In the Margins

The 1830 Indian Removal Act led to the forced relocation of nearly 50,000 indigenous people. What happened to the ones that stayed? This is the story of one small southern Alabama tribe's ongoing fight for federal recognition.

What were the promises made by the Continental and British armies to the thousands of Black soldiers during the American Revolution and what were the the actual outcomes of those promises? Through the Black soldier experiences, we uncover the broken promises, the United States' paradoxical commitment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the fight for abolition that followed the Revolutionary War.

Decades before abolition, enslaved people sued for their freedom in court and won. But today, the only freedom suit most people are familiar with is the case of Dred Scott. So why don't we know more about these early lawsuits? From Massachusetts to Missouri, the history of freedom suits is more complicated than you might think. 

Less than 20 years after the American Revolution, the nation's capital was under threat of total collapse. The culprit? Yellow fever, and the hardest hit city was Philadelphia. The fall of the capital of the United States so soon after a revolution could mean the end of America. While the upper class and politicians ran for the hills in hopes of escaping "impure air", top health officials pleaded for the city's free Black communities to step in to help the rapidly deteriorating capital. Why was this group chosen specifically? How can we apply their story to how Black communities survived disproportionate illness during the COVID epidemic? And is America at risk for another collapse due to a pandemic?