Time Line of the Nineteenth Century

1800	According to the United States census, there are 1,002,037 African-Americans living in the United States. (Approximately 18.9% of the population.)
1805	Sharp Street United Methodist Church is founded in Baltimore.
1805	Maryland state law forbids free African-Americans without a special license to sell corn, wheat or tobacco. For some time, free African-Americans have carried special documents to prove their status.
1806	Benjamin Banneker dies in Maryland.
1808	The population of slaves reaches one million.
1809	James W.C. Pennington is born into slavery in Maryland; later he will become the only African-American member of the Hartford Central Association of Congressional Ministers.
1810	According to federal law, it is illegal to hire an African-American as a mail carrier. The United States census reports that African-Americans make up 19% of the total population (1,377,808 African-Americans). Of the African-American population, 13.5% is free.
1812- 1814	The War of 1812. During the War, African-Americans make up one-sixth of the seamen in the navy.
1815	In Maryland, clergyman, and abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet is born.
1817	Frederick Douglass is born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Md. In Maryland, author, clergyman, and abolitionist Samuel Ringgold Ward is born.
1820	The first United States slaves arrive in Liberia.
1807	Congress bans the importation of slaves.
1825	September 24, novelist and poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper is born in Baltimore to free parents. Without a certificate from a justice of the peace witnessed by at least two white citizens, free blacks cannot sell tobacco without a license. Josiah Henson leads a group of runaway slaves to freedom in Kentucky.
1829	The first boarding school for black girls, The St. Frances Academy, opened in Baltimore.
1832	For just $500 you can buy a healthy male field hand.
1834	Henry Blair receives a patent for his invention of the corn planter.
1836	The "gag rule" is passed by Congress which prohibits any antislavery bill or petition from being introduced, read or discussed. After receiving a patent for his invention of the corn planter in 1834, Henry Blair patents another piece of farm equipment, a cotton planting machine. Amanda Berry Smith is born into slavery in Anne Arundel County, Md.. Her desire to preach was so strong that when the AME church refused to ordain her because she was a woman, Smith pursued an independent preaching career, traveling across the country and in England, India and Africa getting her message across.
1843	James W. C. Pennington represents Connecticut at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England.
1847	Frederick Douglass publishes the first issue of his newspaper, The North Star.
1849	Harriet Tubman escapes to freedom in Pennsylvania. An escaped slave, James W. C. Pennington, writes his story in a book entitled "The Fugitive Blacksmith."
1852	Frederick Douglass delivers of his most famous speech " The Meaning of the Fourth of July to the Negro."
1857	The Dred Scott Decision of the United States Supreme Court denies slavescitizenship and denies Congress the power to restrict slavery in federal territory.
1859	From October 16th- October 18th, John Brown raids the Ferderal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va. from his farmhouse in Sharpsburg, Md.. Brown was attempting to end slavery by violent takeover. Five African- Americans were involved with the plot and one, Heyward Shepard was the first fatality. The incident will go down in history as "John Brown's Raid."
1862	The enlistment of slaves and free blacks in the Union Army is allowed by the Militia Act.
1862	The Confiscation Act, declaring that if a slave owner helped the Confederacy, his slaves would go free, is passed by Congress.
1863	The Emancipation Proclamation is issued by President Abraham Lincoln. (If you access this link, you will leave this website.)
1864	Slavery is abolished in Maryland. For his bravery at Fort Gilmore, Richmond, Virginia, Sergeant Major Christian A. Fleetwood is awarded the Congressional medal of honor.
1865	The fraternity Grand Order of Galilean Fishermen is founded in Baltimore, Maryland. Congress passes the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the United States.
1866	The first of it's kind owned and operated by blacks, The Chesapeake Marine and Dry-dock Company was opened in Baltimore. Its owner is Black Labor Union creator, Isaac Myers.
1868	Validating citizenship rights for all persons born or naturalized in the United States, The 14th amendment is ratified.
1870	Granting suffrage to African- Americans, the Fifteenth Amendment is ratified.
1874	Frederick Douglass becomes president Freedman's Savings and Trust Company.
1877	Frederick Douglass becomes United States Marshall.
1880	In Baltimore, the Colored Equal Rights League was formed. It was established to get African- American teachers for schools, African- American lawyers before the bar, and African- Americans on juries. Frederick Douglass is appointed Recorder of Deeds for Washington D. C..
1882	The first African- American was elected to the Medical Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland. His name was Dr. Winfield Winsey. At the time of his death, Henry Highland Garnet is serving as official Minister to Liberia.
1883	Songwriter and pianist Eubie Blake is born in Baltimore. Blake is famous for his hit "I'm Just Wild About Harry," President Harry Truman's campaign song.
1889	Frederick Douglass becomes American Consul-General to Haiti. William H. Richardson develops and receives a patent for a baby carriage that could change direction without turning the carriage around.