Slavery

In the pre-Antebellum particularly during the 1850's did slaves and free blacks have rights? Or even citizenship perhaps?

Recently, Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia referred to the first African Americans to arrive in Jamestown as [indentured... more

In David Blight’s biography of Frederick Douglas, he explains the young Frederick witnesses several violent beatings and or rapes by the age of 7 or 8. How common was this practice? What % of... more

At the beginning of July 1788, the unicameral Congress of the Confederation began deliberations on whether to admit the proposed new state of Kentucky to the Union. Under the Articles of... more

Accounts of the build-up to the American Civil War put a lot of weight on the concept of balance between the number of free states and slave states in the union, and various complicated wrangling... more

When the slave trade was at its peak in America were there any notable owners who treated their slave with far more dignity and respect than was typical at the time? I understand that a lot of... more

The capture, shipping and sale of African slaves was most famously directed towards the colonies of European empires in the Americas, where they were put to work on plantations and other harsh,... more

I know that some African nations participated in the slave trade by providing captured enemies as slaves to Europeans, but what are some of the reasons they did? Was it simply a new economic... more

How compare the rights and conditions of the 19-th century American slaves to those of the 19-th century Russian serfs?

Where Jefferson once saw slavery as the central flaw in Virginia, a sentiment he forcibly expressed in his *Notes on the State of Virginia*, he later “began to adjust his thinking to concentrate... more

I was told by someone who knows political history that few abolitionists believed in complete equality for Blacks. Few would have believed in intermarriage and perhaps not all would have accepted... more

In both fantasy and science fiction, from books, movies, games and tv shows, slave armies are a concept that is used pretty often. A well known example of this is the Unsullied from *Game of... more

As said in the title, why was there a need to maintain the balance of power between the Slave states and Free States by keeping them equal in number, before the American Civil War? Both the Clay... more

what was the impact of the fugitive slave law of 1850 and the dred scott decision of 1857 on african americans?

in 12 years a slave detail solomon northrups life before his kidnapping and how those circumstances helped or hindered him during his enslavement. was he stronger or weaker because he had been free?