George Teamoh

Biography

George Teamoh (c. 1818 – after 1887) was an American author, politician, and community leader who rose to prominence in Virginia during the Reconstruction era. Born into slavery in Norfolk, Virginia, he worked at the Fort Monroe, the Norfolk Naval Yard and other military installations before the American Civil War, then escaped to freedom in New York and moved to Massachusetts circa 1853. After the war he returned to Virginia, working first as a caulker in a shipyard and becoming a leader in Portsmouth's Black community, then going on to serve in the Constitutional Convention of 1868 and Virginia's state senate, and finally writing an autobiography in his final years. Teamoh's autobiography is remarkable for his clear rebuke of the military's use of slave labor and the federal government's role both in perpetuating slavery and failing to protect newly emancipated blacks.

Explore Wikipedia contributors ↗