1700-1799 Black History
Electronic Flip Book
Property of:
Charlie Cappucci, Claire
Marie Kuhn, Rena Kobelak,
Katrina Paxton
Throughout history, AfricanAmericans have played a immense role in the
becoming of our nation, even at the beginning
and in the earliest times of the colonies.
During the 1700s, three events changed not
only the history of our nation, but the
history of the blacks. These four events are:
•Benjamin Banneker and his life story.
•Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation of 1776 and
the Revolutionary War.
•The Stono Rebellion.
And last, but not least,
•Phillis Wheatley and her life story.
Benjamin Banneker
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Claire’s Entry:
Benjamin was the first African
American to gain international
recognition as a scientist.
Molly Walsh, his grandmother, was
hired to milk a rich man’s cows. A cow kicked
over a bucket of milk, but Molly was accused
of stealing it.
Unable to prove her innocence, she was
found guilty and fined. She couldn’t pay the
fine, so she went to America as an
indentured servant.
Molly earned her freedom soon after she
came to America.
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Claire’s Entry:
Benjamin Banneker
Molly was 22 years old and very
industrious. She earned enough money
to buy a 150 acre farm in Maryland and
two slaves.
Molly freed both men who became
her friends. One left the area, and the
other stayed. His name was Bannaky.
Working side by side, they fell in love,
and got married.
They formed their last name from his
first, Banneker.
They didn’t care that marriages were
forbidden between blacks and whites.
Claire’s Entry:
Benjamin Banneker
Their daughter Mary accepted a
proposal from Robert, a black slave when
she was 16.
He also borrowed Banneker’s last name.
They had Benjamin soon after. He was
born in a small cabin on November 9, 1731.
Here is were the story really begins
He grew up on a farm in a family with
three loving sisters.
Ben showed an early interest in math and
learning.
As a boy he learned from his
grandmother, Molly, with the bible as his
lesson book.
Claire’s Entry:
Benjamin Banneker
When he was a teenager, Banneker
went to an integrated Quaker school
for boys.
Because most of its students had to
help out on their families' farms, it
met only in the winter.
He went through the eighth grade,
but Banneker did most of his learning
independently.
Claire’s Entry: Benjamin Banneker
One of Banneker’s most impressive early
accomplishments, and on of the best
indicators of his general intelligence, was in 1752
when he created a watch. He disassembled
a pocket watch a man loaned him, Benjamin
created his own by carving wooden gears and
calculating the necessary relationships between
them to keep the correct time. It had a bell that
rang every hour.
Some say it ran perfectly until after his death.
The watch is believed to be the first striking
clock made completely in the U.S.
Claire’s Entry:
Benjamin Banneker
But Banneker’s life was not always
perfect.
His father died at the young age of 28
and Benjamin was left to take care of
the farm.
Banneker created a system of
irrigation from the farms freshwater
springs using dams and ditches.
 Soon enough, the farm could raise
good crops even during droughts.
Claire’s Entry:
Benjamin Banneker
On top of both of those
accomplishments, he had one more that
even established mathematicians and
astronomers of the day had not foreseen.
After building a what he called a “work
cabin” with a skylight built in, Benjamin
could study the stars which fascinated
him.
This resulted in him being able to
predict the solar eclipse of 1789.
Claire’s Entry:
Benjamin Banneker
Another one of his accomplishments
was when the Ellicotts, his neighbors,
decided to change their crops from
tobacco to wheat, Banneker helped them build
efficient mills. He became a good friend of the
Ellicotts, especially with their young son
George, who lent Banneker books on astronomy
and some instruments to calculate astronomical
positions.
“Whoever
promises
freedom
to the
slaves
shall
have
them at
his
disposal.”
Rena’s Entry: Lord Dunmore
Real name James Murray, born in 1732 in
England, found he was related to a Dunmore
and inherited that name that would some
day be known world wide.
He was a man of the British and went of
seas to personally abolish the Virginia
assembly.
In 1770, he was appointed Governor of
New York. This was during the time when
rebellion was spreading throughout the
colonies.
Rena’s Entry: Lord Dunmore
Soon after, he moved to Virginia. The
moment he got there the locals and some
Shawnee Indians were threatening his
Government.
