Freedmen: Did you mean...?

The Fourteenth Amendment is one of the most important and consequential additions to the United States Constitution. Ratified in 1868, it defines American citizenship as belonging to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States"...

The Black Codes were a series of racist and discriminatory policies enacted by several former slave states in the United States during the early years of the Reconstruction Era (circa 1865-1877). Rooted in earlier vagrancy laws and slave...

Juneteenth is an annual event celebrating the end of chattel slavery in the United States in commemorating the issuance of General Order No. 3 (which included the line "all slaves are free") in Galveston, Texas on 19 June 1865. In 2021, Juneteenth...

Claudius (10 BCE to 54 CE) was the fourth Roman emperor, who reigned from 41 to 54 CE. Though a member of the imperial Julio-Claudian Dynasty, his rise to power had always seemed unlikely. Indeed, for much of his life, he had been ostracized...

Rome began as a small city on the banks of the Tiber River in Italy. The Latin tribes (also known as the Latini or Latians) inhabited the region c. 1000 BCE but the founding of the city is dated to 753 BCE. The family was the center and foundation...

The Julio-Claudians were the first dynasty to rule the Roman Empire. After the death of the dictator-for-life Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, his adopted son Octavian - later to become known as Augustus (r. 27 BCE - 14 CE) - fought a civil war against...

Nero (37-68 CE) was the fifth Roman emperor, who reigned from 54 to 68 CE. The last emperor of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, he came to power at the age of 16 with the help of his mother, Agrippina the Younger. Initially a popular ruler, his...

Julia Agrippina or Agrippina the Younger (6 November 15 - 19/23 March 59 CE) was a prominent woman during the early Roman Empire, niece to Tiberius (r. 14-37 CE) and Claudius (41-54 CE), whom she married, sister of Caligula (r. 37-41 CE...

Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) was the 17th President of the United States, who was suddenly thrust into the office in 1865 after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. A gruff Southern Democrat, Johnson favored a quick end to Reconstruction (circa...

Regional, inter-regional and international trade was a common feature of the Roman world. A mix of state control and a free market approach ensured goods produced in one location could be exported far and wide. Cereals, wine and olive oil...