Notable Quotes
The title (and refrain) of this iconic speech given by Sojourner Truth at the Seneca Falls convention, 1848.
What is "Ain't I A Woman?"
Born Araminta Ross in Dorchester County, MD, this conductor on the Underground Railroad claimed she never lost a passenger--and would go on to work as a Union spy and operative during the Civil War.
Who was Harriet Tubman?
Willing release from slavery on the part of the enslaver.
What is manumission?
Infamous 1857 Supreme Court case that determined that the enslaved were not officially citizens when an enslaved man sued for his family's freedom.
What is Dred Scott v. Sanford?
Famous narrative of escape by one of the most notable abolitionists and orators of the 19th century.
What is the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass?
This scathing 1852 speech by Frederick Douglass on the American ideal of 'freedom' which contains the quote: "Above your national and tumultuous joy I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains are...to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them".
What is "What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?"
The leader of the 1839 Amistad rebellion, a mutiny by enslaved Africans on a slave ship bound to America, the eventual prosecution of which galvanized the abolitionist movement.
Who was Joseph Cinque?
Henry 'Box' Brown's inventive way of gaining freedom. HINT: It made the U.S.P.S. very nervous.
What is mailing himself?
The outbreak of this war in 1775 inspired many enslaved people to petition for freedom in the state of Massachusetts.
What was the Revolutionary War?
What enslavers put in newspapers after enslaved had escaped, often containing a description of the person and a possible reward.
What were fugitive slave advertisements?
The Rev. Jermaine Wesley Loguen was reacting to this 1850 piece of legislation when he said: "I will not live a slave, and if force is employed to reenslave me, I shall make preparations to meet the crisis as becomes a man".
What was the Fugitive Slave Act?
One of the most famous leaders of a slave rebellion, this man believed he was chosen by God to free his people from slavery. He killed 55 people including his enslaver's family, and was not captured for two months. His rebellion was shocking to the white South, which tightened restrictions on the enslaved in response.
Who was Nat Turner?
'Free Frank' McWorter famously did this for many members of his family, starting with his wife.
What is buying freedom?
The 1781 court case that effectively ended slavery in the state of Massachusetts, when an enslaved woman sued for her freedom invoking the Mass. state constitution, which stated that 'all men are created equal'.
What was Brom and Bet v. Ashley?
This man wrote a narrative about his journey from slavery to freedom in the 18th century. The book is notable for its firsthand account of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Who was Olaudah Equiano?
The founding father to whom African American astronomer and mathematician Benjamin Banneker was replying when in 1791 he wrote "recommending...to you and all others to wean yourselves from these narrow prejudices which you have imbibed in respect to [my brethren]"
The would-be leader of what could have been one of the largest slave rebellions in history, planned in South Carolina to coincide with Bastille day and inspired by the Haitian revolution. Two people involved leaked the plan to police, and he was charged with conspiracy and hanged.
Who was Denmark Vesey?
Though it had no tracks, this was a secret web of safe houses and routes to freedom for enslaved people.
What was the Underground Railroad?
Ida B. Wells sued this railroad company for making her change a train car because of her race.
What was the Chesapeake, Ohio, and Southwestern railroad company?
This modern initiative seeks to tell the stories of those enslaved in the Northeast by placing stones at the approximate place they were enslaved with their names.
What is the Witness Stones project?
What Henry Garnet calls upon the enslaved to do in his speech at the National Negro Convention in Buffalo in August 1843.
What is "Strike for [their] lives and liberties?" OR What is "Arise"?
Leader of the Creole mutiny, which freed 128 enslaved people aboard the ship Creole by steering the ship to the British-controlled Bahamas.
Who was Madison Washington?
The way out many on slave ships during the transatlantic slave trade chose rather than a life of bondage--the only guaranteed manner of escape.
What is suicide?
This government organization established ad hoc courts for a brief period during reconstruction to help people who had been freed seek justice
What was the Freedman's Bureau?
Also known as the "second independence day" the anniversary of this day coincides with the enslaved in Texas finding out about their freedom.
What is June 19th, 1865?