Instantly, he found that a revolt could be
possible with all of the threats.
When he tried to friend the Patriots, they
refused, so he began enlisting anyone who was
willing to fight for his cause.
With some blacks on his side, he got an easy
win at Kemp’s Landing and began to see the
real value of blacks.
Rena’s Entry: Lord Dunmore
By 1774, he had so many problems that he
had to have peace with the Indians.
While they discussed a treaty, Dunmore had
some of his men burn down the Shawnee
villages right after they made a negotiation.
He then issued his famous Proclamation of
1775 that promised black slaves freedom if
they agreed to fight for the British during
the Revolutionary War.
The Proclamation caused such an uproar
that George Washington repealed the rule
that blacks couldn’t participate in war.
Rena’s Entry: Lord Dunmore
There was such an affect on the African
American slaves that over 100,00 slaves ran
away from their owners during the time of
the war.
Dunmore was blinded by greed and called
for an attack at Great Bridge.
He lost all of his men and his plan failed
while all his men lost their hopes and dreams
for real freedom.
Unfortunately, Lord Dunmore’s goals did go
as he had planned, but his actions still made
an effect on the Revolutionary War.
Charlie’s Entry: The Stono Rebellion
The Stono Rebellion, was a important rebellion to
many slaves. The slaves killed many slave owners,
and forced their slaves to join them.
The rebellion was led by an Angolan name Jemmy.
Some slaves and him gathered on a Sunday when the
rebellion was started.
The rebellion happened on Sunday, September 9th,
1739. The rebellion was in the British colony of
South Carolina.
Charlie’s Entry: The Stono Rebellion
The rebellion started with the gathering of about
twenty slaves. They then killed two warehouse
guards, stole guns and gun powder, and headed
south, killing people in their way and burning
buildings.
It was close to dawn when they reached Wallace's
tavern. The innkeeper was kind to his slaves, so
they spared his life. The whites who lived in the
next six or so houses were all killed.
At the next house the slaves who belonged to
Tomas Rose successfully hid their master.
Charlie’s Entry: The Stono Rebellion
The few whites whom they now
encountered were chased and killed, though one
individual, Lieutenant Governor Bull, eluded the
rebels and rode to spread the alarm.
Around four in the afternoon, between 20 and 100
whites set out in armed pursuit of rebels.
By dusk about 30 slaves were dead and about 30
escaped.
Most were captured over the next month and
year.
“The white colonists had been working on a Negro
Act that would limit the privileges of slaves.”
This act was quickly finalized and approved.
Katrina’s Entry: Phillis Wheatley
 Phillis Wheatley was the first
African-American to publish a book of
poetry.
 Not only was she the first African American
to publish, but the second women ever.
She began writing at the age of 13
She began writing publishing poems in the
1760’s.
Her first piece of writing was displayed in a
Rhode Island newspaper called the Newport
Mercury
Katrina’s Entry: Phillis Wheatley
Before she started writing she
grew up as a slave.
She was kidnapped from Senegal, Africa to
Boston when she was 8 years old.
The family she was with taught her English,
Latin, ancient mythology, and literature.
The Wheatley family’s situation was unusual
she wasn’t treated as harsh as the common
slave, but she wasn’t treated like family.
Katrina’s Entry: Phillis Wheatley
 Phillis Wheatley went to England with
the Wheatleys’ son Nathanial Wheatley was
traveling on business.
She had to return when Mrs. Wheatley got
sick
 Nobody is sure when Phillis was freed.
It was said to be sometime around her trip
to England.
In England her poetry caused a sensation.
Katrina’s Entry: Phillis Wheatley
 Phillis Wheatley addressed many poems
to George Washington, but she never got a
reply.
Her first book of poetry was called Poems
on Various Subjects
The majority of her poems were about her
childhood and war.
She married John Peters.
Phillis Wheatley died on December 5, 1784
She was 31 years old when she died.
You have witnessed these many events that
were the first to shape African American
history. Throughout Rebellions, Wars, and
great black men and women that were not
shown complete respect paved the way for
more generations of Black History, and even
white history to come. Without the actions
that were made in the early 1700s-1799, the
world could still be split between blacks, and
whites. Blacks might still be wearing chains.
Who really knows? No one because the rest is
history.
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