Massachusetts

• 1638: Enslaved Africans traded for Native prisoners

• 1638: Enslaver orders rape to "breed slave stock"

• 1641: Massachusetts gives legal green light to slavery

• 1644-1645: First slaving venture helps legitimize bondage in Massachusetts

• 1670: First African American to own land in Boston

• 1676 Executions portend broad assault on Indigenous peoples

• 1676: Colonists trade Native captives for enslaved Africans

• 1698: Colonial merchants gain right to trade Africans

• 1700: Puritans debate: Is slavery Christian?

• 1700: Isaac Royall: A dynasty built on slavery

• 1717: Shipwreck sheds light on piracy-slavery links

• 1734: Sarah Chauqum: Native American woman wins reparations

• 1740-1742: Slave trader's hall hosts abolitionist rallies

• 1743: Mutiny, chocolate, and racial capitalism

• 1746: Lucy Terry Prince: Resilient poet, storyteller

• 1755: Cash for scalps = license to kill Indians

• 1755 Poison is tool of resistance and revenge

• 1761: Phillis Wheatley Peters: Genius poet arrives on slave ship

• 1762: Jenny Slew: Among first to win a freedom suit

• 1764: Tax law protest tied to growing rum industry

• 1771: Governor rebuffs proposed ban on slave imports

• 1772: Landmark ruling frees enslaved African in England

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

• 1776-1783: Service for freedom: thousands join British forces

• 1776: Activist Black community forms in Boston

• 1777: Juno Larcom: Wins freedom after 46 years

• 1781-1783: Massachusetts freedom suits are turning point

• 1783: Belinda Sutton: Fights to be paid for 50 years in bondage

• 1784: Black Freemasons spur activism, advance abolitionist cause

• 1785: Racist persecution, Black resilience in famed forest

• 1788: Massachusetts bans slave trades, expels "outsiders"

• 1790: Opium king bankrolls hospitals, museums

• 1793: New law requires return of fugitives from slavery

• 1793: Cotton gin boosts, prolongs plantation slavery system

• 1794: Black churches become hubs of activism

• 1794: Slave trade law fails to curb trafficking

• 1798: Ivory and slavery: The deadly cost of a pianoforte

• 1811: Lewis Hayden: Leading abolitionist, state politician

• 1814: Cotton enriches businessmen, North and South

• 1816: Unsung heroines play key movement roles

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

• 1820: Maine becomes a free state in deal over slavery

• 1820: Maine slave trader first to be executed

• 1826: New group fosters Black abolitionist movement

• 1826: John Greenleaf Whittier: Abolitionist poet, editor

• 1829: Walker's Appeal: A rallying cry for Black Americans

• 1830: Abolitionists lead church desegregation effort

• 1831 Flagship anti-slavery paper is launched

• 1832: Black women form female anti-slavery society

• 1832: Regional anti-slavery society birthed in Boston

• 1832: Maria W. Stewart: Militant abolitionist, women's rights champion

• 1833: Native leader designates "Days of Mourning" to mark colonists' arrival

• 1833: Emiliano Mundrucu: Challenges racism in court

• 1833: Female anti-slavery groups proliferate

• 1833: Lydia Maria Child: Abolitionist and rights advocate

• 1833: Youth choirs part of vibrant anti-slavery culture

• 1834: Mill workers support enslaved cotton pickers

• 1834: New songs help inspire anti-slavery activism

• 1835: Abolitionist women run gauntlet of Boston mob

• 1835: Enslaved workers lay foundation for modern rail network

• 1836: Abolitionist women gain freedom for enslaved girl

• 1836: Black women free two who fled bondage

• 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

• 1838-1846: Cooperatives produce fair-labor goods, model shared values

• 1839-1858: Gift book sales fund anti-slavery work

• 1842 "Under ground Rail-road" promoter transports hundreds to freedom

• 1842: Campaign prevents escapee's return to bondage

• 1842: Sarah Parker Remond: Activist for human rights, women's suffrage

• 1843: Abolitionists campaign against segregation, for interracial marriage

• 1844: Historian derides notions of White superiority

• 1844: Sea captain branded for freedom voyage venture

• 1845: Frances Ellen Watkins: Poet, anti-slavery activist

• 1845: Texas takeover decried as land grab for slavery

• 1847: Sloop captain carries fugitives to freedom

• 1847: The Crafts: Tireless speakers against slavery after daring escape

• 1850 Abolitionist Nancy Gardner Prince publishes autobiography

• 1851: Challenges to Fugitive Slave Act fire movement

• 1851: Sojourner Truth: Activist for abolition, women's rights, prison reform

• 1854: Court case boosts anti-slavery sentiment

• 1854: Families move to Kansas to help make it a free state

• 1855: Personal liberty laws protect escapees

• 1855: Black abolitionists help ban segregated schools

• 1855: U.S. traders transport enslaved Chinese to Brazil

• 1856: Anti-slavery champion beaten on Senate floor

• 1856: White supremacists ravage anti-slavery bastion

• 1856: In book, Emerson espouses White Supremacy

• 1859: First novel by African American women published

• 1859: John Brown hanged after failed armory raid

• 1860: New schooner linked to illegal slave trade circle

• 1860: Boston mob disrupts meeting to honor John Brown

• 1861: Blockade designed to strangle Southern economy

• 1861: African Americans push to serve in military

• 1861: Bloody clashes in Baltimore as Civil War starts

• 1861: Swayed by landscape, Britain shuns Confederacy

• 1861: Enslaved people declared "contraband of war"

• 1861 Pro-slavery sentiments roil Massachusetts town

• 1862: Sculptor honors abolitionists, feminists, Lincoln declares freedom for all

• 1862: William Gould: Rows to freedom, serves in Union Navy

• 1863: Lincoln issues Final Emancipation Proclamation

• 1863: Volunteers of color rush to join Union military

• 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: KKK founded; will boast over 500,000 New England members in 1920s

• 1865: Planters mull plan to import Chinese laborers