People, Locations, Episodes

Nathaniel Banks, Officer, and Politician born

*Nathaniel Banks was born on this date in 1816. He was a white-American politician and a military officer.   Nathaniel Prentice Banks was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, the first child of Nathaniel P. Banks, Sr., and Rebecca Greenwood Banks. His father worked in the textile mill of the Boston Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming a foreman. […]

Stephen A. Benson, Liberian Leader born

The birth of Stephen Allen Benson in 1816 is celebrated on this date. He was Black businessman and politician.

Argentina Gains Independence From Spain

*On this date in 1816, Argentina gained independence from Spain. This resulted from the Argentine War of Independence, fought from 1810 to 1818. The population of Buenos Aires was highly militarized during the British invasions of the Río de la Plata, part of the Anglo-Spanish War. Buenos Aires was captured in 1806 and then liberated […]

Macon B. Allen, Lawyer, and Teacher born

*Macon Bolling Allen was born on this date in 1816. He was a Black teacher, lawyer and judge.

From Indiana, born Allen Macon Bolling, he grew up free man. He learned to read and write on his own and eventually landed his first a job as a schoolteacher, where he further improved his reading and writing skills. Allen moved to Portland, Maine in the early 1840s and studied law and worked as a law clerk for General Samuel Fessenden, a local abolitionist and attorney.

John Jones, Politician born

John Jones’s birth in 1817 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black apprentice tailor, writer, and politician.

Born a free man in North Carolina, he taught himself to read and write. Jones started his own business and after a long struggle, he became one of the richest Black men in America. Jones used some of his wealth in the campaign against slavery. He moved to Chicago and made his home into an Underground Railway Station.

Alfred Russell, Politician, and Missionary born

The birth of Alfred Francis Russell in 1817 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black missionary, businessman, and politician.

José María Morales, Legislator, and Soldier born

*José María Morales was born on this date in 1818. He was an Afro Argentine tinsmith legislator and soldier. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was the son of a military patriot who fought in the British invasions. He also followed a military career and was part of the troops of Manuel Oribe until aged 20; […]

Elizabeth Van Lew, Abolitionist, and Spy born

*Elizabeth Van Lew was born on this date in 1818.  She was a white-American abolitionist and philanthropist.  Elizabeth Van Lew was born in Richmond, Virginia, to John Van Lew and Eliza Baker, whose maternal grandfather was abolitionist Hilary Baker, mayor of Philadelphia from 1796 to 1798.  Her father came to Richmond in 1806 at 16; […]

Benjamin F. Butler, Military Officer born

*Benjamin Franklin Butler was born on this date in 1818.  He was a white-American major general, politician, lawyer, and businessman.   Born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best known as a political major of the Union Army during the American Civil War and for his leadership role in the impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson. He was a colorful and often controversial figure on the […]

The Battle of Grahamstown Occurs

*The Battle of Grahamstown took place on this date in 1819. This was part of the Fifth Xhosa War at the frontier settlement of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The battle defended the town by the British garrison, aided by a group of Khoekhoe marksmen, attacking Xhosa warriors. When a British-led force seized […]

Miguel de Castro v. Ninety-five enslaved Africans is Decided

On this date in 1819, Miguel de Castro v. Ninety-five enslaved Africans was decided. This was a Libel case for restitution case against American chattel slavery. In October 1817, ninety-five enslaved Africans were taken by pirates from the Portuguese ship “Jesu Nasareno,” owned by Miguel de Castro. Originally bound for Havana, Cuba, the Africans were […]

Benjamin F. Randolph, Chaplain, and Community Leader born

*The birth of Benjamin Franklin Randolph is celebrated on this date in 1820. He was a Black educator, an army chaplain, a minister, a newspaper editor, a politician,  Early life Benjamin Franklin Randolph was born in Kentucky, the child of free Blacks. He moved with his family to Ohio as a child, where he attended […]

William T. Sherman, American Civil War Officer born

*William T. Sherman, a white American soldier, businessman, educator, and author, was born on this date in 1820. William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, near the banks of the Hocking River. His father, Charles Robert Sherman, a lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, died of typhoid fever in 1829. He left […]

The Missouri Compromise Is Ratified

*The Missouri Compromise with legislative measures was enacted on this date in 1820. This measure allowed The United States Congress to thus regulate the extension of slavery in the United States for the next three decades.

Fort Snelling (Minnesota), a story

*Fort Snelling is remembered on this date in 1820. This is a former military garrison built with slave labor to advance white American land acquisition from indigenous communities. It is in Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers meet. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anthony, but it was renamed Fort […]