AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY Profile picture
Jul 15, 2023 11 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Everyone knows Lewis & Clark, but did you know that there was a black man who was also part of the expedition?

As he was enslaved by William Clark, he participated as a full member of the expedition & was present when the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean.

A THREAD Image
What’s the Lewis and Clark Expedition?

It was an expedition, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, to explore the American Northwest, newly purchased from France. (Louisiana Purchase). Image
His name was York and thus he became the first black man to cross the North American continent.
York was known for his skill in scouting, hunting, field medicine and manual labor in extreme weather conditions. Lewis had noted in his journal how York had saved him from certain death from a grizzly bear during the expedition. Image
You can read his journal entries on: lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.18…
In 1804, Clark took York when he joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition. York was a large, strong man who shared the duties & risks of the expedition, and was the only black member of the Expedition.
The Native Nations treated York with respect, and he played a key role in diplomatic relations, mainly due to his dark skin. Image
After the expedition returned, every member received money and land for their services, every member except York. York asked Clark for his freedom based upon his good service during the expedition, and Clark refused.
York pleaded to be reunited with his wife, who was enslaved in Louisville; he even offered to work in Louisville and send Clark all his earnings. Clark still refused, and sold York to a brutal master in 1811, where he remained enslaved at least until 1816.
A statue of York, by sculptor Ed Hamilton, with plaques commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition and his participation in it, stands at Louisville's Riverfront Plaza/Belvedere, next to the wharf on the Ohio River. Image
You can help support the page through donations/tips to keep up on: https://t.co/yVxWMnaYQAko-fi.com/africanarchives
Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY

AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AfricanArchives

Oct 17
On this day in 1969, the Historic ‘Wyoming Black 14’ Protests Began.

14 black football players at the University of Wyoming were kicked off the team for trying to protest against Brigham Young University because of the Mormon Church ban on Black men in the priesthood

THREAD! Image
The players protested playing a game with Brigham Young University (BYU) because of the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS ban on black men holding the priesthood in the church, and other racial restrictions. Mormons believe black people are cursed with the mark of Cain.
The Wyoming Cowboys had won three consecutive Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championships, and they were considered as the best football team to ever play for the university in 1969 Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 14
When the Zulu People of South Africa 🇿🇦 defeated the British 🇬🇧

—A THREAD—

In 1879, the British army invaded the independent & previously friendly Zulu kingdom, which had been founded by the formidable Nguni warrior Shaka Zulu in 1818. Image
Shaka had been the first proper king in South Africa, in that he managed to unite almost 800 Eastern Nguni–Bantu clans under his rule, displacing the rest. Image
He was also the first to establish a proper army, which he divided into regiments called impis armed with assegais and iklwas – the former a traditional long-poled spear to use from a distance, the latter a remodelled short-poled version which was lethal in hand-to-hand combat. Image
Read 18 tweets
Oct 11
In Louisiana, black women were put in cells with male prisoners and some became pregnant

All children born in the penitentiary became property of the state

At 10 years they would be auctioned off. The proceeds were used to fund schools for white kids
THREAD Image
Before the Civil War, most prisoners in the South were white. The punishment of enslaved African Americans was generally left up to their owners. Louisiana, however, did imprison enslaved people for "serious" crimes, generally involving acts of rebellion against the slave system.
A number of these imprisoned slaves were women. Penitentiary records show a number of women imprisoned for "assaulting a white," arson, or attempting to poison someone, most likely their enslavers.
Read 7 tweets
Oct 7
Africa is portrayed as a continent without history before slavery and colonialism. African History isn't known by many people compared to the history of Europe, Americas, and Asia.

Some of the world's great civilisations such as Mali flourished in Africa.

A THREAD! Image
In the early periods(1500s), Africans participated in extensive international trading networks and intrans-oceanic travel.

"Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter" (African Proverb) Image
THE MALI EMPIRE

Founded by King Sundiata Keita, and also known as the richest civilisation in
West Africa. It boasted excellent law & order, agriculture and mining, the largest library in Africa, and the richest man in history: Mansa Musa! Image
Image
Read 16 tweets
Oct 4
The Battle of Bamber Bridge, 1943.

Racist US military police attacked black US troops on British soil.

US military authorities demanded the town’s pubs impose a colour bar, the local landlords responded with signs that read “Black Troops Only” which pissed them off.

A THREAD Image
In 1943 Black American soldiers faced off with white American Military police during World War 2 on British soil. Black American soldiers had to fight their own white American soldiers, while in England, where they were fighting the world war.
Why? Because the town, Bamber Bridge in Lancashire wasnt segregated so they treated the black soldiers like all other races, BUT back in America segregation still existed so essentially the American army went to someone else’s country & demanded they adopt their racist practices Image
Read 9 tweets
Sep 30
American medicine has been built upon the abuse of black people with no oversight.

I'll revisit a few cases of how Black people were abused in the field of medicine.

A THREAD! Image
The Tuskegee syphilis Experiment: It began in 1932. In the syphilis study, doctors were trying to find out more about syphilis test subjects (impoverished African American men), and didn't treat them for syphilis even after they knew penicillin could cure the infection. Image
The infected men involved in the study were never made aware of their condition upon diagnosis and believed they were being treated for "bad blood". Image
Read 22 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(