Historical Research Library

“To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth,” by Phillis Wheatley, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, London, 1773 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Phillis Wheatley’s Poem on Tyranny and Slavery, 1772

An eloquent condemnation of oppression and slavery, written for the British secretary of state for the colonies, showcasing Wheatley’s literary talent, and advocacy for freedom

Key Document

Sample of James Madison's handwriting from a letter from James Madison to Major Dana (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

James Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, 1785

An argument against state-sponsored religion, defending religious freedom and the separation of church and state

Key Document

New York African Free-School No. 2, based on a drawing by a student, from The History of the New-York African Free-School, by Charles C. Andrews, 1830 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Founding the New-York Manumission Society, 1785

Establishing an organization to advocate gradual abolition of slavery, educate free Black people, and prevent them from being sold into slavery

Event

Thomas Jefferson (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History)

Thomas Jefferson on Manumitting Slaves, 1789

Letter sent from Paris reflecting on freeing slaves—revealing his conflicting beliefs on liberty and equality amid the revolution

Supporting Document

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano; or, Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, by Olaudah Equiano, 1789 (1809 edition) (Courtesy of Burns Library, Boston College)

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, 1789

Autobiography detailing Olaudah Equiano’s enslavement, his journey to freedom, and fight against the slave trade

Key Document

Detail from the Bill of Rights. (National Archives)

Bill of Rights, 1791

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution—hard-fought additions that protect some individual liberties and limit government power

Key Document

The Petition of the People of Colour of the State [of South Carolina],” April 30, 1794

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a very small percentage of the Black population in South Carolina was not enslaved. They could not vote, did not have access to the same legal rights as White people, and were subject to special taxes, among other abuses. This petition sought to address and have rescinded one of those abuses, a poll tax aimed at free Black people.

Supporting Document