As students in school, we often receive a limited and overly simplified version of history, especially when it comes to Black history. The curriculum tends to focus on a few well-known events like the Civil Rights Movement and key characters in History, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, & Harriet Tubman. However, the FULLscope of the Black experience, from ancient civilizations to modern-day contributions, is often glossed over or completely omitted. This selective storytelling leaves out critical narratives, people, and events that not only shaped Black history but also the trajectory of world history. The more we uncover these lesser-known facts, the more we realize just how much has been left out. From groundbreaking explorations to systemic injustices, here are ten vital aspects of Black history that I didn’t learn in school, but are essential for understanding the full story of our past and present.
1. African Empires Beyond Egypt
When it came to African history, my education focused primarily on ancient Egypt, with its towering pyramids and powerful pharaohs. But Africa’s history is far richer than that. I didn’t learn about the empires of West Africa, such as the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires, which were known for their wealth, trade, and centers of learning. The University of Timbuktu, for example, was a hub of intellectual activity and scholarship during the Mali Empire. There was also Great Zimbabwe in Southern Africa, known for its advanced architecture and thriving trade network. (Stay tuned for a series dedicated to just that, African Empires Beyond Egypt.)
2. The Moors Explored the Americas Before 1492
We’ve all been taught that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492. What I didn’t learn, however, is that the Moors, a group of African and Muslim people from North Africa, were master navigators and traders who had already explored parts of the Americas long before Columbus. Evidence suggests that Moorish explorers reached both North and South America and interacted with indigenous peoples, challenging the Eurocentric narrative of "discovery."
3. The Role of Portugal and Spain in the Transatlantic Slave Trade
The role that Portugal and Spain played in the transatlantic slave trade and colonization is often glossed over in school. These two nations were among the earliest and most active participants in the trade of enslaved Africans. Beginning in the 15th century, Portugal established a presence along the West African coast and was the first European nation to engage in large-scale slave trading, setting up a blueprint for other European powers. Spain, following suit, used enslaved Africans to work its colonies in the Americas, especially in the Caribbean and South America. Portugal’s colonization of Brazil would lead to the largest importation of enslaved Africans, making it the single largest slave-holding nation in the Americas. The scale and brutality of their roles in the slave trade were foundational to the economic systems that shaped the modern world.
4. The Global Impact of African Resistance Movements
While colonialism was widespread, African resistance was powerful and far-reaching, a fact often missing from traditional history lessons. For example, Ethiopia, under Emperor Menelik II, successfully defeated the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, making it the only African nation that was never colonized. This victory became a symbol of African sovereignty and inspired anti-colonial movements worldwide.
Similarly, Queen Nzinga of Angola fiercely resisted Portuguese colonization in the 1600s, using both diplomacy and warfare to defend her kingdom. In West Africa, Samori Touré fought French expansion for nearly two decades in the late 19th century, delaying colonial rule in the region.
These leaders and their movements were not isolated. Their resistance inspired future African independence movements and the global fight for freedom. Their legacies live on, showing that the struggle for self-determination has deep roots in African history.
5. Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre
I didn’t learn about the vibrant, prosperous community known as Black Wall Street, located in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the early 1900s, this area was home to a thriving Black economy, with successful businesses, schools, and hospitals. In 1921, the community was destroyed in one of the worst racial violence incidents in U.S. history, known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. Hundreds of Black people were killed, and thousands were left homeless, but this history was glaringly absent from my textbooks.
However, I did learn about the Holocaust and its impact on Humanity......
6. The Emancipation Proclamation Didn’t Free All Enslaved People
The Emancipation Proclamation is often presented as the moment slavery ended in the United States, but in truth, its immediate impact was more limited. Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, the proclamation declared that all enslaved people in Confederate states "in rebellion" against the Union were to be set free. However, this declaration did not apply to the border states—slave states like Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, and Delaware that had remained loyal to the Union. In these areas, slavery continued to be legal until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865.
Additionally, the proclamation's power to free enslaved people in the Confederate states was mostly symbolic at the time it was issued. Because the Confederate states were not under Union control, Lincoln had no immediate means of enforcing it.
