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The LONG ROAD TO EMANCIPATION THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Slavery in Pennsylvania

THERE were Enslaved people already living in the region in 1681 when the Commmonwealth of PENNSYLVANIA was conceived by William Penn.

IN 1750, AT THE HEIGHT OF THE INSTITUTION, THE COMMONWEALTH HAD OVER 6,000 ENSLAVED PEOPLE LIVING WITHIN ITS BORDERS, REPRESENTING 5% OF THE STATE'S POPULATION.
In 1684, a ship named the Isabella anchored in Philadelphia’s port with approximately 150 captured Africans, which is considered the first shipment of enslaved Africans to arrive in the city after Penn’s arrival. It was the first, but not the last ship.
Philadelphia Bill of Sale of a "Negro boy named Henry," 1756

THE Pennsylvania QUAKER COMMUNITY Immediately began to speak out against the institution of slavery.

THE FIRST WRITTEN PROTEST AGAINST THE PRACTICE OF SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES CAME SHORTLY THEREAFTER FROM PENNSYLVANIA’S GERMANTOWN FRIENDS IN 1688.
Protest against the act of slavery, Pennsylvania Germantown Friends, 1688
the Ships kept arriving. Between 1718 and 1804, at least 10 vessels that participated in the trans-Atlantic slave trade docked in Pennsylvania ports carrying an estimated 1,000 enslaved Africans.
103 vessels carried more than 1,400 enslaved Africans from South America, the Caribbean and other American colonies to Pennsylvania between 1709 and 1776.

1720s

1730s

1740s

1750s

1760s

ENSLAVED AFRICANS CONTINUED TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION throughout the Commonwealth
Advertisement for a Slave Auction in Philadelphia

AS THE POPULATION OF ENSLAVED PERSONS INCREASED, LAWS WERE PUT IN PLACE TO CONTROL THEM.

In March of 1725 the Pennsylvania Assembly passed an "Act for the Better Regulating of Negroes in this province." enslaved people were not allowed to meet in groups of more than four; they were not permitted to travel more than ten miles from their "master's" residence without his permission; they could not marry Europeans; were not to be tried by juries; and could not buy liquor.
Excerpt from the Pennsylvania Assembly Act, "For the Better Regulating of Negroes in this Province," 1725

Much of what we know of the enslaved population of this time has come to us through the advertisements of runaway slaves.

Pennsylvania Packet of 1772
in 1773 the Pennsylvania Assembly, after receiving multiple petitions to abolish slavery in the colony, put an import duty on enslaved persons to discourage the practice.
In 1775, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society formed, the first of its kind in the nation. It was founded at the Rising Sun Tavern in Philadelphia, as a Society for the "Relief for Free Negroes unlawfully held in Bondage."
Seal of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society
In 1780, the Pennsylvania Assembly passed the "Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery", the first ever to be enacted in America.

The Gradual Abolition Act did not free enslaved people immediately. It specified that "every Negro and Mulatto child born within the State after the passing of the Act (1780) would be free upon reaching age twenty-eight.”

Manumission paper of a Bucks County Man named Peter, who was freed at age 49 on 11/7/1777
The act also provided that all enslaved peoples in the state would be registered before the 1st of November 1782, to ensure that enslaved persons could not be hidden away.
Chester County Registry for Enslaved People
IT WASN’T UNTIL THE 1850 CENSUS THAT SLAVERY HAD BEEN COMPLETELY ABOLISHED IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
  • In 1790 there were 3,737 enslaved people registered
  • by 1800 there were 1,706 enslaved people
  • by 1810 there were 795 enslaved people
  • In 1840, there remained 64 enslaved people in the state.

The Abolition of the African Slave Trade

On March 2, 1807, Congress passed a bill to halt the importation of “slaves” into the United States, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 1808. ABSALOM JONES, A PASTOR AT ST. THOMAS’S AFRICAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA, CALLED FOR A SPECIAL COMMEMORATION OF THE BAN, fueling ANNUAL PUBLIC OBSERVANCES IN NEW YORK, BOSTON, AND PHILADELPHIA

The Fugitive Slave Laws

Map of the States and Territories in 1800 showing which had abolished slavery and in which slavery was still legal

Despite this national ban, SLAVERY WAS STILL LEGAL in some of the states and terrritories. Because Pennsylvania was one of the first states to enact an abolition law, it was necessary for the State law to be amended to keep slave owners from taking their enslaved persons across state lines to where slavery was still legal practice.

