People, Locations, Episodes

William Cuffay, Tailor, and Politician born

The birth of William Cuffay in 1788 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black tailor, and politician.

From Chatham, Kent in England his father was a naval cook and former slave. A young Cuffay found work as an apprentice tailor. Also as a young man he held conservative views and as late as 1833. Cuffay argued against the formation of trade unions and was the last member of his lodge to join the (then) new tailors’ union. Yet when the tailors’ union came out on strike in April 1834, Cuffay joined them and as a result lost his job.

The Slave Trade Act of 1788 is Enacted

*On this date, 1788, the Slave Trade Act of 1788 was enacted. Also known as Dolben’s Act, it was an Act of Parliament that limited the number of people that British slave ships could transport based on tonnage.   It was the first British legislation passed to regulate slave shipping. In the late 18th century, […]

Bernardo de Monteagudo, Politician born

*Bernardo de Monteagudo was born on this date in 1789.  He was an Afro Argentine political leader at the time of independence. Monteagudo became involved early in the independence movement and was arrested several times. In 1808, he wrote Diálogo entre Atahualpa y Fernando VII, criticizing the colonial system. Monteagudo talked about the need for independence […]

The Xhosa Wars Begin

*On this date in 1789, we affirm the Xhosa Wars. Also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or the Kaffir Wars, they were a series of nine wars or outbreaks between the Xhosa Kingdom and white European slave traders in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. These war incidents were the longest-running military action […]

The Naturalization Act of 1790 is Passed

*On this date, in 1790, the Naturalization Act of 1790 was passed.  This law of the United States Congress set the first uniform rules for granting United States citizenship by naturalization. The law limited naturalization to “free white person[s] … of good character”.  It excluded Native Americans, indentured servants, Black slaves, free Blacks, and later […]

Pedro Camejo, Soldier born

*Pedro Camejo was born on this date in 1790. Also known as Negro Primero (“The First Black”), he was an Afro Venezuelan soldier and abolitionist. Pedro Camejo was born a slave of a Spanish royalist, Vincente Alonzo, in San Juan de Payara. He gained his freedom in 1816 after enlisting in the military to fight in […]

Lorenzo Barcala, Military Commander born

*Lorenzo Barcala was born on this date in 1793. He was an Afro Argentine military commander who participated in the Argentine civil wars on the side of the Unitarian Party. He was one of the few Black soldiers to reach the rank of colonel in that country. The son of slaves from Mendoza, Argentina, he […]

Thaddeus Stevens, Politician, and Abolitionist born

*Thaddeus Stevens was born on this date in 1792. He was a White American abolitionist. Stevens was born in Danville, Vermont.

Brom & Brett v. Ashley is Ruled

*On this date in 1792, Brom & Brett v. Ashley was decided.  This was the first legal decision against American slavery, ordering John Ashley, a white-American slave owner, to release black servants Mum Brett  (Elizabeth Freeman) and Brom (a Negro man) from bondage.   When the case was tried in August 1781 before the County Court of Common Pleas […]

Sam Houston, Politician and Slave Owner born

*Sam Houston was born on this date in 1793. He was a white-American general and statesman. Samuel Houston was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and inherited a slave plantation and mansion and had many enslaved people throughout his life. His family migrated to Maryville, Tennessee when Houston was a teenager. Houston later ran away from home and […]

James N. Glover, Abolitionist and Soldier born

*James Nettle Glover was born on this date in 1793.  He was a Black abolitionist and soldier. Born into slavery on a plantation in Port Tobacco, Maryland, he was one of three known War of 1812 veterans buried in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery. He was the grandson of John Glover, one of four brothers who […]

Lawrence Taliaferro, Soldier and Slave Owner born

*Lawrence Taliaferro was born on this date in 1794. He was a white-American Army officer, Indian agent, and enslaver. Lawrence Taliaferro was born at Whitehall Plantation in King George County, Virginia, to James Garnett Taliaferro and his wife Wilhelmina (Wishart) Taliaferro. During the War of 1812, he enlisted at age 18 as a volunteer in […]

The Slave Trade Act of 1794 is Passed

*The Slave Trade Act of 1794 was passed on this date in 1794. This law passed by the United States Congress prohibited American ships from engaging in the international slave trade. It was signed into law by President George Washington and was the first of several anti-slavery trade acts of Congress. In 1800, Congress strengthened […]

Thomas Peters; Canadian Soldier, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of Thomas Peters is celebrated on this date in 1738. He was a Black abolitionist and soldier fighting for the British in the American Revolutionary War. He was born in West Africa to the Yoruba tribe, the Egba clan. In 1760, at twenty-two years old, he was captured by slave traders, sold as a slave, […]

The Slave Trade Act of 1800 is Passed

*On this date in 1800, the Slave Trade Act of 1800 was passed. It was signed into law by President John Adams and was among several acts of Congress that eventually outlawed the importation of enslaved people to the United States. The United States Congress enacted this to build upon the Slave Trade Act of […]