People, Locations, Episodes

Black History and the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union

*Black history and the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) is affirmed on this date in 1900. The ILGWU, whose members were in the women’s clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female membership and influence in the […]

Abolitionism in South America, a story

*Abolitionism in South America is celebrated on this date in 1500. The Valladolid debate (1550–1551) was the first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of indigenous people by European colonizers. Held in the Colegio de San Gregorio, in the Spanish city of Valladolid, it was a moral and theological debate about the […]

Bayano, Central American Abolitionist born

*The birth of Bayano is celebrated on this date in c 1520. Also known as Ballano or Vaino, he was an African revolutionary. Captured from the Yoruba community in West Africa, it has been debated that his name means idol. Different tales tell of their revolt in 1552, beginning either on the ship or after landing in Panama’s […]

El Yanga, African Abolitionist born

The birth of El Yanga in circa 1545 is celebrated on this date. He was an African abolitionist and a leader of a slave rebellion in Mexico during the early period of Spanish colonial rule.

Gaspar Yanga, often called Yanga, El Yanga, or Nyanga, was said to be a member of the royal family of Gabon, Africa, before being kidnapped and placed in the Middle Passage to the new world. Yanga came to be the head of a group of slaves who were revolting near Vera Cruz, Mexico, around 1570. Escaping to the highland terrain, he and his people built a small, free colony.

Benkos Biohó, Afro Colombian born

*This date affirms Columbia’s independence from Spain and slavery. This article celebrates the birth of Benkos Biohó, one of the country’s greatest abolitionists. Also known as Domingo Biohó was born in the late 16th century into an African royal family of the Bissagos Islands off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.  He was kidnapped by the Portuguese slave trader […]

The Palmares Community of Brazil, a story

*The Palmares community in 1605 is celebrated on this date. This was a Brazilian settlement of runaway and freeborn African slaves.

Zumbi, Afro Brazilian Abolitionist born

The life of Zumbi in 1655 is celebrated on this date. He was an Afro Brazilian abolitionist and soldier.

Abolitionists in the United States of America, a story

*On this date, in 1688, the Registry shares an article on Abolitionists and the formal beginning of organized group Abolitionism in America.  This movement sought to end slavery in the United States and was active both before and during the American Civil War. In the Americas and Western Europe, abolitionism was a movement that sought to end the Middle Passage (Atlantic […]

Marie-Joseph Angélique, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Marie-Joseph Angélique is celebrated on this date in c 1705. She was an enslaved Black person whose attempted escape from servitude led to a fire in Montreal, Quebec. Marie-Joseph Angélique was born in Portugal to practitioners in the Middle Passage Atlantic slave trade and sold to a Flemish man who brought her to the […]

Anthony Benezet, Abolitionist born

*Anthony Benezet was born on this date in 1713.  He was a white-French American abolitionist.  He was from St. Quentin, northern France, and from a family of Huguenots (French Protestants).   In 1715, when Benezet was two years old, they immigrated to London, where he was educated.  In 1731, at age 17, Benezet and his […]

John Newton, Slave Trader, and Clergyman born

*John Newton was born on this date in 1725.  He was a white-English slave trader and Anglican clergyman.   John Newton was born in Wapping, London, the son of John Newton, the Elder, a shipmaster in the Mediterranean service, and Elizabeth (née Scatliff). Elizabeth was the only daughter of Simon Scatliff, an instrument maker from […]

Cyrus Bustill, Abolitionist born

*Cyrus Bustill was born on this date in 1732. He was a Black brewer and baker, abolitionist, and community leader. Born in Burlington, New Jersey, Cyrus Bustill was the son of white Quaker lawyer Samuel Bustill and Parthenia, an African woman who was a slave owned by Samuel. After Samuel Bustill died, his widow sold Cyrus […]

Granville Sharpe, British Abolitionist born

Granville Sharpe was born on this date in 1735. He was a European abolitionist and philanthropist.

Joseph Chatoyer, Caribbean Abolitionist, born

*The birth of Joseph Chatoyer is celebrated on this date in 1738. Also known as Satuye, Chatoyer was a Garifuna (Carib) chief and abolitionist. Very little is known of his early formative years.  In 1772, the population rebelled. Led by Chatoyer, the First Carib War forced the British to sign a treaty with them in 1773. This […]

Elizabeth Freeman, Abolitionist born

*Elizabeth Freeman’s birth in 1742 is celebrated on this date. She was a Black slave and abolitionist.

She was born to enslaved African parents in Claverack, New York. At the age of six months she was purchased, along with her sister, by John Ashley of Sheffield, Massachusetts, whom she served until she was nearly forty. By then she was known as “Mum Bett,” and had a young daughter known as “Little Bett.” Her husband had been killed while fighting in the Revolutionary War.