The proclamation functioned primarily as a military strategy to weaken the Confederacy by encouraging enslaved people to escape, resist, or even join the Union army. However, in reality, it didn’t immediately free anyone in those regions because the Union army lacked the authority to enforce it in the territories still controlled by the Confederacy.
Let us not forget that the proclamation was not a law passed by Congress but an executive order issued by Lincoln under his war powers as Commander-in-Chief. Its legality rested on the argument that freeing enslaved people in the rebelling states would help weaken the Confederate war effort. The Emancipation Proclamation's real impact came later, as Union forces advanced into Confederate territories and were able to enforce the decree. Ultimately, it was the 13th Amendment—which abolished slavery nationwide—that legally ended the institution of slavery in the United States.
*for reference, please see paragraph 5 of the Emancipation Proclamation, circa 1863
7. The Loophole in the 13th Amendment
Speaking of the 13th Ammendment... let's dig in. The 13th Amendment, ratified in December of 1865, is the official day that abolished slavery in the United States. However, what I didn’t learn in school is the significant loophole in the amendment. Although the 13th Amendment abolished slavery across the nation, it included a significant loophole: "except as a punishment for crime." This clause allowed for the continuation of forced labor for convicted criminals.
Southern states quickly exploited this loophole, arresting newly freed Black Americans for minor or fabricated offenses like vagrancy, and then leasing them out to private companies and plantations to perform harsh, unpaid labor—a system known as convict leasing. Convict leasing effectively perpetuated slavery in a new form, trapping many Black people in a cycle of exploitation and brutality. This practice continued well into the early 20th century and laid the groundwork for systemic racial oppression in the criminal justice system.
Even today, the effects of this loophole are evident in the mass incarceration of Black Americans. Incarcerated individuals can still be forced to work for little or no pay, continuing the legacy of exploitation established by the 13th Amendment's exception clause.
8. Pirate Ships and the First Enslaved Africans in the British Colonies
In August 1619, two pirate ships, the White Lion and the Treasurer, made history as the first to bring enslaved Africans to the British colonies. These ships, both captained by British pirates but flying under a Dutch flag for cover, arrived at Point Comfort (modern-day Hampton, Virginia), carrying “20 and odd” Africans who had been captured from a Portuguese slave ship, the San Juan Bautista. This event marked the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade in what would become the United States.
The arrival of these Africans in Virginia in 1619 is often seen as the starting point of the transatlantic slave trade in the British colonies. What makes the story of the White Lion and the Treasurer even more complex is that the status of these Africans was initially ambiguous. While they were enslaved upon their arrival, early records suggest that some were treated as indentured servants, able to earn their freedom after working for a set number of years. However, as the demand for labor grew—especially in tobacco cultivation—the colonies began passing laws that formalized lifelong, hereditary slavery.
Though rarely discussed in traditional history lessons, the arrival of enslaved Africans aboard these pirate ships set the stage for centuries of exploitation, racism, and resistance that continue to shape the American landscape today.
9. Native American Slaveholders in Early America
It’s often surprising to learn that some Native American tribes also practiced slavery, particularly during the colonial era and early 19th century. While many Native communities resisted the European concept of chattel slavery, some tribes, particularly in the Southeast, engaged in the enslavement of both Africans and other Indigenous people. Tribes like the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek are known to have held enslaved Africans, adopting European-style slavery into their own societies.
The practice began as European settlers and traders established contact with these tribes. Over time, some Indigenous leaders saw the economic benefits of adopting slavery, particularly as they engaged in agriculture like the Europeans. This was especially true of the "Five Civilized Tribes," who were encouraged by colonial governments to adopt European customs, including slaveholding, in order to maintain their land and political standing.
The involvement of Native American tribes in slavery, especially their role in owning enslaved Africans, is often left out of standard history lessons. It's a complex and nuanced part of both Native and African American history, intersecting with colonialism, trade, and the broader system of racialized oppression that took root in North America.
