1688 Anti-slavery petition divides Quakers

1773-1779: Black freedom petitions: "For the sake of justice, humanity"

1779: In New Hampshire, 20 enslaved Africans petition for freedom

1784: Black Freemasons spur activism, advance abolitionist cause

1788: Massachusetts bans slave trades, expels "outsiders"

1798: George Moses Horton: Poet free after 68 years

1833: Female anti-slavery groups proliferate

1833 National anti-slavery group established

1834 Mill workers support enslaved cotton pickers

1837 Wendell Phillips: Powerful voice for abolition

1837: Planter's daughters campaign for abolition, women's rights

1838 Abolitionists demand Congress restore free debate on slavery

1842 Campaign prevents escapee's return to bondage

1845 Texas takeover decried as land grab for slavery