Where in the World

The first African slaves arriving in present day USA was at Winyah Bay in South Carolina in August of 1526. Their forced arrival was by a Spanish explorer who was looking to start a colony in the area with 600 colonist and a number of slaves.

The largest slave revolt in the US was led by Nat Turner and took and place in August of 1831 in Southampton County in Virginia. Around 70 slaves and free Blacks took vengeance upon white slave owners and families. Eventually the slave revolt was squashed with many of the revolters being caught and executed.

Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Maryland around 1820. Born into slavery, she suffered a serious injury by an overseer that led to issues throughout her life. In 1849, she escaped slavery and would go on to be one of the leaders of the Underground Railroad. She helped over 70 people escape slavery.

John Brown and 21 others including free and enslaved black men raided an arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in October 1859. Their intent was to initiate a slave revolt. Their raid was unsuccessful, but did energize abolitionists and may have helped provide a spark that led to the Civil War.

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery at Talbot County, Maryland in 1818. He would escape slavery and become one of the most important leaders in the civil rights movement in the 19th century. He was also a strong supporter of women's suffrage.

In Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, black woman Rosa Parks refused to get up from her bus seat to allow standing white passengers to take her place. For her refusal to leave her seat, she was arrested. This led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the eventual desegregation of bus seating.

In Greensboron, North Carolina, four university students started a sit-in movement to protest segregation in 1960. The four refused to leave their seats at a segregated lunch counter. This event let to more sit-ins, which would soon cause the stopping of desegrated lunch counters.

The March on Washington took place on August 28th in 1963 in Washington D.C. At the March, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech in front of up to 300,000 people. The March influenced the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, both outlawing discrimination based on color.

The Motown record label which included many black artists such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye was founded in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1959. Motown played an important role in integrating black music in popular music in the 1960's and onward.

Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1925. Born as Malcolm Little, the family soon moved after his birth due to white racists. The family would eventually end up in Michigan. Malcolm X would later move to New York City, where he would become a prominent civil rights leader. He was assassinated in 1965.