Jan. 10, 1860: Pemberton Mill Collapse
More than 100 textile workers died when a mill collapsed due to inadequate construction.
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Period: 1850
Civil War Era: 1850 – 1864
July 4, 1854: Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society Rally
At a rally sponsored by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, angry and determined abolitionists burned copies of the Fugitive Slave Act and the U.S. Constitution.
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Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America
Book — Non-fiction. By Martha S. Jones. 2018. 266 pages.
The story of how African American activists remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses.
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The story of how African American activists remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses.
They Call Me Teach: Lessons in Freedom
Picture book. By Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome. 2024. 40 pages.
Shows how one enslaved man, secretly named Teach, helps others learn to read and write wherever he can.
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Shows how one enslaved man, secretly named Teach, helps others learn to read and write wherever he can.
Breaking the Chains: African American Slave Resistance
Book — Non-fiction. By . 2024. 256 pages.
This young adult history offers a researched account with first-hand testimonies of how people in bondage were themselves a driving force behind their own emancipation.
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This young adult history offers a researched account with first-hand testimonies of how people in bondage were themselves a driving force behind their own emancipation.
The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots
Book — Non-fiction. By John Swanson Jacobs. 2024. 288 pages.
A first-person narrative of the enslaved, lost for 169 years, now reproduced in full.
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A first-person narrative of the enslaved, lost for 169 years, now reproduced in full.
Jan. 1, 1862: Parkersburg Colored School Founded
The first free school south of the Mason-Dixon Line was established in Parkersburg, West Virginia, during the Civil War.
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Why Do People Believe Myths About the Confederacy? Because Our Textbooks and Monuments Are Wrong
Article. By James W. Loewen. July 2015 in the Washington Post.
A critique of textbook and mainstream media coverage of the Civil War.
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A critique of textbook and mainstream media coverage of the Civil War.
Oct. 16, 1859: Abolitionist Raid on Harpers Ferry
An abolitionist raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in an attempt to start an armed revolt against the institution of slavery.
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March 6, 1857: Dred (and Harriet) Scott Decision
The Supreme Court declared in horrific Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling that “Any person descended from Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of U.S.”
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May 5: Rethinking Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is actually the Battle of Puebla Day, commemorating the defeat of Napoleon III in 1862.
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Feb. 15, 1851: Shadrach Minkins Arrested by U.S. Marshals Under Fugitive Slave Act
U.S. Marshals arrested Shadrach Minkins, who had escaped from slavery in Norfolk, Virginia.
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Poetry of Defiance: How the Enslaved Resisted
Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez.
Through a mixer activity, students encounter how enslaved people resisted the brutal exploitation of slavery. The lesson culminates in a collective class poem highlighting the defiance of the enslaved.
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Through a mixer activity, students encounter how enslaved people resisted the brutal exploitation of slavery. The lesson culminates in a collective class poem highlighting the defiance of the enslaved.
Unforgettable Sacrifice: How Black Communities Remembered the Civil War
Book — Non-fiction. By Hilary N. Green. 2025. 400 pages.
The untold stories of ordinary African Americans who took extraordinary steps in remembrance and resistance during and after the Civil War.
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The untold stories of ordinary African Americans who took extraordinary steps in remembrance and resistance during and after the Civil War.