Vermont was amongst the first places to abolish slavery by constitutional dictum. Although estimates place the number of slaves at 25 in 1770, slavery was banned outright upon the founding of

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

in July 1777, and by a further provision in its Constitution, existing male slaves became free at the age of 21 and females at the age of 18. Not only did Vermont's legislature agree to abolish slavery entirely, it also moved to provide full voting rights for

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

males. According to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, "Vermont's July 1777 declaration was not entirely altruistic either. While it did set an independent tone from the 13 colonies, the declaration's wording was vague enough to let Vermont's already-established slavery practices continue." Chapter I of the Constitution, titled "A Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont" said: The state of Vermont was created in 1777 by settlers who had purchased their land from the colonial governor of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and resisted subsequent attempts by New York's colonial government to exert jurisdiction over the area, called the

New Hampshire Grants The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the colonial governor of the Province of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 (including 131 towns), were made ...

. These settlers, who named the former New Hampshire Grants "Vermont", wished to create a popular government representing their interests, among them abolishing slavery. After 1777, Vermont was repeatedly denied

admission to the Union Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that ...

as New York and New Hampshire continued to debate jurisdiction, and it existed as the independent

Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic, officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met ...

until March 1791, after jurisdictional disputes were resolved by a compromise signed in October 1790. After Vermont was admitted as the fourteenth state in 1791, it became subject to the Fugitive Slave Clause of the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

(Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3) requiring fugitive slaves fleeing into a state whose laws forbid slavery to be returned. Later the state was subject to the Fugitive Slave Acts of

1793 The French Republic introduced the French Revolutionary Calendar starting with the year I. Events January–June * January 7 – The Ebel riot occurs in Sweden. * January 9 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first to ...

and

1850 Events January–March * January 29 – Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the United States Congress. * January 31 – The University of Rochester is founded in Rochester, New York. * January – Sacramento, Ca ...

, allowing slave owners to recover fugitive slaves who fled to Vermont. Harvey Amani Whitfield's book, ''The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont'', reports that among those violating the abolition of slavery were Vermont Supreme Court Judge Stephen Jacob and Levi Allen, brother of the military leader

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, writer, military officer and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and wa ...

. In 1858 the "Freedom Act" was ratified, declaring that any slave who reached Vermont was automatically freed.

1790 census

The 1790 census of the United States did not reach Vermont until the following year because Vermont was not part of the United States until its admission to the Union in 1791. The 1790 census, as published, reported 16 slaves in Vermont, all in Bennington County. This was due to a compilation error; the matter is discussed at some length in ''The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches,'' published in 1929. However, in historian Ira Berlin's 1998 work ''Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America'' he cited the 1790 census figure of 16.

Notes and references

Additional reading

Harvey Amani Whitfield, ''The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont'', Vermont Historical Society (2014). {{Authority control

Slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...