Our anxiety to perpetuate and extend the blessings of freedom, and enlarge the circle of humanity, induces us to remind you of the bill emancipating the children born of negro and mulatto parents. We wish to see you give the complete sanction of law to this noble and generous purpose and adorn the annals of Pennsylvania with their bright display of justice and public virtue.
—Joseph Reed, Abolitionist, 1779
The Beginning of the End of Slavery…
The Pennsylvania Gradual Abolition Act, passed on March 1, 1780, marked the beginning of the end of slavery in the Northern states. While The Act did not abolish slavery overnight, it set Pennsylvania on a path toward eventual abolition. At the same time, the law pushed other Northern states to move against the abhorrent practice of enslaving other human beings.
Slave Auction Block, Front and Market Streets in Philadelphia.
The practice of enslavement and bondage was present in Pennsylvania as early as 1639 in the Dutch and Swedish colonies in the Delaware Valley in what is now Pennsylvania. Both of these jurisdictions imported Africans or brought them south from their colony of New Netherland (now New York) to cultivate tobacco, the colony’s primary cash crop at the time. As the colony grew, so did reliance on slave labor, with the enslaved working in agriculture, as artisans, and in domestic service.
Pennsylvania Abolition Society
Yet, even though the practice of taking other humans into bondage was important to the economic foundation of early Pennsylvania, it was different than what existed in the Southern colonies. Pennsylvania’s economy was more diversified than the large plantation economy that dominated the South. Smaller-scale farming operations meant that most slave owners owned only a few persons.
The English and Germans who settled in Pennsylvania with William Penn were the first to speak out against enslavement, and Methodists and Baptists were also opposed on religious grounds. Members of the Society of Friends – the Quakers – began voicing public opposition to slavery in 1688, beginning with the Germantown Friends’ protest. By the time of the American Revolution, many Quakers advocated the complete abolition of the practice through the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, formed in 1775.
Early Legislation
Even in view of these positions, early legislative attempts in Pennsylvania were cautious, often focusing on the regulation of the slave trade rather than outright abolition. Yet, these efforts laid the groundwork for later, more radical legislative action that reflected the changing attitudes in the colony.
It wasn’t until the American Revolution in 1775-1783 that attitudes toward slavery in Pennsylvania swung overwhelmingly toward abolition. The ideals of liberty and freedom espoused during the Revolution exposed the contradiction of fighting for freedom while keeping other people in bondage. The position became increasingly untenable for many Pennsylvanians.
PA State House, Where the Gradual Abolition Act Was Passed in 1780
The resulting Gradual Abolition Act of 1780 was a meticulously crafted piece of legislation with several key provisions. It declared that any child born to an enslaved mother after the Act’s passage would be free, albeit after serving an indenture period. This provision cautiously aimed to balance the immediate desire for abolition with an economic structure still dependent on the labor of enslaved individuals. The Act also set forth regulations regarding the registration of enslaved individuals and prohibited the importation of additional African Americans into Pennsylvania for the purpose.
The Transition Period
The passage of the Act sparked diverse and divisive reactions. While abolitionists and progressives celebrated it, others were forcefully opposed. Even though the gradual nature of the Act did not mean immediate freedom for all, it did initiate a complex and challenging transition period. The census of 1810 in Pennsylvania, thirty years after the Act, showed that the number of enslaved people in Pennsylvania had dropped significantly. By 1850, there were no more enslaved people in the state.
The Impact of the Gradual Abolition Act
The Pennsylvania Act inspired similar legislation in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, ultimately leading to a national movement and helping shape a society where African Americans could gradually assert their freedom and rights. This change was most evident in places such as Chester County, where a strong network of abolitionists actively worked to undermine the institution.
