The Supreme Court rejects Dred Scott’s citizenship claim

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...

Ramón Castilla decreed the abolition of slavery. Afro-Peruvians’ struggles for freedom belonged to a broader conflict over a colonial institution surviving after independence. Ending legal enslavement...

Sarah Parker Remond spoke in Warrington about enslavement and its consequences, including the treatment of women. A Black woman addressed international audiences in her own voice. Her campaigning...

British forces attacked Te Kohia pā after resistance to the disputed Waitara purchase. Wiremu Kīngi opposed the sale of land over which others also held rights. Colonial insistence on taking...

Māori defenders defeated British troops near Waitara during the First Taranaki War. Their use of terrain and prepared defenses supported resistance to colonial land acquisition. The victory...

The District of Columbia Emancipation Act ended slavery in Washington. The law compensated loyal enslavers and encouraged voluntary emigration. Its provisions illustrate the limits of reform that...

Abraham Lincoln announced that enslaved people in territories still in rebellion at the start of the following year would be declared free. Enslaved people’s flight and abolitionist pressure had...