Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Fort Monroe: A place known as the beginning of slavery in the U.S. — and the beginning of its end

People from around the world will gather starting Friday for a three-day program of events commemorating the “African Landing” — when a ship arrived with “20 and odd Negroes” from Angola.

Terry E. Brown, Superintendent of the Fort Monroe National Monument stands in front of what he calls the witness tree, a 500-year-old oak, that was near the the spot of the first landing of Africans in America 400 years ago at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Va.
Terry E. Brown, Superintendent of the Fort Monroe National Monument stands in front of what he calls the witness tree, a 500-year-old oak, that was near the the spot of the first landing of Africans in America 400 years ago at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Va.Read moreSteve Helber / AP