1831

Nat Turner, an enslaved African American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history. He and his band of followers launch a short, bloody, rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. The militia quells the rebellion, and Turner is eventually hanged. As a consequence, Virginia institutes much stricter slave laws.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hosts the 1st annual Convention of People of Color.

The Underground Railroad is given its name.

William Lloyd Garrison founds The Liberator, the most famous anti-slavery newspaper.

The New England Anti-Slavery Society is founded.

Maria W. Stewart, a free black woman in Boston, Massachusetts, speaks out against slavery, becoming the first African-American woman to deliver a public lecture in the U.S.

Debates in Virginia concerning emancipation mark the beginning of the last antebellum movement toward abolition in the South.

North Carolina passes a law enforcing prohibition against teaching slaves to read and write as well as against providing slaves with reading materials like books or pamphlets.

Virginia passes a law enforcing prohibitions against slaves congregating for religious service at night, regardless of whether black or white preachers hold those services.