Colonial troops attack Te Kohia over disputed Waitara land

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...

The Supreme Court rejected Dred Scott’s freedom claim and declared that people of African descent could not be US citizens under its interpretation of the Constitution. His struggle exposed racism...

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...

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...

The proclamation declared freedom for enslaved people in designated Confederate territory and opened military service to Black men. It did not abolish slavery everywhere. Freedom seekers and Black...

A Union operation guided by Harriet Tubman reached plantations along the Combahee River and enabled hundreds to escape slavery. The raid began the previous night. Local knowledge and Black...