Home > My Ancestors > African American > Timeline: 1750-1849

• 1752: 10% of the population of Boston is black.

• 1761: Phillis Wheatley is brought to America at the age of eight. She begins writing poetry at the age of 13 and publishes Poems on Various Subjects: Religious and Moral (1773) in England.

• 1764: Blacks are granted the right to vote in Boston.

• 1770: March 5, Crispus Attucks is killed by British Soldiers in the Boston Massacre.

• 1766: March 26, The town of Boston instructed its representatives to the legislature to "move for a law, to prohibit the importation and purchasing of slaves."

• 1777: Blacks openly challenge the existence of slavery within the Commonwealth using the principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence.

• 1778: Prince Hall establishes the first black branch of the Masons.

• 1781: As a result of a court decision in the case of Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Jennison slavery is declared unconstitutional in Massachusetts.

• 1787: Members of the black community, led by Prince Hall, petition the city for separate schools for black children.

• 1789: Blacks are granted the use of Faneuil Hall for religious meetings on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.

• 1798: Prince Hall, frustrated that the city will not organize separate schools for black children, begins his own school for black children. It is funded privately

• 1805: August 8, The African Baptist Church is officially organized.
• 1806: Dec. 4, The African Meeting House opens on Belknap Street.
• 1812: The City of Boston begins partial funding of the African School for the first time. Initially only $200 per year is allocated for the school.
• 1815: Abiel Smith leaves a substantial gift in his will for the maintenance of Boston's African School. The City decides to take over operations at the school now that it has been fully funded.
• 1821-24: John Brown Russwurm is appointed headmaster of the African School in Boston. He is the first black headmaster to be appointed since the school was taken over by the city and he is the last black headmaster until 1849.
• 1826: The Massachusetts General Colored Association is founded. The original officers of the organization include; Thomas Dalton, President, William G. Nell, Vice President, and James G. Barbadoes, Secretary.
• 1830: Official statistics, although not entirely reliable in reporting poor blacks or fugitive slaves, show that the black population in Boston was 1,875, accounting for a mere 3.1% of the total population.
• 1831: Jan 1, The Liberator is first published in Boston by William Lloyd Garrison and becomes one of the nations top abolitionist newspapers.
• 1832: The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society is formed in Boston.
• 1833: The African-American Female Intelligence Society is founded.
• 1835: The African School in the basement of the African Meeting House is replaced by a new school next door. It is named the Abeil Smith School after the benefactor who's generosity kept the school going for the previous twenty years.
• 1840: Boston's black population reported at 1988.
• 1842: George Latimer, a fugitive slave from Virginia, is captured in Boston. Blacks in the community called protest meetings in the African Baptist Church, participated in the printing of a protest journal, and joined in gathering signatures. Finally blacks raised enough money to purchase Latimer's freedom. Also The Freedom Association is formed. It is an all-black organization dedicated to protecting fugitive slaves.
• 1843: Black and white abolitionists work to pressure the Massachusetts legislature into passing the Personal Liberty Act which forbid state officials or facilities from being used in the apprehension of fugitive slaves.
• 1846: The Committee of Vigilance is formed to protect fugitive slaves. This This group is integrated and some members of the Freedom Association decide to switch to the new group.
• 1849: The Negro Abolition Society is formed with the mission of integrating Boston's public schools. Benjamin Roberts is a member, as are William C. Nell, John T. Hilton, and Lemuel Burr.
• 1849: At this time over 55% of the blacks in Boston are born outside of the state and 16% are born outside the country.