abolitionist organization founded by William Lloyd Garrison

Federick Douglass

Escaped enslaved man who became a leading abolitionists

Fugitive Slave Act date

1850

Fugitive Slave Act

Part of the Compromise of 1850, it required the return of escaped enslaved people

Uncle Toms Cabin date

1852

Author of Uncle Toms Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Toms cabin

Anti-slaveyr novel that created extreme tension between north and south

Dred Scott V. Sandford date

1857

Dred Scott V Sandford

Supreme Court decision that denied citizenship to African Americans and declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional

John Browns raid date

1859

John Browns Raid

Attempted slave revolt at Harpers Ferry, Virginia

Emancipation Proclamation date

1863

Emancipation Proclamation

Lincolns order freeing enslaved people in Confederate states

13th Amendment date

1864

13th Amendmnet

ABolished slavery throughout the United States

Freedmens Bureau

Federal agency established aid freed enslaved people during Reconstruction by providing education, healthcare, and employment assistance

Freedmens Bureau date

1865

Black Codes

Laws passed in southern states after the Civil War to restrict the rights of African Americans and maintain white supremecy

Sharecropping

A post Civil War labor system that often trapped African AMericans in cycles of debt and poverty

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacst group that used violence and intimidation to supppress African American rights durig Reconstruction

Civil Rights Act of 1866

Granted citizenship and equal rights to African AMericans

14th Amendment

Guaranteed equal protection under the law and citizenship to all born in the US

When was the 14th Amendment

1868

15th Amendmet

Granted African AMerican men the right to vote

15h Amendment date

1870

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the South

Plessy V. Ferguson

Supreme Court case that upheld "separate but equal," legalizing segregation and institutionalizing racial inequality

Ida B. Wells

Journalist and activist who campaigned against lynching and for AFrican American right

Booker T. Washington

ADvocate for vocational education and economic self-reliance for African Americans

W.E.B. Du Bois

Scholar and activist who co-founded the NAACP and advocated for full civil rights and higher education for AFrican Americans

Tuskegee Institute

Founded by Booker T. Washington to provide vocational training for AFrican Americans

Great Migration

The mass movement of AFrican Americans from the rural South to urban North (1910s-1940s) seeking better economic opportunities and escaping Johm Crow

harlem Renaissance

A cultural movement in the 1920s celebrating African Americans art, literature, and music, fostering racial pride and identity

Scottsboro Boys

A case of nine African Americans youths falsely accused of rape, highlighting racial injustice and the failures of the legal systems

Double V Campaign

African AMerican push during WWII for vicotyr over fascism abroad and racism at home

A. Philip Randolph

Labor lerader who organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and planned the March on Washington (1941), advocating for fair emplyment

Executive Order 8802 date

1941

Executive Order 8802

Banned racial discrimination in defense industries

Brown v. Board of Education date

1954

Brown v. Board of Education

Supreme Court case that declared school segregation unconstitutional

Montgomery Bus Boycott date

1955-1956

Motgomery Bus Boycott

Protest against segregated buses, led by Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks

Little Rock Nine date

1957

Little Rock Nine

African American students who itnegrated Central High School in Arkansas

Civil Rights Act of 1957

First federal civil rights law since Reconstruction

Sit-Ins (1960)

Nonviolent protests at segregated lunch counters

Freedom Rides (1961)

Integreated bus rides through the South to challenge segregation in interstate travel

March on Washington date

1963

March on Washington

Civil rights rally where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered "I have a dream" speech

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in emplyoment and public accommodations

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Eliminated barriers to African Americans voting, such as literacy tests

Malcom X

Civil rights leader who advocated for Black nationalism and self defense

Black Power Movement

Emphasized racial pride, self-determination, and resistnace to white oppression

Affirmative Action

Policies aimed at increasing opportunities for historically marginalized groups, including African Americans, in education and employment

Kerner Commission

Investigated urban riots andn concluded that racism and economic inequality were root causes

War on Drugs

Policies that disproportionately affected African American communites, leading to mass incarcerations and debates over racial justice

Million Man March date

1995

Million Man March

A gathering in Washington D.C. to promote AFrican AMerican unity, responsibility, and political engagement

Black Lives Matter date

2013

Black Lives Matter

Movement protesting police burtality and systematic racism against African Americans

1619 Porject

Initiative by The New York Times to reframe US history by placing slavery and its legacy at the cetner of the national narrative

1619 Project date

2019

Reparations Debate

Ongoing discussions about compensating descendants of enslaved people for the ecnomic and social impacts of slavery and discrimination

George Floyd Protests (2020)

Nationwide demonstrations against police violence and racial injustice, highlighted the persistance of systemic racism