1- Old Laws define slaves as chattel, property, can be brought, sold...
Nevertheless, the blacks managed to overcome, and while their lot was uncertain, there were a series of legislative actions that were implemented to improve their transition from their status of slave to that of a full citizen. The 13th, 14th, and 15th constitutional amendments passed respectively in 1865, 1868, and in 1870 were designed to do just that.
2- Old Laws define slaves as chattel, property, can be brought, sold...
They provided the slaves freedom, citizenship and the right to vote. The Civil Right Bill of 1866 and 1875 added support to those amendments. By the end of the Civil War, an estimated four million slaves had became freedmen added to the 250,000 blacks who were freemen.
3- Old Laws define slaves as chattel, property, can be brought, sold...
Slaves were forbidden to hold property, to carry firearms, to congregate with each other except in church, to leave their master’s premise without permission or to give evidence against a white man in court. A few dedicated Caucasians had decided to put an end to that harsh system.
4- Anti-slavery activities
The 1860s were to witness many antislavery activities. As early as 1816, George Boxley led a slave rebellion in Virginia. In 1826, Amherst College graduated Edward A. Jones who became the first black to receive a college degree in America. This image depicts key moments in the antislavery movement, including Edward A. Jones receiving his degree.
5- Levi Coffin, a Quacker abolitionist, using his home to hide slaves
Between 1827 and 1847, Levi Coffin, a Quacker abolitionist, who was known as the “president of the Underground Railroad Movement” used his own home as a station to hide more than 300 slaves attempting to escape via the underground railroad. images depicting Levi Coffin assisting escaped enslaved individuals as part of the Underground Railroad.
Semites about 3000 BC
6- Levi Coffin, a Quacker abolitionist, using his home to hide slaves
An active leader of the Underground Railroad in Indiana and Ohio, some unofficially called Coffin the "President of the Underground Railroad", estimating that three thousand fugitive slaves passed through his care. The Coffin home in Fountain City, Wayne County, Indiana, is a museum, sometimes called the Underground Railroad's "Grand Central Station".
7-The New England Anti-Slavery Society.
In 1832, a group of twelve Caucasians founded The New England Anti-Slavery Society.
8-Catherine White Coffin, 1879
Like her husband, Catherine actively assisted fugitive slaves, including providing food, clothing, and a safe haven in the Coffin home. As Levi commented on his wife's humanitarian work, "Her sympathy for those in distress never tired, and her effort in their behalf never abated. Catherine White became known as Aunt Katie to slaves on the run.
9- MaryJane Patterson first black woman to receive a college degree in
In 1833, Prudence Crandall, a Connecticut Quacker, was arrested for conducting an academy for black girls. That same year, Oberlin College was founded, and MaryJane Patterson became the first black woman to receive a college degree in America at Oberlin.
10-Harriet Beecher Stowe’
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom Cabin” exposed the inhuman aspect of slavery in the United States. Four years later, one of the most influential abolitionists of the era, Massachusetts Senator, Charles Sumner, was physically attacked and severely beaten on the United States Senate floor by the South Carolina pro-slavery US Representative Pretson Brooks.
11- Thaddeus Stevens: Abolitionist and US representative from PA
Thaddeus Stevens, the abolitionist US representative from Pennsylvania, supported the Emancipation of slaves and the adoption of the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution.
12- John Brown, a Caucasian, staged the raid on Harper’s Ferry
John Brown, a Caucasian American abolitionist, supported using violence to liberate the slaves in the United States. He first got national attention during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of 1856. In October 1859, Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (today West Virginia). He was captured, tried for treason, found guilty, and hanged on December 2, 1859.
13- John Brown, a Caucasian, staged the raid on Harper’s Ferry
In 1859, John Brown, a Caucasian, staged the famous raid on Harper’s Ferry (present day West Virginia) to inflict a strong and devastating impact on the institution of slavery. He was captured and hanged.
14- Publication of the Freedom's Journal
Even before the Civil War, many institutions were established to further the education of blacks physicians; one of which was the publication of the first black news paper, Freedom's Journal in 1832.
15-Freedom’s Journal: The Voice of Black Abolitionists
Founded in 1827, Freedom’s Journal was the first African American-owned newspaper in the U.S. It countered racist media, advocated for abolition, and empowered free Black communities. Editors Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm fought to expose injustices and uplift Black voices. The paper laid the foundation for Black journalism as a tool for social change.
