Black American History
Many of us grew up watching Westerns on TV and at the movies. Seldom did anyone other than a white person play the hero. Books and textbooks also presented a heavily whitewashed picture of the Old West. However, the real Wild West was filled with colorful characters of all races and creeds. If the history of Texas is any indication, perhaps as many as one in four cowboys were black.
Many people have read the story of how George Washington Carver invented peanut butter. Others are familiar with the story of Sarah Breedlove, aka Madam C. J. Walker, the inventor of beauty products. Here are some black inventors you may not know.
Literature in particular has been a space for black authors to tell their stories authentically, and bookworms seeking good reads can choose from an array of fiction, poetry, historical texts, essays, and memoirs. From literary icons to fresh, buzzworthy talent, we're highlighting 25 books by African-American authors you should add to your reading list today.
Plenty would not exist were it not for black pioneers; here’s a very small glimpse at what modern day inventions came from the African American community.
The mission of the African American Civil War Museum is to correct a great wrong in American history which ignored the contributions of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in keeping America united under one flag and ending slavery in the United States.
Female African-American Inventors who help shape our everyday lives.
Discover the people and events that shaped African American history, from slavery and abolitionism to the Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights Movement.
The black history that pre-dates the slave trade is rarely taught in schools and is almost never acknowledged. As a result many African-Americans grow up believing that slavery is the only event to occur in their history before the civil rights movement, which is not accurate.
The history of African Americans in the United States has been a paradox of incredible triumph in the face of tremendous human tragedy. This site serves as a portal to the vast and growing array of information on the Web and in other sources on the thirty seven million African Americans in the nation.
African American History Timeline: 1619 - 2008 . 1619 The first African American indentured servants arrive in the American colonies. Less than a decade later, the first slaves are brought into New Amsterdam (later, New York)
Some of the Inventions African Americans created in America and their contribution to the advancement of America
This is a list of African-American authors and writers, all of whom are considered part of African-American literature, and who already have Wikipedia articles. The list also includes non-American authors resident in the USA and American writers of African descent.
Was fought over the right to own slaves and not State rights. The State rights ruse was merely an attempt to justify slavery.
President Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president of the United States on November 5, 2008, transcending centuries of inequality in America.
An American attorney and politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American to serve as president. He was previously a United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Illinois State Senate.
Accounted for up to 25 percent of workers in the range-cattle industry from the 1860s to 1880s, estimated to be between 6,000 and 9,000 workers. Typically former slaves or born into the families of former slaves, many black men had skills in cattle handling and headed West at the end of the Civil War. Though the industry generally treated black men equally to white men in terms of pay and responsibilities, discrimination persisted, though to a lesser extent than in other industries of the time.
Black Lawmen, Outlaws and Cowboys of the old west you might be saying with wonderment and head scratching! “Why that’s an oxymoron! I’ve never heard of such a thing!”. Yeah, Yeah I know you haven’t because they were literally “white washed” (pun intended) out of Old West history.
One in four cowboys was black. So why aren’t they more present in popular culture?
Was a cowboy, rodeo, Wild West show performer and actor. In 1989, Pickett was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
This library of podcasts includes Stuff You Missed in History Class episodes on black history.
A community site dedicated to past influential and living black leaders and the history surrounding them.
Online Resources General Collection National Research.
The Complete List of Genius Black American (African American) Inventors, Scientists, and Engineers with Their Revolutionary Inventions That Changed the World and Impacted History - Part One
The Complete List of Genius Black American (African American) Inventors, Scientists, and Engineers with Their Revolutionary Inventions That Changed the World and Impacted History - Part Two
He worked mostly in Arkansas and the Oklahoma Territory. During his long career, he was credited with arresting more than 3,000 felons. He shot and killed 14 outlaws in self-defense.
The first African American to assume the presidency (2009–2017) and previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois (2005–2008).
Originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Negro Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in the Indian Wars. The term eventually became synonymous with all of the African American regiments formed in 1866.
Were African American soldiers who mainly served on the Western frontier following the American Civil War. In 1866, six all-black cavalry and infantry regiments were created after Congress passed the Army Organization Act. Their main tasks were to help control the Native Americans of the Plains, capture cattle rustlers and thieves and protect settlers, stagecoaches, wagon trains and railroad crews along the Western front.
Their duties included escorting stagecoaches, trains, and work parties and policing cattle rustlers and illegal traders who sold guns and liquor to the Indians, but their principal mission was to control the Indians of the Plains and Southwest.
Was an American stevedore of African and Native American descent, widely regarded as the first person killed in the Boston massacre and thus the first American killed in the American Revolution.
They are the famous African-American writers who have fearlessly examined cultural stigmas, provided intimate life details, presented new ideas and created remarkable fiction through literary works. For their prophetic genius, these men and women have received Pulitzer Prizes, NAACP awards and even Nobel Prizes, among other honors.
Journalist, Civil Rights Activist, Author, Government Official. Famed 19th-century author and orator Frederick Douglass was an eminent human rights leader in the anti-slavery movement and the first African-American citizen to hold a high U.S. government rank.
In his journey from captive slave to internationally renowned activist, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) has been a source of inspiration and hope for millions. His brilliant words and brave actions continue to shape the ways that we think about race, democracy, and the meaning of freedom.
This is a list of examples of Jim Crow laws, which were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. Jim Crow laws existed mainly in the South and originated from the Black Codes that were passed from 1865 to 1866 and from prewar segregation on railroad cars in northern cities. The laws sprouted up in the late 19th century after Reconstruction and lasted until the 1960s
“It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.”. “Marriages are void when one party is a white person and the other is possessed of one-eighth or more negro, Japanese, or Chinese blood.”. “Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white child to attend a colored school.”. “All railroads carrying passengers in the state (other than street railroads) shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the cars by a partition, so as to secure separate accommodations.”.
Learn more about racism in America.
Learn more about slavery in America.
Profiled here are African American men and women who have contributed to the advancement of science and engineering. The accomplishments of the past and present can serve as pathfinders to present and future engineers and scientists. African American chemists, biologists, inventors, engineers, and mathematicians have contributed in both large and small ways that can be overlooked when chronicling the history of science. By describing the scientific history of selected African American men and women we can see how the efforts of individuals have advanced human understanding in the world around us.
Who Are the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II? The Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated, determined young men who enlisted to become America’s first black military airmen, at a time when there were many people who thought that black men lacked intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism.
Trained at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, they flew more than 15,000 individual sorties in Europe and North Africa during World War II. Their impressive performance earned them more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and helped encourage the eventual integration of the U.S. armed forces.
White nationalist, right-wing extremists and other white supremacist groups have killed more Americans than terrorist have. White nationalist, right-wing extremists and other white supremacist groups are domestic terrorist and should be branded as the domestic terrorist they are. This page is dedicated to shining a light on the threat White nationalist, right-wing extremists and other white supremacist groups to America and our citizens.