10. Broken Promises: The Lost Opportunity for Black Prosperity Through Land Ownership
The idea of land ownership for newly freed Black Americans after the Civil War came from the belief that land was the key to economic independence, freedom, and prosperity. The concept was most famously embodied in the promise of "40 acres and a mule." This notion stemmed from General William T. Sherman’s Special Field Order No. 15 issued in January 1865. The order proposed that confiscated land from Confederate planters in the South be redistributed to formerly enslaved Black families. Each family was supposed to receive 40 acres of land, and later, some freed families were given mules to work the land. The land earmarked for redistribution primarily stretched along the coastline of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
This plan was intended to allow Black families to establish self-sustaining farms, breaking the cycle of dependency on white landowners. At the time, there was real hope among freed Black people that this land ownership would enable them to prosper and finally have a stake in the country they had helped build. Approximately 400,000 acres were set aside, and around 40,000 freedmen had begun to settle on it.
However, this promise was quickly undone after President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln after his assassination, reversed Sherman’s order later in 1865. Johnson ordered that the land be returned to its former white Confederate owners, dashing the hopes of newly freed Black families. Instead of gaining their own land, many Black Americans were forced into sharecropping, an exploitative system where they worked land owned by white landlords in exchange for a portion of the crop, often keeping them in poverty and debt.
Black people didn’t get their chance to prosper largely due to the failure of the federal government to follow through on promises of land redistribution, compounded by the violent and discriminatory policies of the post-Reconstruction South. Without access to land, the primary source of wealth at the time, most Black Americans were locked out of economic opportunity, leaving a lasting impact on their ability to build generational wealth. This broken promise of land is central to the story of systemic racial inequality in America.
Conclusion
There is so much more to Black history than what we learn in traditional classrooms. From the pioneering explorations of the Moors to the hidden loophole in the 13th Amendment, these overlooked stories challenge the narrow narratives we’re often taught and reveal the deep, complex, and global contributions of our people throughout history. By expanding our understanding of Black history, we not only honor the past but also empower future generations to continue the fight for justice, equality, and the greater good of humanity.
The more we uncover, the more we realize how much is missing from our history books. It’s time to fill in those gaps, unearth buried truths, and become a beacon of hope and light.
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EDUCATE | ELEVATE | EMPOWER
Sources:
Van Sertima, Ivan. They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America. Random House, 1976.
Rashidi, Runoko. "The African Presence in Early America." Journal of African Civilizations, 1992.
Blackmon, Douglas A. Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. Anchor Books, 2009.
Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press, 2010.
Foner, Eric. The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Holzer, Harold, et al. The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views. Louisiana State University Press, 2006.
Curtin, Philip D. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. University of Wisconsin Press, 1969.
Newitt, Malyn. The Portuguese in West Africa, 1415–1670: A Documentary History. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Thomas, Hugh. The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Lonsdale, John. Africa’s Resistance to Colonialism. Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Heywood, Linda M. Nzinga of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen. Harvard University Press, 2017.
Johnson, Hannibal B. Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District. Eakin Press, 1998.
Hill, Karlos K. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Photographic History. University of Oklahoma Press, 2021.
Johnson, Charles, and Patricia Smith. Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery. Harcourt, 1998.
"The First Africans in Virginia, 1619." National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov
Perdue, Theda. Slaveholding Indians: The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist. University of Nebraska Press, 2003.
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. https://www.americanindian.si.edu
Oubre, Claude F. 40 Acres and a Mule: The Ruined Hope of Reconstruction. Louisiana State University Press, 1978.
"The 1619 Project." The New York Times Magazine, August 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/1619project
Images:
Image 1: "Moors Exploration," Courtesy of iCrushMedia Inc, 2024
Image 2: "Queen NZinga," Courtesy of iCrushMedia Inc, 2024
Image 3: "Portrait of Emancipation Proclamation," Photo Credit Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Juneteenth
Image 4: "Shermans Special Field Order 15," Photo Credit Black Voice News. https://blackvoicenews.com/2024/06/17/40-acres-and-a-mule-broken-promise/ 2024
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