Category Archives: Black Abolitionist Archive

Colonization

Colonization is the process by which one power dominates another. This can be the way a more powerful country takes control of another, but it’s also the way one culture seeks to control another by usurping the established cultural civilization of another. This has happened time and again since human beings migrated out of Africa — as they defeated tribes and gained territories, as they morphed languages and destroyed religions, they also changed their own culture. Societies have evolved by snuffing out the weaker cultures, and taking control of their languages, their rituals, the details of their social structures that made the conquered culture unique....

Travelogue 1863

During the years of African-American Newspaper publication in the 1800s, articles would often appear regarding travel across the new territory that was opening up in the western part of the country thanks to the discovery of gold in 1848.  It seemed everyone was anxious to take advantage of free land and wide open spaces. When reporter George W. Turley made his way west in 1863, the Homestead Act offering free land to anyone who would agree to farm the land...

“Keep Cool”

The United States v. Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad, tried before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1841, was made famous in the film Amistad in 1997. The National Archives site gives readers more information on the history of this case and the remarkable events that led to it:

“In February of 1839, Portuguese slave hunters abducted a large group of Africans from Sierra Leone and shipped them to Havana, Cuba, a center for the slave trade. This abduction violated all of the treaties then in existence. Fifty-three Africans were purchased by two Spanish planters and put aboard the Cuban schooner Amistad for shipment to a Caribbean plantation. On July 1, 1839, the Africans seized the ship, killed the captain and the cook, and ordered the planters to sail to Africa. On August 24, 1839, the Amistad was seized off Long Island, NY, by the U.S. brig Washington. The planters were freed and the Africans were imprisoned in New Haven, CT, on charges of murder.”...

Salutatory from Mr. Bell

As part of Black History month, the focus of this week’s blog post is on journalist and abolitionist, Philip Alexander Bell (1808-1889). According to Blackpast.org (described on the site as an Online Reference Guide to African American History), we learn that Philip A. Bell was born in New York City and involved in early abolitionist politics in the Northeast. He “… attended Colored Citizens Conventions as early as 1830 and established his first newspaper, the Weekly Advocate, in 1837 after working for William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator.”...

The Pastry War

History has a way of smoothing the bumpy timeline that leads from “then” to now, and only bringing to the surface those events which made the biggest impact on the course of human development. Pity. A lot of interesting stuff gets covered over in the process of this. Take the Pastry War, for example. This was a minor footnote in the vast spreadsheet of historic events in the early years of this country’s development. Although it was seemingly inconsequential, news of this confectionery conflict ended up mentioned in an editorial in the February 2, 1839, issue of the Colored American newspaper, a weekly New York publication (1836-1842)....

A Note on the New Year from 1855

The following editorial was published in the Provincial Freeman newspaper on January 6, 1855. The digitized version of this editorial in the Black Abolitionist Archive allows us to bridge the expanse of 161 years, and merge in time with the author who signs her name simply as “S.” (This is probably Mary Ann Shadd who edited the newspaper during this time.) Although so much historic change has taken place since this editorial was written, it seems today’s readers will recognize how relevant the sentiments are here....

“The Merry Christmas Time”

Christmas celebrations in the late 1800s weren’t anything like they are today. The focus was on church activities, caroling, and the warm gathering of family and friends. Gifts were secondary to the celebration of this holy season, and giving was more about caring than buying expensive presents. For those whose very existence depended on the kindness of strangers, support from charity and provisions for the poor were appreciated more than ever to help them through the harsh winters and desperate times....

Thanksgiving Day

In 1863, the debate about establishing a national day of Thanksgiving was well underway. On September 28th of that year, Sarah Hale, American writer and editor, wrote an impassioned letter to Abraham Lincoln encouraging him to set aside an official day to recognize the spirit of thankfulness that defined the country overall. This, she argued, would be of benefit to the entire population especially during this time of civil war....

“Where is Charles O’Conor?”

The U.S. Civil War officially began in the early months of 1861. Rumblings of war and early warning signs were very apparent in the months and years preceding this official date, however. Members of the free black population were already taking steps during this time to sabotage what they called the “slavocracy” as an economic institution. And they were doing a great job of it. Slowly but surely each patient step toward disruption through “agitation” (as they called it), legal wranglings, and speaking engagements was making an impact....

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