History of slavery in New York (state)

Imagine a place called New York a super long time ago! It wasn't quite like today. People brought enslaved Africans here to work.

Some lived in busy cities like New York City, where they helped in homes and shops. Others worked on farms far out in the countryside, like on Long Island or near the big Hudson River. Even though it was up north, New York had many enslaved people, almost as many as some places far, far away in the South!

When a big war called the American Revolutionary War happened, things changed. British soldiers came to New York City. They told enslaved people that if they left their owners and came to the British, they could be free!

Lots of people took this chance and moved to the city. By 1780, there were 10,000 Black people living there. After the war, the British even took about 3,000 of them away to a new place called Nova Scotia to live as free people.

After the war, some grown-ups started a group to help free Black people and stop slavery. They passed a law in 1799 that said children born to enslaved mothers would be free, but not right away! They had to work for the owner until they were 25 or 28 years old.

It was like a very, very long chore! Finally, on July 4, 1827, the last enslaved people were truly free. They had a big parade to celebrate!

While cities were busy, the parts of New York far from the ocean, called upstate, were leaders in saying slavery was wrong. They had meetings to talk about ending it. There were even special schools that let Black and white students learn together, which was super rare back then!

One college even had Black teachers teaching white students. It shows that many people in New York wanted everyone to be treated fairly.