New York Abolishes Slavery
Suggested Teaching Instructions
Learning Standards
7.7 REFORM MOVEMENTS: Social, political, and economic inequalities sparked various reform movements and resistance efforts. Influenced by the Second Great Awakening, New York State played a key role in major reform efforts.
(Standards: 1, 5; Themes: SOC, CIV, GOV)
7.7b Enslaved African Americans resisted slavery in various ways in the 19th century. The abolitionist movement also worked to raise awareness of and generate resistance to the institution of slavery.
11.3 EXPANSION, NATIONALISM, AND SECTIONALISM (1800 – 1865): As the nation expanded, growing sectional tensions, especially over slavery, resulted in political and constitutional crises that culminated in the Civil War.
(Standards: 1, 3, 4, 5; Themes: TCC, GEO, GOV, ECO, TECH)
11.3b Different perspectives concerning constitutional, political, economic, and social issues contributed to the growth of sectionalism.
Students will investigate the development of the abolitionist movement, focusing on Nat Turner’s Rebellion, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator), Frederick Douglass (The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass and The North Star), and Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin).
Introduction
John Jay and others had pushed for the abolition of slavery in the 1777 constitution, but it found little support.
That glaring omission was not remedied until 1799 when Jay, by then governor, signed a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery.
But emancipation was not immediate. The law set a date of July 4, 1827, for the complete and final abolition of all slavery in New York.
In a sense, the legal abolition of slavery was an end to the Revolutionary Era in New York.
This learning activity is a part of the larger resource, Teaching Revolutionary New York with Historical Documents.