Following its ratification by the requisite three-quarters of the
states earlier in the month, the 13th Amendment is formally
adopted into the U.S. Constitution, ensuring that “neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the
United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
On or about August 20, 1619, “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped
by the Portuguese, arrived in the British colony of Virginia and
are then bought by English colonists.
The exact date is not definitively known (a letter from the time
identified the ship’s arrival coming in "the latter part of August"),
but this date has been chosen by many to mark the arrival of the enslaved Africans in the New World—beginning two and a half
centuries of slavery in North America.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin Book Cover First Edition.
Harried Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist
who came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular
novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which depicts the harsh conditions experienced by enslaved African Americans.
The book reached an audience of millions as a novel and play,
and became influential in the United States and in Great Britain,
energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North, while
provoking widespread anger in the South. Stowe wrote 30
books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections
of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings
as well as for her public stances and debates on social issues
of the day.
On March 2, 1807, the U.S. Congress passes an act to
“prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or
place within the jurisdiction of the United States…
from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.” It
would go into effect the following year.
Henry Dundas (1742 – 1811)
Dundas was among those who voted in
favor of the abolition of the slave trade.
He was the trusted lieutenant of British
of British prime minister William Pitt
and the most powerful politician in
Scotland in the late 18th century.
February 1, 1978: Antislavery crusader and Civil War veteran
Harriet Tubman became the first African American woman to
appear on a U.S. postage stamp, the first in the Post Office’s
Black Heritage Series. Tubman’s appearance on stamps was
emblematic both of the progress made in recognizing African
Americans’ contributions to American history and the ongoing
effort to put abolitionists on equal footing with slaveowners in
the nation’s historical canon.
Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross)
(c. March 1822– March 10, 1913)
