- Some years ago, I was chatting with a Retropolis reader, a young history student, and I mentioned there were several dozen people enslaved in New Jersey up until the day the 13th Amendment kicked in in December 1865. Y’all. He identified every one of them. njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/nj...
- For those going “New Jersey?!” Yes. Slavery happened in the north too. Most passed gradual emancipation laws post-Revolution. NJ’s was so gradual there were still enslaved people in 1865. Lincoln’s proclamation only applied to the South. The last people to be freed were in NJ, Delaware + Kentucky.
- As @erindwyer.bsky.social mentions below, these laws were gradual with the enslaver in mind, to blunt the economic impact of freedom. New York had the most slavery in the North, and it didn’t fully end until 1827! However most enslaved people had self-emancipated and moved to the city by then.Feb 4, 2026 12:41
- As an aside, Rachel is a legend. (From Fischer’s “African Founders”)