16-Abolition, Education, and Black Identity
Freedom’s Journal provided national and international news, opposed colonization, and promoted literacy among the Blacks. It celebrated Black achievements and documented injustices, including crimes committed by white Americans. The newspaper’s impact extended beyond abolition, strengthening Black identity and political activism in the 19th century.
17- Rebecca Lee Crumpler received a medical degree in 1864
During those troubling years of the civil wars, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, attended medical school at New England Female Medical College. That year, there were 54,543 physicians in the United States, 300 of whom were women. None of them were African Americans, making Rebecca Lee Crumpler the first and only African-American to obtain a medical degree in her class in 1864.
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Here are two images depicting Rebecca Lee Crumpler attending medical school in the mid-19th century, highlighting her resilience and groundbreaking achievements. Let me know if you need any modifications or additional visuals for your exhibit!
18- Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Crumpler first practiced medicine in Boston and primarily cared for poor Black women and children. This image is depicting Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler practicing medicine in Boston in the late 1860s, caring for Black women and children.
19 - Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler
After the Civil War (1861–1865), Dr. Crumpler moved to Richmond, Virginia, to provide missionary service, as well as to gain more experience learning about diseases that affected women and children. The last quarter of the year 1866, each day I had access to a very large number of indigent, and others of different classes, in a population of over 30,000 colored."
20- Institutions founded to educate blacks
Institutions were also founded to educate blacks. The first of such institutions was Ashmun Institute (today Lincoln University), founded in Oxford, Pennsylvania in 1853.
21 - Most American presidents before Lincoln were slaves owners
In the second half of the 19th century, racial equality was not welcome by the majority of Caucasians. Up to Lincoln presidency, most presidents were slave owners; even the founding fathers owned slaves.
22- The Preliminary Proclamation
On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in states rebelling against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
23- How Blacks celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation
This Image depicts a Union soldier reading the Emancipation Proclamation to newly freed African Americans in 1863, capturing the emotions of liberation and celebration
24- How Blacks celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation
Despite its significance, the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free all 4 million enslaved men, women, and children in the United States. It applied only to enslaved people in the Confederacy, excluding those in border states that remained loyal to the Union.
25- How Blacks celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation in D.C.
Despite its significance, the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free all 4 million enslaved men, women, and children in the United States. It applied only to enslaved people in the Confederacy, excluding those in border states that remained loyal to the Union.
26- How Blacks celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation in NY
Despite its significance, the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free all 4 million enslaved men, women, and children in the United States. It applied only to enslaved people in the Confederacy, excluding those in border states that remained loyal to the Union.
27- How Blacks celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation in N.Y.
Despite its significance, the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free all 4 million enslaved men, women, and children in the United States. It applied only to enslaved people in the Confederacy, excluding those in border states that remained loyal to the Union.
28- President Abraham Lincoln: A New National Path
The Emancipation Proclamation reshaped America’s future, laying the foundation for the 13th Amendment, which would permanently abolish slavery in 1865. This historic decision set the course for Reconstruction and the ongoing struggle for civil rights, marking a decisive moment in the nation’s pursuit of justice and equality.
31- The Emancipation Declaration: What does it means?
After the Civil War, the Emancipation Declaration did not truly free the slaves. The Emancipation Declaration only freed the slaves in secessionist states; slavery was permitted in the states that had remained loyal to the Union for another decade. There were also major survival issues for those slaves who became free.
32- Free slaves became modified slaves by “share cropping.”
The freed slaves had no financial resources. They owned no property, and they were never compensated with the “40 acres and a mule” as advanced by the abolitionists. In order to survive, they became modified slaves by “share cropping.”
33 - Nathan Bedford Forrest, founded the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Aside for the Emancipation, the year 1865 turned out to be a dreadful year for the slaves in America. It was in 1865 that Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slave dealer and a Confederate Army lieutenant General founded the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Tennessee. The KKK targeted to kill Jews, Blacks, and Catholics; but it was truly the Blacks who became the main target for they could be spotted at a distance.
34 -Vice-president Andrew Johnson replaces president Lincoln (1865)
When Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, he was replaced by Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President who supported slavery. When he became president, Andrew Johnson vetoed the Freedman Burreau and Reconstruction Bill that were designed to assist the freedmen after their Emancipation.
35- In Virginia any freedman had to depart the state within a year
In America, the term Freedman was never taken in the same concept as freeman in that they had different rights. In Virginia any freedman had to depart the state within a year; otherwise, they would be re-enslaved.
36 -Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware: No Negroes
By the time the Bill was passed, Ohio had already prohibited the entry of Negroes, and within a year, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware forbade Negroes to enter and reside permanently within their locality.
