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1415
Prince Henry's Caper
Prince Henry convinces his father, King John of Portugal to capture the main Muslim trading depot on the northeastern tip of Morocco (Chapter 1, Page 22) -
Period: 1415 to
History of Racism and Antiracism
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1450
Gomes de Zurara: The World's First Racist
Zurara writes the book "The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea", the first book written that defended Black human ownership. He depicted black people as savage animals. (Chapter 1, Page 23) -
1526
Johannes Leo: The First Known African Racist
Formerly known as ali-Hasan Ibn Muhammad, Johannes Leo was a captured and enslaved man who was eventually freed by Pope Leo X, who converted him into a Christian. Zurara's depiction of black people manged to convince some Africans that they were inferior. Johannes was convinced and described Africans as hypersexual savages. (Chapter 1, Page 27) -
1577
Curse theory
Curse theory came to be after noticing that Inuit people in cold climate were darker than people in the hotter south. This meant that the darker skin tone was thought to not be from climate. Instead the idea of it being from a curse was theorized. (Chapter 2, Page 29) -
William Perkins
William Perkins publishes the book "Ordering a Familie". The book portrayed slaves as another loved part of the family that's just ordered differently. This made the new enslavers believe that they are "cleaning up" the Africans or that they're being benevolent. (Chapter 2, Page 31) -
San Juan Bautista Hijacked
In 1619, a Spanish ship called the San Juan Batista was hijacked by two pirate ships. The ship had 350 Angolans and 60 were taken and sold and enslaved. (Chapter 2, Page 36) -
Increase and Maria
Increase (son of Richard Mather and Sarah), and Maria (daughter of John Cotton and Sarah) have an incestuous child named Cotton Mather who was an 11 year old Harvard student and extremely religious. (Image is of Increase Mather) (Chapter 4, Page 46-47) -
Richard Baxter Writing
A piece by British Minister Richard Baxter called "A Christian Directory". He believed that slavery was helpful for African people and even said that some slaves were voluntarily slaves. (Chapter 3, Page 38-39) -
White Privilege is Introduced
In 1676, a revolt by poor white people and black people arose. In order to turn poor white and black people against each other, Governor William Berkeley created privileges for white people. The white rebels would be pardoned slaves would be severely punished. All whites would also have the power to abuse any African person. (Image is of William Berkeley) (Chapter 3, Page 43-45) -
The First Antiracist Writing
A Christian denomination from the German and Dutch speaking areas of central Europe called the Mennonites were being killed for their religious beliefs. The Mennonites did not want to leave to America so they circulated an antislavery petition on April 18, 1688, comparing oppression due to skin color to oppression due to religious beliefs. It was eventually shut down because slave owners didn't want their business being talked about like it was wrong.(Chapter 3, Page 41) -
Witch Hunting
Samuel Parris's daughter suffers convulsions and chokes. He believed that his daughter was possessed or cursed by a witch, which was all it took to initiate the witch hunt. People would be accused of witchcraft over the next few months. Cotton Mather was the person who bring up witches, as an attempt to reflect the crusade against him. Later, the witch hunt eventually died down. (Chapter 4, Page 49-50) -
Cotton Mather Dies
After calling his church pastor into the room for prayer, Cotton Mather dies a day later, as Jonathan Edwards carries on the torch of torture. (Image is of Cotton Mather) (Chapter 4, Page 53) -
American Philosophical Society
Benjamin Franklin started a club in Philadelphia called the American Philosophical Society. This was during the "Enlightenment era". Thomas Jefferson was a part of it. (Chapter 5, Page 57) -
Phillis Wheatley
John Wheatley, adoptive father of Phillis Wheatley gathers 18 of the smartest men in America so that they could test Phillis to see how intelligent and literate a black person could be. She answered every question correctly which proved a certain point. A point that could later be used for many antiracists. (Image is of Phillis Wheatley) (Chapter 5, Page 60) -
Phillis Wheatley's poetry published
In 1773, Britain published Phillis Wheatley making her collection the first volume of poetry by an African American poet to be published. (Chapter 5, Page 62) -
The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson, who at the time was a thirty-three year old delegate to the Second Continental Congress, sat down the pen the Declaration of Independence. At the start of the declaration, he wrote "All men are created equal". (Chapter 8, Page 68) -
Jefferson moves to Paris
In 1784, after Thomas Jefferson's wife died, he moved to Paris. (Chapter 8, Page 71) -
Gabriel and Nancy Prosser
A revolt was planned for August 30, 1800. It was planned to be an enormous slave rebellion, organized by Gabriel and Nancy Prosser. It would have been the largest slave revolt in the history of North America with rebels joining in in the thousands. Two slaves ended up snitching which brought down the entire plan and Gabriel Prosser was caught and hanged. Still, the idea of the revolt made slave owners nervous. (Image is of Gabriel Prosser) (Chapter 10, Page 79-81) -
New Slave Trade Act
