Anti-Slavery Almanacs
According to the American Antiquarian Society, almanacs dating from as early as 1656 were abundant and essential pieces of literature in colonial households. When books were a luxury, almanacs provided information for farmers and navigators as well as advice for living. Today the one that is best-known is Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac. Less familiar is the work of Benjamin Banneker, a free man of color. Banneker, a resident of Maryland, published and sold his annual almanac from 1792-1797. His work contradicted widespread opinion of the time that Africans were intellectually inferior to whites.
During the 19th century abolitionists published antislavery almanacs to inform Americans about the horrors of slavery. Almanacs typically included thirteen woodcuts, one for each month and the cover. Each image informed readers about the experiences of enslaved people as well as the dangers and discrimination that free people of color faced. The woodcut, featured in this lesson, focused its attention on incidents of educational discrimination against black children; the caption below the image revealed the almanac’s anti-colonizationist stance (an opposition to African resettlement that was widespread though not universal in the African American community in this period).
