African American History: Haitian Revolution

• African American history is a story of struggle, resilience, and change.
• From enslavement to Reconstruction to segregation to cultural rebirth, Black Americans have fought for justice against huge odds.

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)

• The only successful slave revolt happened in Haiti, with enslaved Africans overthrowing French rule.
• Toussaint Louverture, a formerly enslaved man, led the fight, and Haiti became the first independent Black republic in the Americas in 1804.
• The victory of Haiti terrified white enslavers in the U.S., proving enslaved people could fight back and win.
• Haiti's victory inspired resistance across the Americas, including slave rebellions in the U.S.
• The U.S. refused to recognize Haiti for decades to discourage similar uprisings.

The Underground Railroad & Harriet Tubman

• The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses that helped enslaved people escape to free states and Canada.
• Harriet Tubman, a formerly enslaved woman, made 13 missions to rescue over 70 people.
• Tubman risked her life for the community, not just herself.
• The Fugitive Slave Act (1850) made it illegal to help enslaved people escape, but many still resisted.

The Amistad Rebellion (1839)

• Captured Africans aboard the Amistad ship rebelled and took control, but were later caught and put on trial in the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Former President John Quincy Adams argued for their freedom, and the court ruled in their favor showing enslaved people were not powerless.
• This was one of the first times U.S. courts sided with Black freedom, setting a legal precedent.
• The case was a major victory for abolitionists.

Slave Codes & Black Abolitionists

• Slave codes were laws meant to keep enslaved people under control by forbidding them from learning, gathering, or traveling without permission.
• Black abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth fought against these laws.
• The fact that slaveholders banned education shows they knew knowledge was power.
• Abolitionists told their own stories, proving their intelligence and humanity to change public opinion on slavery, especially in the North.

The Social Construction of Race

• Race is not a biological fact—it was created as a system of power to justify slavery.
• Laws in early America ensured Black people would remain enslaved and white people would remain in power.
• Racial categories made in the 1600s shaped who had rights and who didn't.
• After slavery, race justified segregation and discrimination, leading to racial inequality today.

The Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th)

• After the Civil War, three major amendments were passed.
• 13th Amendment (1865): Ended slavery but left a loophole allowing forced labor in prisons.
• 14th Amendment (1868): Gave Black people citizenship.
• 15th Amendment (1870): Gave Black men the right to vote, but states found ways to block it.
• Racist laws weakened the amendments with the prison loophole allowing mass incarceration of Black people.
• Black political power grew briefly until white supremacists suppressed it.

Jim Crow Laws & Black Codes

• After slavery, new laws maintained white dominance.
• These included segregation laws, literacy tests, and poll taxes to block Black voting.
• Jim Crow was slavery by another name, treating Black people as second-class citizens.
• Segregation shaped wealth, education, and jobs, and weren't overturned until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

The Great Migration (1910-1970)

• Millions of Black Americans left the South for cities like Detroit, Chicago, and New York for better jobs and to escape racism.
• This migration transformed America—Black culture became more visible in music, art, and activism.
• It led to political power in northern cities, setting the stage for the Civil Rights Movement.
• Racism followed, and redlining kept Black families out of wealthier areas.

The Harlem Renaissance (1920s-1930s)

• A cultural explosion occurred where Black writers, musicians, and artists expressed their identity and struggles.
• Figures like Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington redefined what it meant to be Black in America.
• It gave Black people a voice and pride in their culture and challenged racist ideas and stereotypes in media.
• It set the foundation for modern Black art, music, and literature.

W.E.B. Du Bois & Double Consciousness

• W.E.B. Du Bois described double consciousness as seeing yourself through your own eyes and the lens of racism.
• It explains the struggle of being both Black and American in a racist society.
• It helps understanding of why Black identity and self-perception have been shaped by oppression still applying today with code-switching in white spaces.

Black Wall Street & The Tulsa Race Massacre (1921)

• Tulsa, Oklahoma, had a thriving Black business district known as Black Wall Street.
• In 1921, white mobs burned it down, killing hundreds and destroying Black wealth.
• The event was erased from history books, showing how white violence was used to stop Black success.
• The loss of Black wealth impacts Black communities today.