History of slavery in Pennsylvania

The presence of chattel slavery, particularly of Africans, was felt in the Delaware River valley as early as 1639. Philadelphia was the primary depot for the import of slaves to modern-day Pennsylvania; in 1689, the ship "Isabella", carrying some 150 slaves from Africa by way of Bristol, unloaded its cargo in Philadelphia harbor. By 1700, one in 10 Philadelphians was a slave owner; by 1729, the demand for slavery increased due to a greater demand for cheap skilled labor. Although immigration slowed during the Seven Years' War, the demand for slaves fresh from Africa grew again afterwards; eight of the fourteen slave-bearing ships which unloaded in Philadelphia harbor between 1759 and 1766 were recorded to have brought their cargo from the Gold Coast, Guinea or Gambia.

Conditions

Slaves and free blacks were tried in separate, non-jury courts, beginning in 1700. Under "An Act for the better Regulation of Negroes" (1725-1726), a free black person could be re-enslaved for having married a white mate; for mere fornication with a white person, a free black could be force into servitude for seven years. They were also banned from attending unlawful assemblies, carrying firearms, or visiting "tripling-houses".

Abolition and resistance

The religious resistance to slavery and the slave-import taxes led to a ban on slave imports in 1767. Also, the first recorded formal protest against slavery was signed in Germantown by members of a Quaker congregation in 1688. However, a number of Quakers and other individuals were themselves slaveowners:

* William Penn, the founder of the Pennsylvania colony, owned 12 slaves on his estate, Pennsbury; however, he gradually became a supporter of the abolition of the institution.
* Benjamin Franklin
* Edmund Physick
* John Dickinson
* Samuel Mifflin

Finally, while the first abolition law in the United States was passed in 1779, it did not free a single slave:

* a slave who was born before the law took effect (March 1, 1780), would remain a slave for the remainder of his or her life unless emancipated by the owner.
* children born after the date of effect could be kept as slaves until they turned 28.

However, the abolition law provided a boon for free blacks in Pennsylvania, as it reversed the "Better Regulation" act of 1726 by allowing free blacks to testify legitimately in courts of law, and other races, even though it didn't address the right of free blacks to vote and to serve in state militias.

Total abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania didn't occur until 1847. By that time, slavery had become a significantly weaker institution than it was in the early 1700s.

Links

* [http://www.slavenorth.com/pennsylvania.htm Slavery in Pennsylvania]
* [http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/inq010403a.htm USHistory.org - "Pennsylvania slavery by the numbers"]
* [http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/africanamericans/page1.asp African Americans in Pennsylvania]