Methodology

How this archive defines its subject, sources its claims, and handles disagreement.

Who this history is about

This site is specifically about the ethnic group descended from people enslaved in what became the United States — defined by lineage and ethnicity, not nationality. It is not the broad nationality-based “African American” umbrella that also includes recent Black immigrants from the Caribbean, continental Africa, or elsewhere. The narrative spine is the unbroken line from the first enslaved Africans on this soil to their descendants today.

We describe this community in plain language — “Black Americans descended from US slavery,” “the descendants of the enslaved” — and deliberately avoid contested acronyms while remaining unambiguous about who is centered. Where a notable figure’s lineage is mixed or debated, we include them with a brief, factual note rather than silently excluding them.

Two tracks: struggle and excellence

History is more than oppression. The Struggle track chronicles oppression and the resistance to it; the Excellence track is a completely separate history of achievement, culture, invention, and triumph. A single toggle switches between them so neither story crowds out the other.

Sourcing

Every published entry is tied to at least one cited resource. We distinguish primary sources (documents, records) from secondary works (books, research, documentaries, journalism). The archive is built mostly by aggregating and citing existing resources rather than asserting unsourced claims.

Contested history

Some history is genuinely debated, and we say so rather than flattening it. Two examples flagged throughout the site:

• 1526 vs. 1619. Enslaved Africans were brought by Spanish colonists to San Miguel de Gualdape on the present-day Carolina/Georgia coast in 1526 — decades before the better-known 1619 landing at Point Comfort, Virginia.
• The status of the 1619 group. Historians still debate whether the “20 and odd” Africans at Point Comfort were enslaved or treated as indentured servants.

Entries touching unsettled questions carry a “debated” marker.

AI summaries

Some pages include a clearly-labeled AI-generated summary to orient readers in plain language. These are reviewed by an editor and are never the sole content — the cited resources and long-form articles carry the substance.

A living draft

This archive is being written and reviewed continuously. Content is drafted from reputable sources and fact-checked before publication, and coverage will keep growing toward comprehensiveness.