Saturday, May 28, 2022

American History of Slavery

I have read books, listened to lectures, attended college classes, and heard speeches on the topic of slavery all my life. I'm still surprised by some of the details that I find. Recent memorials and museums will hopefully help all of us better understand our own history. My great grandfather was born into a slave-owning family, in 1860. He wouldn't remember it, but his family moved west to opportunity, and I'm sure it was a difficult life. We have very little record of it. 

I try to address all of the anecdotes I have heard, as well as the major milestones that are well documented. Some, like Bacon's Rebellion, are murky, but play pivotal roles. International trade and economic forces are important but deserve a timeline of their own, so I only touch on those. 

If there is something I should add, please comment.

 
16xx Irish Slaves and Indentured Servitude This article contains factual errors
1641 First Law legalizing slavery The beginning of the triangular trade
1654 First Slaveowner This article should be fact checked
1662 Slavery is a lifelong heritable condition Virginia law
1676 Bacon's Rebellion A complicated chapter in American history where the limits of freedom were tested
1676 Bacon's Rebellion This article offers three possible outcomes of Bacon's Rebellion
1676 Bacon's Rebellion It was a turning point. Worker's demanded more rights and at the same time, the supply of Africans was increasing. Slave laws began to focus more on them.
1690 Slave Codes increase over the next 50 years
1705 Who can be enslaved Blacks, mulattos, natives, non-Christians
1724 Code Noir Dominated slave treatment in the South through the Civil War
1778 3/5th Compromise The US Constitution
1788 In Britain Petition for aboltion had 10,000 signatures. The next year it had 100,000 and kept growing.
1800 But slavery continued The Whitney Museum in New Orleans
1862 Black Confederate Brigade Did slaves fight for the South?