New York Abolishes Slavery, March 29, 1799

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.