African-American History

history · american-culture · civil-rights · resilience

Forced Ocean Journeys. Beginning in the 1600s, millions of Africans were taken from their homes and transported across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and other parts of the Americas. This terrible practice, called the Atlantic slave trade, affected roughly 10 to 12 million people from Africa.

Work on Plantations. When enslaved Africans arrived in North America, they were forced to work on large farms called plantations growing valuable crops like tobacco and cotton. This hard labor made those crops valuable for trade and made many colonists wealthy.

1619: A Turning Point. In 1619, a group of enslaved Africans arrived in the English Virginia Colony, marking the official start of slavery in what would become the United States. This moment set in motion centuries of struggle and resistance.

Growing Population. By the year 1776, when America declared independence, about 1 out of every 5 people in British North America was of African descent, either enslaved or free. This shows how much the African-American presence shaped early American society.