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Jul 15 11 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
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
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More from @AfricanArchives

Jul 10
Most people have heard or used the term UNCLE TOM when we refer to a sell-out, but did you know that the inference is totally wrong.

The real Uncle Tom was a hero, Josiah Henson, was an abolitionist who helped slaves escape among other great things.

A THREAD
Uncle Tom was a man:
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—who refused to tell on other slaves.
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Josiah Henson was born into slavery in 1789 in Charles County, Maryland. Growing up he watched his father receive beatings for standing up to his slave owner and also witnessed his father's ear being severed as part of the punishment and also his father being sold off.
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Jul 7
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While waiting for hospital test results on the ankle he had injured in junior college, Robinson boarded an Army bus.

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Jul 5
The British almost eliminated the entire Tasmanian Population of Australia in the 1800s by kidnapping, enslaving, torturing and murdering them.  

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Jul 4
Job Maseko, a WW2 hero, sank a NAZI ship with a bomb made from a tin can with condensed milk. He was denied the highest military decoration, due to his race.

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Jul 2
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A THREAD
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Jun 30
During the 1940s it was rare for a black person to have control over large amounts of land.

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In the 1940s, Simmons controlled approxmately 270 acres or more of debt-free land, some of which had been owned by the family since 1887. He and other relatives farmed the property and lived on it in relative peace.
In 1941, rumors about oil spread across Southwest Mississippi, and a few white men, thinking there might be oil on it, began to make claims on the Simmons land.
Read 8 tweets

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