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Introduction

Although slavery was banned in the Georgia colony, the colonists hired blacks from South Carolina to build their wooden houses. When the ban on slavery was lifted in 1750, the number of African-Americans increased greatly and slaves became the key to success in the production of cotton and rice, as well as Savannah grey bricks and ironwork.

Black volunteers from Haiti came to aid the Americans during the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Among these was Henri Christophe, who later became free Haiti's first ruler in the early 1800s. Free blacks operated the fire stations in Savannah in this same period.

Until slavery ended in 1865, the teaching of reading and writing to slaves and their children was forbidden. Underground schools operated secretly with courageous teachers including Jane DeVeaux, Susie King Taylor, James Porter, the Rev. James M. Simms, and Julien Fromontin.

After slavery was abolished through the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War, people of African descent continued to make positive contributions to life in Savannah and continue to do so today.

Map | Next Stop: Turner Memorial

Intro
A. Turner Memorial
B. William Scarbrough House
C. First Bryan Baptist Church
D. First African Baptist Church
E. U.S. Custom House
F. 426 East Saint Julian Street
G. Second African Baptist Church
H. Beach Institute, African-American Cultural Center
I. King-Tisdell Cottage Museum
J. First Congregational Church