Browse Items (196 total)

In 1790 the Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society, led by Benjamin Franklin, submitted a plea to Congress to end slavery. Congress considered the petition and formed a committee for further examination. They debated what was and was not within their…

This watercolor painting by Benjamin Henry Latrobe depicts three Black men directing a bateau, a long flat-bottomed boat, through the rapids of the James River at Richmond. The boats were used to carry goods such as tobacco and coal along rivers and…

This document shows an article that was originally published in Life Magazine on March 18, 1966, written on the Lovings following the Virginia Supreme Court decision to uphold the 1924 Act to Preserve Racial Integrity Act. The case surrounds the…

This map shows Virginia as it was in the early 1800s, when many people were beginning to move from the fairly settled eastern shore into the western parts of the state. It was surveyed under the supervision of James Madison.Citation: Madison, James,…

Jenny Parker was a former enslaved person emancipated by Josiah Wilson in Surry County in 1813. She petitioned for special permission to remain in the state. The petition includes a certificate of conduct. In 1806 the General Assembly placed…

These two engravings by the Scottish-born artist William Charles (1776–1820) contrast the resistance—or lack thereof—to the British invasions of Alexandria, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland during the War of 1812. Having their cities under attack…

In December 1814, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent, ratified by Congress in February 1815, and officially ended what came to be known as the War of 1812. As part of this treaty, England agreed to "give back" enslaved…

This map depicts the United States following a rapid territorial expansion due to the Louisiana Purchase. Completed in 1803, the Purchase gave the United States approximately 828,000,000 square miles of territory from French emperor, Napoleon…

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Shadwell near Charlottesville, Virginia. He attended the College of William and Mary where he studied to be a lawyer and later practiced law in Albemarle County, Virginia. He would go on to become am…

This broadside, titled, "A Short Catechism on Negro Equality," is a criticism of actions of the Democratic Party in the 1830s. In an attempt to discredit the organization, the author attacks the Democratic Party's pro-Black policies and actions,…