What is Black History Month?
Black History Month is the first heritage month of the year celebrated in the United States. But how did this important heritage month come to be? How a community enters a nation’s historical narrative matters. The context of that introduction often sets the tone for how members of that community will be defined and treated by that nation’s leading demographic, legislation, popular media, public education, and more. For that reason, it is important to give a quick summary of the legislative history of how Africans and African Americans entered the national narrative of the United States, giving context to the significance of Black History Month.
A Quick Glance at the Legislative History of the United States of America
In 1776, thirteen British colonies in North America legally and politically separated from Great Britain to form the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments of the Constitution)—documents considered to be the foundation of the nation—rely on notions of freedom and equality as staunch opposition to the monarchy the colonies left behind. Yet the entire economy and structure of the United States in 1776 contradicted these notions, relying on the genocide and enslavement of multiple populations through practices that had been created and aggressively maintained for centuries. At the moment of its birth in 1776, the newly-formed United States of America had a lot of work to do before its reality resembled its ideologies.
In 1808, the 366 year-long Trans-Atlantic slave trade—costing the lives of over 15 million African men, women, and children—was legally ended in the United States, but illegal slave trade continued into the 1860s throughout both Union and Confederate states. On 1 January 1863, in the third year of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation stating “that all persons held as slaves… shall be free.” In 1865, the passage of the 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States. Citizenship would be granted to formerly enslaved people later with the 1866 adoption (and 1868 ratification) of the 14th Amendment*, which states that those born or naturalized in the United States would be granted citizenship. In 1870, the 15th Amendment technically “granted” voting rights to Black men (not Black women) in the aftermath of the Civil War; but legal protections against public discrimination and intimidation informed by bigotry (which prevented many Black men from exercising their right to vote, among many other things) would not be set in place until passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1954, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education ruled that it was unconstitutional to separate children in public schools on the basis of race. But the historical narrative of African Americans can be seen far beyond the legislative record of the country.
*Citizenship for Native Americans and those from United States territories/colonies was and is not granted through the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
Creations by African American Inventors Shape Much of American Life Today
From the economic foundations of the nation, to connecting the country coast to coast and beyond, and the comforts of everyday life, the impact of inventions by African Americans are felt in almost every facet of American life today. To name a few, these inventions include: the induction telegraph system that lets trains communicate while still in motion (Granville T. Woods); touch-tone phone, fiber optic cables, portable fax, and Caller ID (Shirley Jackson, not to be mistaken for the American horror author with the same name); the original IBM personal computer and color PC monitor (co-invented by Mark Dean); the Fairchild Channel F videogame console and the first interchangeable videogame cartridge (Jerry Lawson); Shockwave (the foundation for web animation) (Lisa Gelobter); the traffic signal (Garrett Morgan); automated elevator doors (Alexander Miles); synthetic drugs to treat glaucoma (Percy Lavon Julian); the home security system (Marie Van Brittan Brown); the sanitary belt (predecessor to sanitary pads and other menstrual products for women) and much more (Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner); refrigeration preserving things from food to medicine and donated blood (Frederick McKinley Jones); the first set of haircare products made especially for Black women’s hair (Madam C.J. Walker); synthetic rubber, peanut butter, and a lot more (George Washington Carver); the potato chip (George Crum); and the Super Soaker (Lonnie Johnson).
Black History Month Takes Shape
The foundations for Black History Month were laid in 1915 when historian Carter G. Woodson (whose image is the thumbnail of this post) traveled to Chicago to attend the 50 anniversary celebration of the abolishment of slavery. Woodson noticed an absence of academic studies and acknowledgements of the contributions of African Americans in American history. In response to this, he organized the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 and the Journal of Negro History in 1916, where historians and other scholars could focus research on African American experiences. In 1926, Woodson created Negro History Week in the second week of February, choosing that week for its overlap with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and American abolitionist Frederick Douglas. Social change throughout the 1960s—spurred by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement—caused a shift across the United States. Younger generations of African Americans were changing how they related to their heritage within the nation’s popular historical narrative. Woodson’s organization was renamed the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). ASALH members expanded celebrations of Black heritage to a month long and—50 years after Woodson created a week-long homage—Black History Month was celebrated for the first time in 1976.
Closing Thoughts
Africans entered the historical narrative of the United States of America through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the most horrific practice and period of modern history. Although legislation would eventually abolish slavery, grant African Americans citizenship, and the right to vote, decades more would pass before African Americans would be able to practice their rights as equal citizens. Fifty years after slavery was abolished in the United States, historian Carter G. Woodson noticed a need to acknowledge the history, heritage, and contributions of African American citizens in the United States and laid the foundations of what would later become Black History Month.
Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading this What in the World post!
Notes:
Random Thoughts posts are brief summaries of larger histories.
Underlined text are hyperlinked to referenced sources.
References (sorted alphabetically by source as “Post. Source: Link”):
Transatlantic slave trade. Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade
Slave Voyages, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database. Emory University: https://www.slavevoyages.org/
Historical Context: Facts about the Slave Trade and Slavery. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teacher-resources/historical-context-facts-about-slave-trade-and-slavery
13th Amendment. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/thirteenth-amendment
14th Amendment. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fourteenth-amendment
15th Amendment. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fifteenth-amendment
Black History Month. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month
Carter G. Woodson: The Man Behind Black History Month. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/news/the-man-behind-black-history-month
When Did African Americans Actually Get the Right to Vote? HISTORY: https://www.history.com/news/african-american-voting-right-15th-amendment
HISTORY OF | History of Black History Month. The HISTORY Channel Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnSHm3Y9qYc
African American Voting Rights. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/voters/african-americans/
Voyage of the Echo: The Trials of an Illegal Trans-Atlantic Slave Ship. Lowcounty Digital History Initiative: https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/voyage-of-the-echo-the-trials/historic-context--abolishing-t#:~:text=Britain%20finally%20abolished%20the%20trans,trade%20continued%20into%20the%201860s.
Americas Founding Documents. National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs
Black Americans and the Right to Vote. National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote
Brown v. Board of Education (1954). National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/brown-v-board-of-education
Civil Rights Act (1964). National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act#:~:text=This%20act%2C%20signed%20into%20law,civil%20rights%20legislation%20since%20Reconstruction.
The Emancipation Proclamation. National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation#:~:text=President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the,and%20henceforward%20shall%20be%20free.%22
Carter G. Woodson. NAACP: https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/carter-g-woodson
Black History Month. National Geographic Kids: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/black-history-month
The transatlantic slave trade. National Museums Liverpool: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/history-of-slavery/transatlantic-slave-trade
The Declaration of Independence, 1776. Office of the Historian: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/declaration
PBS LEARNING MEDIA | Black History Month | PBS KIDS. PBS KIDS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f00AatzvxC0
Transatlantic Slave Trade. Slavery and Remembrance: https://slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0002.
The History of Black History Month. Stanford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNxzOliUCTc
Black History is American History | Okalani Dawkins | TEDxYouth@MVHS. TEDx Talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VINtKSpbXw
Landmark Legislation: The Fourteenth Amendment. United States Senate: https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/14th-amendment.htm#:~:text=Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20on,laws%2C%E2%80%9D%20extending%20the%20provisions%20of
Post Date: February 2025
