History
We start by tracing the early experience of African Americans in 1619 and overview how racial views from Europe influenced the early structures of governance from the colonies through the founding of the United States to the end of the nineteenth century.
We begin with the arrival of the first African slaves on the North American shores in 1619 and conclude with the resurgence of white supremacy in 2019. While the history section is, for now, complete, we will continuously update the website. The story does not end in 2019.
We hope this historical overview is a first step toward creating a more just and democratic society. As communities organize to advocate for more economic opportunity, community-based policing, and fair access to health care and education, we all benefit from understanding the systems that contributed to the inequalities and biases experienced today.
1619 - 1623: Labor Hierarchies in the "New" World
From the beginning of the English colonies in the New World, the division between free and unfree labor was clear.
1630: Western Notions of the "Black Race"
The almost casual shift from poor white laborers to enslaved Black laborers came from deeply entrenched Western ideas that perceived Black skin as inferior to white.
1639: “Act for the Liberties of the People”
As the economy grew and white merchants, plantation owners, and other businessmen became dependent on this “free” labor source, they looked for ways to legally enshrine and protect it.
1662: Racial Chattel Slavery - Permanent and Inheritable
As the African slave population increased, slave laws adapted to ensure the continuation of the institution.
1663: Slavery is Legalized
Labor hierarchies, racist ideas and actions converged in the legalization of slavery in Maryland in 1663 when the General Assembly passed the “Act Concerning Negroes and Other Slaves.”
1752: Baltimore’s Port
Baltimore’s accessible harbor and location at the cross roads of agriculture and international trade made it a prime location for commercial development.
1770: African Ideas of Slavery
Even as the legal system in Maryland and across the colonies moved to deny Africans their rights, Africans themselves retained a vision of resistance that refused to embrace slavery as a permanent institution.
1783: Free and Enslaved Blacks
For Black people the city offered both hope and despair. A growing number of free Black persons moved to take advantage of the jobs offered at the port and in the mills. However, their population grew alongside Black enslaved laborers in Baltimore setting up a constant reminder of the racial hierarchies to which even free Black people remained subject.
1787: The Constitutional Convention
The Constitution was to reflect ideals of liberty and freedom. In reality, for all non-whites it enshrined white dominance in the New World and embedded a racialized system into the DNA of the United States.
1790: The Naturalization Act of 1790
In 1790 Congress passed the Naturalization Act, which restricted citizenship to “any alien, being a free white person” who had been in the United States for two years.
1800-1850: Congressional Power Struggles
The first half of the nineteenth century brought the debate over the legality and morality of the institution of slavery to a dramatic climax.
1801: Abolitionism
Abolitionists tapped into a long history of subtle and overt resistance by African Americans. While denigrated, abused, and enslaved, Black people found ways to celebrate their culture, stay connected to their families and friends, and whenever possible, defy their slave owners and seek their freedom.
1856: The Caning of Charles Sumner
The conflict over slavery reached its zenith during a Senate debate on the floor of the Senate in May 1856.
1877-1965: Jim Crow Laws
When the federal government withdrew its support of Reconstruction in 1876, the period of post-civil war growth for free Black people ended.
1860: Maryland, A Border State
Despite the abolitionist’s efforts, Baltimore reported 87,189 enslaved persons out of a total state population of 687,049 when the U.S. Census was taken in 1860.
1863: The Civil War and Emancipation
The people of Maryland and Baltimore split their allegiance between the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War.
1865-1877: The Era of Reconstruction
Immediately after the Civil War, what is known as the Reconstruction Congress passed Amendments to the Constitution abolishing slavery and indentured servitude (13th), granting African Americans full citizenship and equal rights under the law (14th), and providing voting protection rights regardless of race, color, or previous status as an enslaved man (15th).
1896: "Separate but Equal"
The effects of Jim Crow laws were compounded by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 which held that racial segregation did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. Taking a narrow definition of the law, this ruling established the racist “separate but equal” culture that pervaded the South and border states, like Maryland, and that led to gross inequality and violence against African Americans.
1897: W.E.B. Du Bois
In 1897, a rising African American leader William Edward Burghardt Du Bois accepted a position at the historically Black college, Atlanta University. His work challenged prevailing racist views and laid out for the sociological field a more scientifically rigorous method of conducting social research.
1910: The Great Migration
Hoping to find more freedom and better economic opportunity elsewhere, many African Americans moved with family and friends to the cities, especially border and northern cities.