On March 29, 1788, the State of Pennsylvania passed an amendment to the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery which stated that "No negro or mulatto slave... shall be removed out of this state, with the design and intention that the place of abode or residence of such slave or servant shall be thereby altered or changed."
Woodblocks depicting scenes in which free people of color are kidnapped and returned to slavery
On March 25, 1826, the State of Pennsylvania passed another amendment: which made it a felony for any person to "take, carry away or seduce, any negro or mulatto, from any part or parts of this commonwealth, to any other place or places whatsoever, out of this commonwealth, with a design and intention of selling and disposing of, or of causing to be sold, or of keeping and detaining, or of causing to be kept and detained, such negro or mulatto, as a slave or servant for life"
1839 anti-slavery woodcut
However, Pennsylvania State laws were no obstacle, once the Supreme Court ruled In 1842 in the notorious Prigg v. Pennsylvania case, that a Black woman named Margaret Morgan — who had been freed in Maryland and who had married a free Black man before moving to Pennsylvania in 1832 had to be returned, along with her six children, to slavery in Maryland.
Map of the States and Territories in 1837 showing which had abolished slavery and in which slavery was still legal

The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania

THOUSANDS OF ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS FLED TO PENNSYLVANIA IN THE DECADES BEFORE THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR.

In 1837, The Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia was formed by abolitionist, Robert Purvis, "to create a fund to aid colored persons in distress." The Vigilant Committee's supported and assisted runaway enslaved persons who escaped to or passed through Philadelphia.
In 1852, the organization reformed during a meeting of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, with Robert Purvis as the head of the General Committee and William Still as the chairman. They kept meticulous records of all those they aided to escape.
A page from William Still's journal accounting for the the enslaved persons who traveled through Philadelphia

THE CIVIL WAR

On April 12, 1861 Civil war broke out just one month after Abraham Lincoln was Inaugurated with the national abolition of slavery as its central issue

Philadelphia Inquirer, April 30, 1862. Newspaper Section, Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (052.00.00) [Digital ID# cw0052]
In JUly of 1862, Congress enacted a bill called The Militia Act authorizing the President “to employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary for the suppression of the rebellion, and for this purpose, he may organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare.”
Broadside calling colored troops to action
Camp William Penn was created to train Black troops from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. The camp was located in La Mott near the present day site of the Cheltenham Mall in Montgomery County. It was also the largest training facility of the 18 in the nation during the Civil War. Comprising over 10,000 men, 11 regiments of U.S. Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) were trained there: the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 32nd, 41st, 43rd, and 127th.
PHILADELPHIA WOULD BE THE FIRST CITY TO HOST THE FIRST AFRICAN IN AMERICA PARADE. THIS PARADE CONSISTED OF SEVERAL HUNDRED AFRICAN AMERICANS MARCHING WITHOUT ARMS OR UNIFORMS IN FILE WITH DRUMS, AND INSPIRING BANNERS AS THEY HEADED FOR THE FIRST TRAINING CAMP FOR THE UNITED STATES COLORED TROOP’S (U.S.C.T.). RECRUITS FIRST ARRIVED ON JUNE 26, 1863.

The 13th Amendment

The 13th amendment, which irrevocably abolished slavery throughout the nation, was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865.
On February 3, 1865, Pennsylvania was the sixth state to ratify the 13th amendment.
The Pittsburgh Commercial, February 4, 1865

On December 18, 1865, 27 of 36 States had ratified the amendment and it was certified that the Thirteenth Amendment had become valid as a part of the Constitution!

THIS PRESENTATION WAS CREATED BY AMY HOLLANDER, HISTORIC PROPERTIES MANAGER FOR THE BUCKS COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT
Created By
Amy Hollander
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