Your African American Genealogy Research Guide
READ MOREFROM THE FAMILY TREE SHOP
African American Genealogy Cheat Sheet
The charts, tips, timeline, DNA answers, websites and books will help you find enslaved ancestors, freedmen, free blacks, and their descendants in various records.
Finding Your African American Ancestors
Case Study: African American DNA Testing Challenges
An African American genealogist’s DNA test leaves her with more questions than answers.
READ MOREAfrican American Genealogy Websites
African American Genealogy Records
Tracing Enslaved Ancestors
Timeline of Slavery in the US
1619–1793
1619
First African slaves arrive in Jamestown on the Dutch ship White Lion
1654
John Casor becomes the first legally recognized slave in the United States
1705
Virginia declares "all negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion" should be held as real estate
1774
Rhode Island bans the importation of slaves
1775
The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage (aka Pennsylvania Society) forms
1783
Slavery ends in Massachusetts
1800–1822
1800
A slave named Gabriel leads a rebellion in Virginia
1808
United States bans importation of slaves
1816
American Colonization Society is established in Washington, DC
1822
Denmark Vesey is hanged for planning a slave rebellion in Charleston, SC
1831–1848
1831
Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Southampton County, VA
1831
William Lloyd Garrison founds the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator
1845
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave is published
1848
Connecticut abolishes slavery
1848
Slavery is abolished in French colonies
1850–1866
1850
Fugitive slave laws require runaway slaves in free states to be returned to their enslavers
1852
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published
1857
New Hampshire abolishes slavery
1857
US Supreme Court rules that Dred Scott can’t sue for his freedom
1859
John Brown raids
Harpers Ferry, WV
1863
Emancipation Proclamation takes effect
1865
13th Amendment prohibits slavery in the United States
1866
Final issue of The Liberator is published
A Brief History of Kwanzaa
Created in 1966 and observed in December, Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African American culture. This year, take some time to learn about the history and traditions behind this week-long holiday!
READ MORE
