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Antebellum Education October 2014

So, even though educating the black population was not illegal in the northern states during this period, it wasn’t encouraged or supported. Many schools dedicated to educating black children folded under the pressures of lack of funding and lack of support from the white population. Education in this section of the population at one point became a communal endeavor: literate parents taught their children, friends taught friends, groups formed to help each other learn. In the South where educating slaves was not allowed, this type of communal education (mostly centering on learning to read the Bible) was unstoppable....

Black Abolitionist Archive African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, editorial, education, newspaper, school, slavery Linda Papa Updated: October 17, 2014

Josiah Henson and Harriet Beecher Stowe August 2014

It seems an unlikely pairing, but one theory in the history of slavery assures us that Harriet Beecher Stowe was influenced to write her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin after reading the autobiography of Josiah Henson, former slave and Black Abolitionist. Stowe’s character of Uncle Tom even looks a bit like the photograph of Henson available on various web sites devoted to African American history. And according to one site, Henson’s supporters even encouraged this connection after the book’s popularity to...

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, education, history, newspaper, slavery, speech Linda Papa Updated: September 4, 2016

Civil War and Civil Rights July 2014

It was fear mostly that kept free black men from being accepted for enlistment in the early days of the Civil War (1861-1865). Although they had fought in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, the uprisings and revolts of later years encouraged government worry about arming black men. Yet while riots and desertion were plentiful when it came to drafting white men into the war, those black men who were committed to fighting for freedom were turned...

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, Civil War, emancipation, freedom, history, slavery Linda Papa Updated: June 19, 2014

Celebrating Independence July 2014

Today all Americans celebrate Independence Day (July 4th) as a federal holiday commemorating the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776. This event marked this country’s freedom from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). But did you know that August 1 (Emancipation Day) was celebrated as a day of independence and liberation for thousands of enslaved and formerly enslaved people in this country and others for years after slavery was abolished in the West Indies on this day...

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, celebration, emancipation, freedom, slavery Linda Papa Updated: June 30, 2014

Independence Day July 2014

In a New Haven, Connecticut church on July 5, 1832, black abolitionist Peter Osborne spoke of independence. In those early days of the movement towards freedom from slavery, each July 4th holiday offered a way for abolitionists to remind the country of those who had never known freedom here. This one day out of each year had come to symbolize what had become the hallmark foundation of the United States, and yet was denied to so many who lived here. ...

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, celebration, emancipation, history, Liberator newspaper, slavery, speech Linda Papa Updated: July 3, 2014

Education, 1851 June 2014

History has a way of collapsing time. It moves along a social timeline from major event to major event and the small steps that occurred to the human beings involved in the day to day struggle between those events is often overlooked. We see for example the settling of Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 (and the African slaves who were included in this), the Civil War in 1861, and the emancipation of slaves in 1863. We’re told that slavery had a long history of cruelty and abuse, and we are hesitant to spend too much time exploring the detailed lives of those who survived this....

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, archival, black abolitionist, black history, editorial, education, emancipation, freedom, history, slavery, student Linda Papa Updated: May 27, 2014

Anthony Burns February 2014

Those of you who have visited the Black Abolitionist Archive have likely noticed the photograph of a young man named Anthony Burns in the upper left-hand corner of the main page. There’s an interesting history to this young man’s experience that helped to bring to light the depth of the outrage of slavery, and to change the hearts and minds of the citizens of Boston. Through his own words we learn of his plight....

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, emancipation, escape, freedom, history, slavery Linda Papa Updated: February 5, 2014

William Still — Black Abolitionist February 2014

This month we celebrate Black History. As part of that celebration, our DVD of the week (titled “Underground Railroad: the William Still Story”) highlights a book by William Still. As it happens, William Still is one of my favorite Black Abolitionists. He is called an “unsung hero” and that he was. I’d wager that not too many people have heard of him. Yet his speeches, delivered during the late 1850s and early 1860s, are some of the most eloquent I’ve read....

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, education, heritage, history, slavery Linda Papa Updated: February 5, 2014

Fugitive Slave Laws October 2013

It could very well be that one of the “worst laws in the history of this country” is not what some might imagine. Take the Fugitive Slave Laws, for example. Slavery was bad enough, our entire economy was based on enslaved human labor. During this time, while some in government worked for a reasoned and compassionate solution to an obvious moral crisis, there were plenty of people in government who could not see any other way to realize economic prosperity for the country. Ending slavery meant, to them, the complete disruption of a booming economy, a growing national wealth, and a steady increase in power over England. If we took away the foundation of this economy, what in the world would save us from… disaster!?...

Black Abolitionist Archive African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, economics, freedom, fugitive, kidnapping, law, politics, slavery Linda Papa Updated: October 23, 2016

British Emancipation Day – August 1 August 2013

Included in the festivities for the celebration of Emancipation Day each year, were speeches delivered by prominent abolitionists. One champion of the cause of abolition to speak in 1861 was William Howard Day, whose speeches and editorials can be found in the Black Abolitionist Archive among our digital collections. Day, formally educated (rare for a man of color during this time), spoke eloquently and passionately for the cause of freedom, for a reasoned approach to ending slavery. ...

Black Abolitionist Archive abolition, African Americans, black abolitionist, black history, celebration, freedom, heritage, history Linda Papa Updated: June 30, 2014

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