In 1839 the crew of the slave ship La Amistad was overthrown by the Africans it was transporting. The Africans were unsuccessfully attempting to steer the ship back to their homeland when they were encountered by the Revenue Service brig, U.S.S. Washington off of the coast of Long Island. The commander of the Washington rendered aid and brought the ship into port in Boston. After a lengthy judicial process, involving a case before the Supreme Court in which the Africans were represented by former President John Quincy Adams, the slave traders lost their claim to have the Africans deemed “property” and returned to them.
In 1856, Herman Melville published a fictional short story, Benito Cereno, based on the La Amistad incident in a collection of short stories.
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The Free Soil Party was the first American political party that was formed specifically to end slavery. Its first convention was held in Buffalo in 1848 and it nominated former President, Martin Van Buren as the party’s presidential nominee. While the party failed to win national office, it did win several state legislative races and was instrumental in the formation of the Republican Party in 1856, which adopted an anti-slavery plank.
The Niagara Movement was an attempt by African American scholars, writers, publishers and civic activists to more effectively work for civil rights in an organized fashion. This is a draft of their constitution and by-laws, as they appeared at the end of a meeting in Buffalo, NY during July of 1905. The formative experience many of these individuals had in the founding of the Niagara Movement would later help them as that group evolved into the NAACP.
Courtesy of the Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts - Amherst Libraries, the David Graham Du Bois Trust
Alpha Phi Alpha was the first African American Greek letter society in the United States. It was founded by seven African American male students at Cornell University. They met at St. James A.M.E. Zion Church in Ithaca, NY. The fraternity later grew and expanded nationally. Today, many distinguished leaders in business, education, politics and science are affiliated with Alpha Phi Alpha.
For more information on the first African American Greek Letter Society (Alpha Phi Alpha), please visit:
Courtesy of Cornell University’s Carl A. Kroch Library
Though African Americans fought bravely during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, they were not allowed to serve in the Army again until the Civil War. At the urging of abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, President Lincoln authorized the formation of African American regiments in late 1862. Over 4,000 African Americans from New York enlisted, forming three regiments, the 20th, 26th and 31st. After the war these units were eventually disbanded and the soldiers were reassigned to one of the four African American Infantry Units authorized by Congress. In 1915, New York State authorized the formation of the 15th National Guard Infantry Regiment, an African American unit. First Lieutenant Vertner Tandy of Cornell University was assigned to the Regiment, he was the first African American to pass a military commissioning exam. The Unit was eventually pressed into federal service during the First World War and was re-designated the 369th Infantry Unit. The Unit earned a distinguished war record and gained further distinction in the Second World War.
For more information about the Harlem Hellfighters, please visit:
Courtesy of the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center