The 1619 Project is a great thing. The reactions to it by the right were totally over the top, which was elucidating and useful. Helps when you have the right enemies. Anyway, I have no criticism of i
On August 30, 1800, a man named Gabriel Prosser, a Virginia slave, intended to lead a slave rebellion into Richmond. This moment, coming shortly after the successful Haitian slave rebellion, which Gab
This is the grave of Abraham Baldwin. Born in 1754 in Guilford, Connecticut, Baldwin was the son of a blacksmith. But at this time, it was possible for children from such middling origins to rise rapi
Lots of Americans have slaveholding ancestors. The question for the present is what do you do to make up for that fact. In the case of Mitch McConnell, you double down on your family past. Senate Majo
I mentioned last week how impressed I was with how Montpelier now represents the slave experience. While not mentioning that great site, this is a good article on just how many southern plantation hom
So last weekend I was in Washington, D.C. to give a talk at a union conference and then I spent a couple days traveling through Virginia. That part of the trip was funded by grave donations and I assu
This is the grave of the traitor John Archibald Campbell. Born in 1811 near Washington, Georgia, Campbell grew up elite and was very intelligent. He graduated from the University of Georgia when he wa
On May 15, 1905, a Maraka noble in modern-day Mali killed a slave who was part of a broader slave exodus that helped bring the end to official slavery in the French African colonies. This can serve as