The end of the Revolutionary War brought the promise of a free and equal nation. But freedom was not meant for everyone. African Americans proved capable, but most found themselves slaves for life. Even free communities were subject to severe laws known as Black Codes, intended to create and reinforce the idea of White superiority and Black inferiority.
Whether seen as inferior or not, African Americans, some willingly and many not, took on unskilled and skilled labor. The enslaved usually worked in agriculture but were also put on contract for work, such as the construction of Washington, DC, and the building of the Capitol. They also conducted ferry rides and worked on docks and waterway transportation throughout the Potomac River and the greater Chesapeake Bay. Free African Americans also proved themselves capable; Benjamin Banneker a surveyor, almanac-author and farmer, assisted in the survey of Washington, DC. Free communities developed in rural areas as well as the city, such as Batestown on the eastern side of Prince William County. And by the time of the War of 1812, Chesapeake region African Americans were prominent in the ongoing naval fighting. The knowledge watermen had of the region’s myriad creeks was essential to both the British and Patriot militias.
The timeline is provided by Thematic Framework for the History of Civil Rights in the National Capital Area by Cheryl LaRoche PhD, Patsy Fletcher, Caroline Spencer, and Lauren Hughes. It summarizes the trials and triumphs of freedom seekers and the internal struggle for equality in the United States of America before the end of the War of 1812.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
