The First Emancipation, 1777 - 1804

Revolutionary Ideas Reform-minded people reexamining old institutions and ideas Questioning the justice of . . . . . . torture . . . imprisonment for debt . . . slavery.

Could not reconcile slavery with their revolution If “taxation without representation” is slavery, than what about ACTUAL slavery If all men are created equal, then what about black men? The logic of the revolution told them that slavery had to be abolished Most of these reformers lived in the North

Antislavery forces in the North Active since 1750s The Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, established on April 14, 1775 Led by Quakers 1788 – 1792, antislavery organizations est. in Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia, and New Jersey

Anti-Slavery -- a Trans-Atlantic movement International Anti-Slavery Societies established in London and Paris Slavery abolished in “Upper Canada”

Northern states abolish slavery Vermont – 8 July 1777 The first to abolish slavery outright Massachusetts – slavery challenged in the state court Commonwealth v. Jennison Pennsylvania – 1780. Connecticut – 1784 Rhode Island – 1784 New York – 1799 New Jersey – 1804

Slave-owners resisted abolition Slavery was profitable in the North Slaveholders paid high prices for Slaves Slaves worked as skilled farmers, industrial workers, domestics

By 1800 slavery was less essential to the Northern economy More white laborers coming to America Whites resent having to compete with slaves Laborers and farmers join antislavery movements

Gradual abolition Protected the property rights of the master Protected the interests of the slave owners Had little sympathy for the enslaved blacks

Slavery lingered in the North for decades In 1800, New York had nearly 20,000 slaves In 1810, about 1/4 of the northern blacks were enslaved In 1840 there were over 1000 slaves in the “free” states

Northern complicity and racism They benefitted from slavery up to the Civil War (1861) Most northerners believed Blacks were inferior to Whites Northern states passed laws that limited the rights of free blacks Midwestern states prevented Blacks from living there. Some took part in anti-Black violence