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The Beginning of the Slave Trade in New Jersey
Gov. Edward Cornbury was dispatched from London with instructions to keep the settlers provided with "a constant and sufficient supply of merchantable Negroes at moderate prices." He likewise was ordered to assist slave traders and "to take especial care that payment be duly made." This was the beginning of salve trade in New Jersey -
REVOLT OF THE SLAVES
Tired and angry slaves in New York staged a violent uprising. The slaves gathered on Maiden Lane. The result was the death of nine men and six men wounded. -
The GROWTH of The Slave Trade in New Jersey
The English wanted to develop the colony but faced a severe labor shortage. To encourage settlement and use slavery to expand agriculture, the British passed several laws encouraging the practice. One of the most lucrative was a law that promised 60 acres of land per slave to any owner that migrated to the Area of NJ. -
THE ENGLISH REDEEM THEIR POWER
The colony operated a separate court system to deal with slave crimes.[4] Special punishments for slaves remained on the books until 1788. The colony also had laws meant to discourage slave revolts. -
ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO REVOLT ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO REDEEM
Colonist escaped a violent slave uprising in 1743. Somehow word had spread among slaves in Burlington County that Great Britain had outlawed slavery and they were being held in bondage illegally. At midnight on a certain date the slaves agreed to rise up, slit the throats of their masters and the masters' sons. However, this attack never succeeded. It resulted in a hanging of one slave and injury of others. -
Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was an Act of the United States Congress to give effect to the Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3 Note: Superseded by the Thirteenth Amendment)[1] which guaranteed a right of a slaveholder to recover an escaped slave. The Act's title was "An Act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters" and created the legal mechanism by which that could be accomplished. -
The GROWTH AND SUCCESS of The Slave Trade in New Jersey
1800 census showed there were an estimated 12,422 enslaved men and women in New Jersey, or 5.8 percent of the population. -
Gradual Abolition in New Jersey
The New Jersey state legislature was the last in the North to abolish slavery, passing a law in 1804 for its gradual abolition. The 1804 statute and subsequent laws freed children born after the law was passed. In 1804 the New Jersey Legislature passed "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery." It provided that females born of slave parents after July 4, 1804, would be free upon reaching 21 years of age, and males upon reaching 25.
