Slavery in New Hampshire The New Hampshire Constitution stated that “all men are born equal and independent,” but that clause did not mean that slavery was not present in New Hampshire during the 1780s. In fact,…
Category: Slaves
Slavery in New York
“All men are created equal” …or are they? Although slavery was practiced in New York until it was officially abolished in 1827, it was not practiced as heavily as it was in the southern states. The main concentration of slavery…
Slavery in the State of Rhode Island
In 1774 Rhode Island had forbidden the importation of slaves into the state, however slavery was still legal within the state. In 1784 the the state legislature passed an act for gradual emancipation, where all children born after March 1…
Slavery in Maryland in the 1780’s
Revolutionary War During the Revolutionary war around 1780, Maryland was in serious need of soldiers causing them to allow “any able-bodied slave between 16 and 40 years of age, who voluntarily enters into service… with the consent and agreement…
Slavery in Connecticut
By 1776, when the colonists were happy to be finally free from Britain, they began to meditate on the subject of human freedom in general. Throughout 1776 and the following years, petitions began to be presented to the General Assembly,…
Slavery in South Carolina
By 1790, there were nearly as many black slaves in South Carolina as there were white citizens. Following the Revolution, South Carolina found itself short of labor as many slaves fought for the patriot cause and were freed or ran…
Pennsylvania Slavery
Like most of the other states during colonial America, Pennsylvania had slavery. Founding Fathers such as Benjamin Franklin, John Dickinson, and Robert Morris had slaves at one time. However, Pennsylvania was one of the first states to oppose slavery. The…
Slavery in 1780s Massachusetts
During the 1780’s in Massachusetts, both legal slave ownership and slave trade ended during the decade. With a court ruling in 1783 stating that the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution outlawed slavery with the statement that all men are created equal. Several…
North Carolina Slavery
Slavery was certainly a huge part of North Carolina during the 1780s, as well as during the years leading up to it. By the time that the Federal Constitution was ratified, roughly 26 percent of all residents in North Carolina…
Slaves – Virginia
The leaders of Virginia began debating what “Liberty” meant after the British surrendered at Yorktown, in 1782. They decided to relax the limits on the emancipation of personal slaves. The limits were originally created so that slave owners would…