In this section, the Institute presents historic documents and publications that tell the story of how the Declaration inspired the birth of the civil rights movement among African Americans within months of its appearance. The Declaration asserted and codified rights that African Americans claimed for themselves as equal participants in the new nation.
Historic Documents
- Lemuel Haynes, “Liberty Further Extended: Or Free Thoughts on the Illegality of Slave-Keeping” (1776)
- Lancaster Hill, Peter Bess, Brister Slenser, Prince Hall, et al.,“The Petition of a Great Number of Negroes Who Are Detained in a State of Slavery” (January 13, 1777)
- “Vox Africanorum,” Letter to the Maryland Gazette (May 15, 1783)
- Benjamin Banneker, Letter to Thomas Jefferson (August 19, 1791)
Publications
History Now 60 (Summer 2021), “Black Lives in the Founding Era”
This landmark issue features sixteen essays by leading historians including Margaret Washington, Lois Horton, Thomas J. Davis, Julie Winch, and James G. Basker. The essays focus on the lives and achievements of African American founders such as Phillis Wheatley, Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, and James Forten, among others. Click here to subscribe to History Now.
Slavery and Abolition in the Founding Era: Black and White Voices (GLI, 2021)
Slavery and Abolition in the Founding Era: Black and White Voices, a new publication from the Gilder Lehrman Institute, brings together long-forgotten writings from this period, including twenty-five texts in different genres by more than nineteen different writers, spanning the forty-five-year period from the 1770s to the end of the War of 1812. The writings show that opposition to slavery was surprisingly widespread. Purchase your copy here.
2022 Calendar of Black Lives in the Founding Era
The Gilder Lehrman Institute's 2022 Calendar of Black Lives in the Founding Era features selected dates recognizing the lives and achievements of African American founders and illustrations of important figures and events.