 |
 |
|
|
Elementary | Middle School | High School | Home | Topical Index | Links | Standards |
|
|
|
|
Elementary | Middle School | High School | Home | Topical Index | Links | Standards |
Introduction
|
|
SLAVERY IN NEW JERSEY Colonial Slavery
Slavery
was introduced into the colony of New Jersey in the 17th century.
The colonial system of slavery was a labor system known as chattel
slavery, in which the slave was the personal property of his or her
owner for life. Men and women brought from Africa, either directly
or by way of the Caribbean Islands, were enslaved under this system.
Children born of slave women became the property of their mother’s
owner and slaves for life, perpetuating the system indefinitely.
Colonial settlers were encouraged to bring servants and slaves with
them through extra grants of land under the 1665 Concessions and
Agreements of Sir John Carteret and John Lord Berkeley. By the end
of the 17th century,
slaves had become an important part of the labor force in the
colony’s developing economy, and Perth Amboy had developed into a
slave trade port. Special laws were enacted to control the actions
of slaves, setting harsh punishments for infractions and crimes;
special courts were established to enforce those laws. According to
historian Clement A Price, "support for the institution was
stronger in New Jersey than in any other northern colony."
Revolutionary Era
In
the 18th century,
especially during the Revolutionary era, the contrast between the
institution of slavery and the principles of human rights endorsed
by New Jersey patriots and Quakers resulted in outspoken opposition
to slavery and attempts to cause the colonial legislature to end the
slave trade. Despite the service of slaves in patriot military
forces and their work on the home front, the 1776 Constitution of
the new state of New Jersey did not abolish slavery. Indeed, New
Jersey and New York were the only northern states that did not move
to limit slavery during the Revolutionary War.
By
1800 there were an estimated 12,422 enslaved men and women in New
Jersey, or 5.8 percent of the population. Some steps were taken by
the legislature during the late 18th century
to improve the condition of slaves, but it was not until 1804 that
the New Jersey legislature passed the Act for the Gradual
Emancipation of Slavery. Under this act, children born to an
enslaved woman after July 4, 1804 were free. However, the law
provided that female children were obligated to serve their
mother’s owner until the age of 21, and male children were
obligated until the age of 25. If an owner did not wish to enforce
this obligation, he or she could abandon the infant to the local
overseers of the poor when it was one year old and be relieved of
its care. People who were born into slavery before July 4, 1804 were
slaves for life unless their owners chose to manumit them, that is,
to give them their freedom. Even as late as the Civil War there were
still a few very elderly slaves in New Jersey.
Enslaved Women
Note: For more information on
slavery in early New Jersey see: Clement A Price. Freedom Not
Far Distant: A Documentary History of Afro-Americans in New
Jersey. Newark: New Jersey Historical Society, 1980. For
biographical information on enslaved women, emancipated slave
women, and free black women see: Joan N. Burstyn, ed. Past
and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women. Syracuse, NY:
Syracuse University Press, 1997.
|