Articles tagged as Slavery | Smithsonian Magazine

Student protests upended another on-campus symbol of racism and forced labor

March 10, 2016

Breaking Ground

What Makes the Underground Railroad Such a Rich Opportunity for Storytelling

On television and in the new Smithsonian museum, the path to freedom comes alive

March 9, 2016

Cool Finds

Colonial America Depended on the Enslavement of Indigenous People

The role of enslaving Native Americans in early American history is often overlooked

January 29, 2016

Jesse J. Holland's book, "The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House" offers new insight into lives of these men and women who lived in bondage in the White House.

The Slaves of the White House Finally Get to Have Their Stories Told

Long ignored by historians, the enslaved people of the White House are coming into focus through a new book by Jesse J. Holland

January 25, 2016

A trial at the Destrehan Plantation sentenced 45 men from the uprising to death or to go to New Orleans for future trials.

More than 500 slaves fought for their freedom in this oft-overlooked rebellion

January 8, 2016

Illustration of the slave revolt in Haiti, and what slaveholders in the United States feared.

History of Now

The History of the United States’ First Refugee Crisis

Fleeing the Haitian revolution, whites and free blacks were viewed with suspicion by American slaveholders, including Thomas Jefferson

January 5, 2016

An 89 year-old Korean 'comfort woman' Kim Bok-Dong protests in front of the embassy of Japan in Berlin to demand an official apology from Japan in September, 2015.

Even with this agreement in place, many are still seeking a better resolution

December 28, 2015

Financed in part by the sale of 272 people, the school is grappling with its relationship to the institution of slavery

November 17, 2015

A coffle of slaves being marched from Virginia west into Tennessee, c. 1850.

Secrets of American History

Retracing Slavery’s Trail of Tears

America’s forgotten migration – the journeys of a million African-Americans from the tobacco South to the cotton South

November 2015

A suggestion to change our vocabulary when we talk about American History

A Proposal to Change the Words We Use When Talking About the Civil War

Historian Michael Landis writes that vocabulary like “compromise” or “Union” shape how we view our past

September 9, 2015

A woman waits to participate in the annual silleteros' parade.

A Parade of Bright Flowers in a City With a Dark Past

Farmers carried 500 dazzling flower designs through the streets of Medellín, Colombia

August 12, 2015

These tags were used to identify slaves before emancipation

The delayed enforcement of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation still didn’t bring freedom to many black Texans

June 19, 2015

“Table Bay Cape Town,” Table Bay in the 1790’s by Thomas Luny (1759-1837)

Breaking Ground

Smithsonian to Receive Artifacts From Sunken 18th-Century Slave Ship

In 1794, the Portuguese slave ship São José wrecked with 400 slaves aboard; iron ballast and a wooden pulley from that ship will come to Washington, D.C.

May 31, 2015

Trending Today

New York City Ran a Slave Market

New marker will acknowledge the bustling slave trade that helped build New York

April 14, 2015

A slave cabin at Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate in Virginia.

One of his slaves fled to New Hampshire to escape becoming a wedding present

February 16, 2015

People are slaves in every one of the 167 countries investigated in a new report, including the United States

November 17, 2014

Photograph of Robert E Lee's Arlington house taken in 1861

Cool Finds

Rare Photo of Robert E. Lee’s Slave Acquired by National Park Service

The photograph of Selina Gray and her children sold on eBay for $700

October 10, 2014

In this portrait, Webster wore what looks like a Confederate uniform, but there is no evidence he fought for the South.

Why Was Robert Webster, a Slave, Wearing What Looks Like a Confederate Uniform?

This remarkable man risked his life to undermine the Confederacy yet remained close to his former owner after the Civil War

October 2014

The descendants of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison donated ten items to the National Museum of African American History and Culture this month.

Breaking Ground

The Descendants of Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison Donate Family Heirlooms

Objects belonging to the anti-slavery advocate spent a century collecting dust in an attic. Now they’re on their way to the African-American history museum

July 18, 2014

This month's Atlantic cover story by Ta-Nehisi Coates is generating some serious discussion about "The Case for Reparations."

Breaking Ground

America’s Moral Debt to African Americans

The director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture joins the discussion around “The Case for Reparations”

June 6, 2014