People
The West African Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were rich kingdoms. This leader from the Kingdom of Mali from 1312-1337 is believed to be the richest person to ever live.
Mansa Musa
In 1773, Jean Baptists Pointe Du Sable, a black man from Haiti, was the first merchant and the first settler in this area. He set up a trading business near Lake Michigan. IN 1833, it had 200 residents and became a village. It is now America’s third largest city.
Chicago
During the French and Indian War, many black men fought for the British army. During the American Revolution, black men fought as both patriots and loyalists. About how many black men fought and died during the American Revolution?
5,000
This invention quickly increased the need for enslaved labor in the South and revolutionized the production process for cotton. The invention led to cotton being the most profitable cash crop in the history of the plantation system.
The Cotton Gin
While enslaved in New England, this individual saw the horrors of slavery. After Massachusetts adopted a new constitution in 1780, this individual helped bring an end to slavery in the state. She argued that slavery was illegal in the state because of a “free and equal” clause. She won the case. Name this pioneer.
Elizabeth Freeman or Mum Bett
Born in Maryland in 1731, this individual knew several languages and became the first black civilian employee of the United States Government. He published an almanac and had several impressive builds, like the wooden clock.
Benjamin Banneker
In March of 1660, this colony passed a law that made enslaved Africans “chattel” property. This allowed the tax on the sale of enslaved Africans.
Virginia
By the end of the American Revolution, about 50,000 African Americans lived in the Northern Colonies. About how many lived in the Southern Colonies?
400,000
Enslaved laborers participated in every stage of building construction, from the retrieval and transportation of stone to the construction of this Executive Mansion. This mansion would later become a prominent symbol of the United States.
The White House
Formed in May of 1775, this regiment became known as the first Black battalion in US military history. Even though there were Native Americans and white men in the regiment, it was called the “Black Regiment” because of the large number of Black soldiers in its ranks.
The First Rhode Island Regiment
This individual fought in several African American regiments commanded by Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette was so impressed with his fighting that he personally awarded him a Gold Medal of Valor, making him the highest-decorated African American veteran of the Revolutionary War. This individual also fought in the war of 1812 and lived to be 115 years old!
James Robinson
This great city in Songhai grew to have a population of more than 100,000 residents and became a major center for business, religion, and creativity. Thousands of scrolls still exist today that include information about art, medicine, philosophy, and science during the time.
Timbuktu
The African American experience began in Africa; however, the history of African Americans in the United States began when a Dutch ship arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. This ship’s captain exchanged his cargo of Africans for food. How many Africans were exchanged for this food?
20
In 1791 Pierre L’Enfant, who planned the City of Washington, leased enslaved African Americans to clear the cities for this building which would later become home to the United States Congress.
The Capitol Building
This individual learned to read and write before she was 20 years old and became a famous poet. Enslaved from a young age, she gained her freedom in 1772. By 1773 she became the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry. Her book was entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.
Phillis Wheatley
This man, a devout Quaker, was one of the wealthiest men of color in the early 19th century. He built a shipbuilding empire and worked towards relocating those who suffered racial injustice. He created a school and founded the Friendly Society of Sierra Leone to aid the emigration of free Blacks from America.
Paul Cuffee
After loading enslaved Africans on the Atlantic coast of Africa, ships from different ports in England and France sailed directly to the Americas. Once there, they sold the enslaved people who had survived the Atlantic Ocean.
The Middle Passage
A majority of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence had enslaved people. How many are believed not to have owned enslaved people?
Approximately 15
This term is used to describe the spreading of African people from their national, local, and tribal locals in Africa to other parts of the world.
African Diaspora
This colonial governor recruited black soldiers and became a strong advocate of their fighting ability for the British army. Of his six hundred troops, half were African Americans whose uniforms had the motto “Liberty to Slaves.”
Lord Dunmore
This formerly enslaved African, seaman and merchant wrote an autobiography depicting the horrors of enslavement and petitioned Parliament for its abolition. His autobiography was published in 1789 and became a bestseller and was even translated into many different languages.
Olaudah Equiano
Several colonies took steps to abolish slavery in the late 1770s and early 1780s. This place, which was recognized as Americas fourteenth state in 1791, was among the first to prohibit slavery in 1777.
Vermont
How much positive aura does Mrs. E have?
Infinity
Farmers in the Chesapeake Bay area wanted to bring indentured servants and later enslaved Africans to the colonies. As a cash crop, it became an important crop in the Chesapeake Colonies (Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.) Enslaved blacks were forced to work on plantations to cultivate, prepare, and pack this cash crop.
Tobacco
Who are the coolest two teachers at Franklin Middle School?
Ms. Johnson and Mrs. Espinoza