Emancipation

• 1761: Jupiter Hammon: First published Black male poet

• 1765: Mass deaths are turning point for slave trader

• 1771: Quaker abolitionist educates, inspires others

• 1777: Vermont abolishes slavery; ban largely ignored

• 1779: Pompey Brakkee: Wins compensation from Vermont enslaver

• 1780: Black residents help win first abolition law

• 1784: Rhode Island, Connecticut embrace gradual abolition

• 1785: Racist persecution, Black resilience in famed forest

• 1791: Largest private emancipation in U.S. history

• 1798: George Moses Horton: Poet free after 68 years

• 1816: "Fantasy" scheme to preserve U.S. slavery

• 1833: Emiliano Mundrucu: Challenges racism in court

• 1833: Lydia Maria Child: Abolitionist and rights advocate

• 1837 Wendell Phillips: Powerful voice for abolition

• 1839: Women's role is key issue in anti-slavery society split

• 1849: Harriet Tubman: "Moses" is also top Union spy

• 1850: Martin Delany: Abolitionist leader, champions Black self-reliance

• 1857: "The Weeping Time": Enslaver sells 429 people in two days

• 1857: Supreme Court: Black Americans have no rights

• 1861 Landscape architect helps persuade Britain to shun Confederacy

• 1861: Enslaved people declared "contraband of war"

• 1862: Lincoln declares freedom for all

• 1862: Congress frees all enslaved people in D.C.

• 1862 Ida B. Wells: Exposes lynching horrors with the "light of truth"

• 1862 Republicans build on military wins to pass progressive laws

• 1862: Sculptor honors abolitionists, feminists

• 1862: Clergymen urge general emancipation edict

• 1862 Lincoln declares freedom for all

• 1863 Lincoln issues Final Emancipation Proclamation

• 1863 Volunteers of color rush to join Union military

• 1863: Tour raises funds for freedmen schools

• 1863: Eldest son of Frederick Douglass enlists

• 1863: Abraham Galloway: Militant activist, Union spy, civil rights leader

• 1863: Attack on fort repelled: 280 Union casualties

• 1864: Another Massachusetts regiment of color forms

• 1864: Gavel made from whipping post gifted to activists

• 1865: Death toll makes war bloodiest in U.S. history

• 1865: March honors falled Union war captives

• 1865: Freedmen organize first Juneteenth

• 1865-1866: Black Codes: Slavery by another name