African Americans (also known as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group in the United States. The first achievements by African Americans in various fields have historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier".[1][2]
One commonly cited example is that of Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American of the modern era to become a Major League Baseball player in 1947, ending 60 years of segregated Negro Leagues.[3]
18th century
1730s–1770s
1738
- First free African-American community: Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (later named Fort Mose) in Florida
1746
- First known African-American (and slave) to compose a work of literature: Lucy Terry with her poem "Bars Fight," composed in 1746[4] and first published in 1855 in Josiah Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts[5][4]
1760
- First known African-American published author: Jupiter Hammon (poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries", published as a broadside)[6]
1767
- First African American clockmaker, Peter Hill, was born.[7]
1768
- First known African American to be elected to public office: Wentworth Cheswell, town constable in Newmarket, New Hampshire.[8]
1773
- First known African-American woman to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley (Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral)[9]
- First separate African-American church: Silver Bluff Baptist Church, Aiken County, South Carolina[10][11][Note 1]
1775
- First African American to join the Freemasons: Prince Hall
1778
- First African-American U.S. military regiment: the 1st Rhode Island Regiment[12]
1780s–1790s
1783
- First African American to formally practice medicine: James Derham, who did not hold an M.D. degree.[13] (See also: 1847)
1785
- First African American ordained as a Christian minister in the United States: Rev. Lemuel Haynes. He was ordained in the Congregational Church, which became the United Church of Christ[14]
1792
- First major African-American Back-to-Africa movement: 3,000 Black Loyalist slaves, who had escaped to British lines during the American Revolutionary War for the promise of freedom, were relocated to Nova Scotia and given land. Later, 1,200 chose to migrate to West Africa and settle in the new British colony of Settler Town, which is present-day Sierra Leone.
1793
- First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church founded: Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was founded by Richard Allen
1794
- First African Episcopal Church established: Absalom Jones founded African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19th century
1800s
.jpg)
1804
- First African American ordained as an Episcopal priest: Absalom Jones in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[15]
1807
- First African-American Presbyterian Church in America: First African Presbyterian Church founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by John Gloucester a former slave.[16]
1810s
1816
- First fully independent African-American denomination: African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and mid-Atlantic states
1820s
1821
- First African American to hold a patent: Thomas L. Jennings, for a dry-cleaning process[17]
1822
- First African-American captain to sail a whaleship with an all-black crew: Absalom Boston[18]
1823
- First African American to receive a degree from an American college: Alexander Twilight, Middlebury College[19] (See also: 1836)
1827
- First African-American owned-and-operated newspaper: Freedom's Journal, founded in New York City by Rev. Peter Williams Jr. and other free blacks.
1830s
1832
- First governor of African descent in what is now the US: Pío Pico, an Afro-Mexican, was the last governor of Alta California before it was ceded to the US. Like all Californios, Pico automatically became a US citizen in 1848.
1836
- First African American elected to serve in a state legislature: Alexander Twilight, Vermont[19] (See also: 1823)
1837
- First formally trained African-American medical doctor: Dr James McCune Smith of New York City, who was educated at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and returned to practice in New York.[20] (See also: 1783, 1847)
1840s
1845
- First African American licensed to practice law: Macon Allen from the Boston bar[21]
1847
- First African American to graduate from a US medical school: Dr. David J. Peck[22] (Rush Medical College) (See also: 1783, 1837)
- First African-American president of any nation: Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia[23]
1849
- First African-American college professor at a predominantly white institution: Charles L. Reason, New York Central College[24]
1850s
.jpg)
.png)
African Americans (also known as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group in the United States. The first achievements by African Americans in various fields have historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier".[1][2]
One commonly cited example is that of Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American of the modern era to become a Major League Baseball player in 1947, ending 60 years of segregated Negro Leagues.[3]
17th century: 1670s
18th century: 1730s–1770s • 1780s–1790s
19th century: 1800s • 1810s • 1820s • 1830s • 1840s • 1850s • 1860s • 1870s • 1880s • 1890s
20th century: 1900s • 1910s • 1920s • 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s
21st century: 2000s • 2010s • 2020s
See also • Notes • References • External links