1858

Following the Dred Scott decision, Martin Delany organized the National Emigration Convention and planned an exploratory expedition to the Niger Valley in West Africa to identify land for an independent Black American settlement. He departed in 1859, signing a treaty with Yoruba chiefs for land. His expedition report advocated Black sovereignty abroad, establishing the intellectual framework for later Pan-Africanism and Marcus Garvey's movement.

Following the Dred Scott decision, Martin Delany organized the National Emigration Convention and planned an expedition to the Niger Valley. He departed in 1859, signing a treaty with Yoruba chiefs for land. His expedition report advocating Black sovereignty abroad established the intellectual framework for later Pan-Africanism and Marcus Garvey's movement.

William Wells Brown — already the author of the first novel published by an African American (Clotel, 1853) — published The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom, the first play published by a Black American. A satirical drama about a light-skinned enslaved man and his wife who escape from a hypocritical Southern minister, it was performed as readings at abolitionist meetings throughout New England.