Historical Research Library
Discover the people, events, and key documents that shaped the Founding Era.
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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
Shays’ Rebellion, 1786
An armed uprising by indebted Massachusetts farmers protesting economic injustice and demanding debt relief
Event
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, 1789
Autobiography detailing Olaudah Equiano’s enslavement, his journey to freedom, and fight against the slave trade
Key Document
Whiskey Rebellion, 1794
Pennsylvania farmers violently resisted a federal whiskey tax—illustrating the tensions between frontiersmen and the new government’s authority
Event
Samuel Adams
One of the first Americans to challenge British rule and resist their policies in the 1760s and 1770s
Person
John Adams
A leading proponent of independence, a congressman, a diplomat, and the second President of the United States
Person
Richard Allen
Prominent Philadelphia advocate for abolition and civil rights and founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
Person
![Benjamin Banneker, from the title page of "Benjamin Bannaker's [sic] Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac, for the Year of Our Lord 1795" (Maryland Historical Society)](/sites/default/files/styles/research_thumbnail/public/2023-10/ms2700_banneker2RET.png.webp?itok=xv1YyBkk)
Paul Cuffe
Black and Wampanoag businessman and shipbuilder who advocated for abolition, civil rights, and African colonization
Person
Benjamin Franklin
A polymath and statesman who was a leading figure in science, literature, diplomacy, and governance
Person