East New York, Radio Live ~4th of July Black History weekend

Primary Sources, Black History

East New York Radio Live, 4th of July Weekend! Sojourner Truth and all other New York enslaved Blacks were emancipated on The 4th of July, 1827. In 1799 the New York Legislature passed "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery" with only token opposition. It provided for gradual manumission. The law freed all children born to slave women after July 4, 1799, but not at once. The males became free at 28, the females at 25. Till then, they would be the property of the mother's slaver. Slaves already in servitude before July 4, 1799, remained slaves for life, though they were reclassified as "indentured servants." The law sidestepped all question of legal and civil rights, thus avoiding the objections that had blocked the earlier bill. The activity of kidnappers and cheats in selling slaves out of the state in spite of the laws was said to have been the impetus for the 1817 statute that gave freedom to New York slaves who had been born before July 4, 1799 -- but not until July 4, 1827. "One of the slaves who were freed in New York on July, 1827, the woman who named herself Sojourner Truth was destined to be the most remarkable." -Benjamin Quarles, "Black Abolitionists" pg 121