Sojourner Truth challenges exclusion at a women’s rights convention

British forces attacked Puketutu during the Northern War. Māori defensive works and military strategy complicated the colonial advance. The conflict belonged to a struggle over authority after the...

A British assault on the pā at Ōhaeawai suffered severe losses. Defenders’ fortifications were designed to withstand artillery and expose attackers. The outcome challenges colonial claims of...

British and allied Māori forces entered Ruapekapeka after a siege; fighting continued outside the pā. The war ended without a straightforward destruction of Ngāpuhi authority. Its sophisticated...

After federal officers arrested Shadrach Minkins in Boston under the Fugitive Slave Act, activists removed him from the courthouse and helped him escape. Collective action directly challenged a law...

Colombia passed a law to end slavery from the following January. Enslavers received compensation, while formerly enslaved people did not receive comparable reparations for their labor. The measure...

Freedom seekers and allies resisted an enslaver’s attempt to capture men at William Parker’s home in Pennsylvania. The confrontation ended with the enslaver’s death. Community self-defense...

Black and white activists rescued William Henry from detention in Syracuse and helped him reach Canada. The rescue turned opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act into collective action. It showed how...

The law ending slavery in Colombia came into force. Freedom was a result of legal reform and long histories of resistance, flight, and negotiation by enslaved people. Equal access to land and secure...

Thousands attended a Faneuil Hall meeting after Anthony Burns was arrested as a fugitive from slavery. Activists also attempted a rescue. Their campaign exposed how federal institutions upheld...

Federal authorities escorted Anthony Burns through Boston and returned him to Virginia despite extensive protests. The use of troops showed that slavery relied on state power beyond plantation...