Enslavement, or the practice of holding people as property and forcing them to work, was a significant part of the history of the United States, and it has left a lasting impact on many national and state parks throughout the country. Some national and state parks commemorate and preserve sites and stories related to the history of enslavement and its aftermath, including sites of plantations, slave cabins, and other structures associated with the enslavement of African Americans.
Some examples of national and state parks that highlight enslavement include:
- The National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program, which includes over 90 sites that are associated with the Underground Railroad and the struggle for freedom by enslaved people in the United States.
- The National Park Service’s National Park of American Samoa includes the National Park of American Samoa, which has a history of enslavement of Pacific Islanders, including the enslavement of Samoans by American traders
- The National Park Service’s Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington, D.C. which preserves the home and estate of Frederick Douglass, a prominent abolitionist and former slave.
- The National Park Service’s Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia, which preserves the site of two major Civil War battles, one of them was the First Battle of Bull Run, which was fought between enslaved and free African Americans on both sides.
- The National Park Service’s Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama, which preserves the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military pilots in the United States Armed Forces.
- The National Park Service’s Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas, which preserves the history of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case that declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.
These are just a few examples, but there are many other national and state parks throughout the United States that highlight enslavement and its aftermath. These sites provide an important opportunity to understand the history of enslavement, its impact on the nation, and the contributions of African Americans to the struggle for freedom, equality, and civil rights.