As the president, Thomas Jefferson put a policy that could have started the process of ending slavery despite owning many slaves himself. He brought about a new Slave Trade Act. The goal was to import people of Africa and Caribbean into America and fine illegal slave traders. The policy ended up doing absolutely nothing and Thomas Jefferson continued to use slaves as if he were both proslavery and antislavery. (Chapter 10, Page 82-83) -
England Abolishes Slavery
In 1807 England abolishes slavery. (Chapter 8, Page 67) -
Thomas Jefferson dies
On July 4, 1826, Thomas Jefferson died next to his slaves. The truth was that he thought that slavery was wrong just not wrong enough to free his own slaves. He knew that "all men are created equal" but still had to depend on slaves. He was segregationist and assimilationist but never quite made it to antiracist. (Chapter 10, Page 89-90) -
David Walker
Robert Finley's American Colonization Society asked 23 year old William Lloyd Garrison to give their 4th of July address. But Garrison was a abolitionist not on the side of colonization. He eventually met with David Walker. Walker was a black man who had written a pamphlet arguing against the idea that black people were meant to serve white people. Walker died of tuberculosis and Garrison carried on Walker's ideas, being greatly influenced by them. Image of David Walker (Chapter 11, Page 95-96) -
The Liberator
In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison created the weekly abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. The paper relaunched the abolitionist movement among White people. In the first editorial piece, the ideas in it pushed for immediate abolition but gradual equality. (Chapter 11, Page 97) -
American Anti-Slavery Society
William Lloyd Garrison created a new group called the American Anti-Slavery Society. On the annual meeting of year 1835, the members decided to utilize the new technology of efficient postal service and mass printing to overwhelm the nation with improved abolitionist pamphlets. One million antislavery pamphlets were coming by the end of the year. (Image is of William Lloyd Garrison) (Chapter 11, Page 99) -
John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun was a senator from South Carolina fighting for Texas to be a slave state in the 1844 election. He was running for office but eventually pulled out. A bit later, when Texas became a slave state, proslavery politicians were trying to push America further west for expansion. (Chapter 12, Page 102-103) -
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
In 1845, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, was published with the help of Garrison. The book outlined Frederick's life and exposed what slavery is like from a slave's perspective. The book would be used to further the fight against the segregationist ideas of Zurara and Cotton Mather. Similar books like this have also been written like Narrative of Sojourner Truth. (Chapter 12, Page 103) -
Uncle Tom's Cabin Published
Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". The book showed how possibly White people were the worst in believing in god and black people were better. The book was exceedingly popular especially with women and laid possible groundwork for a new political force: Abraham Lincoln. (Image is of Harriet Beecher Stowe) (Chapter 12, Page 106-108) -
Abraham Lincoln Wins Presidency
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln became president. The interesting part is that in order to win, Lincoln was against racial equality and black voting. Lincoln was on three sides, the racists, black people, and poor white people which meant that not everyone could trust him, like Garrison. When Lincoln won, it made slave owners nervous and they moved and created their own territory (in the south) where slavery was allowed. It was called The Confederacy. (Chapter 13, Page 111-113) -
Union Army
When the Civil War started in 1861, slaves wanted to fight against their slave owners, so they ran into the union to join the union army (the north). Union soldiers were enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act which meant the runaway slaves were returned to their owners. That was until 1862, when two bills passed that declared slaves free of servitude. This made Lincoln labeled as the "Great Emancipator" although black people were really just emancipating themselves. (Chapter 13, Page 115-116) -
Civil War Ends
In 1865, the Civil War came to an end and on the same month of the victory, Lincoln delivered his plans for reconstruction where he said the black people should have the right to vote. Just three days later, he was assassinated by gunshot. (Chapter 13, Page 117) -
Andrew Johnson
Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States. He assumed presidency after Lincoln died, and once he became president, he started to reverse a lot of Lincoln's promises. He was able to create laws that evolve into laws that legalized racial segregation, which led to emboldening of the Ku Klux Klan. (Chapter 14, Page 119) -
The 15th Amendment
In 1870, the 15th amendment was made official. The amendment made it so that people were no longer prohibited from voting due to race or color. The amendment gave antislavery and black people false hope because it had racist loopholes. (Chapter 14, Page 121-122) -
American Anti-Slavery Society Disbands
Later In 1870, the American Anti-Slavery Society disbanded, feeling like their job was done and let their guard down. The immediate emancipation and eventually the immediate equality that Garrison wanted ended up both not happening in his lifetime. (Chapter 14, Page 123-125)
