Slavery in New York at the beginning of the 17th century (PDF)

Diploma Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject History - America, grade: A, Warsaw University (Applied Linguistics), course: V, language: English, abstract: The objective of this thesis is to present the issue of slavery in the New York colony from the Dutch rule at the beginning of 17th century through English domination and American Revolutionary War. Its aim is also to present a struggle of progressive white New York citizens and black enslaved for full emancipation. For most of its history, New York has been the largest, most ethnically diverse, and most economically expansive city in the North American colonies. It was also the headquarter of American slavery for more than two hundred years. During the American Revolutionary War, the British army occupied New York City in 1776. The Crown promised freedom to slaves who left rebel masters . By 1780, 10,000 black slaves lived in New York. After the American Revolution, the New York Manumission Society was founded in 1785 to work for the abolition of slavery and for assistance to free blacks. The state passed a 1799 law for gradual abolition; after that date, children born to slave mothers were free but required to work an extended period as indentured servants into their twenties. Existing slaves kept their status. All remaining slaves were finally freed on July 4, 1827.