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1619 Dutch traders brought slaves from the Caribbean to America to work on farms 1774 Rhode Island abolished slavery within its borders 1774. Slavery was abolished in 1777 in Vermont and 1780 in Massachusetts. In 1780, gradual emancipation was started in Pennsylvania. Other states to abolish slavery were New Hampshire in 1783, Connecticut in 1784, and New York in 1799. New Jersey instituted gradual emancipation in 1804. Slavery was outlawed in the Northwest Territory in 1787. 1787 The Ordinance of 1787 (Northwest Ordinance) provided for the return of slaves to their owners 1788 The U.S. Constitution provided for the return of fugitive slaves in Article 4, Section 3 1792 England abolished slavery, intercepted slave ships and returned Africans to their homeland. Eventually, Great Britain purchased the freedom of slaves in her colonies. 1793 Jays Treaty established a boundary between Canada and US, which made the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 applicable to Michigan area 1793 Fugitive Slave Act passed and set $500 fine and punishment for people helping escaping slaves 1793 Invention of the Cotton Gin made cotton growing more profitable and provided great financial incentives for cotton growers to purchase slaves. 1804 On January 5, 1804, Ohio passed the first "Black Laws". All African Americans in Ohio had to obtain a Certificate of Freedom by June of 1804. It had to be renewed every two years. $50 in fines were levied against those who hired African Americans without certificates. There was a $1000 fine for helping runaways escape. 1807 The Ohio law said that African Americans had to pay a $500 per head bond for a certificate of freedom or leave the state within 20 days. $100 was added on to the fine of those helping runaways. African Americans were not permitted to testify in any trial involving whites, nor could they sue whites. African Americans and persons of mixed ancestry were forbidden to marry whites. Both the 1804 and 1807 laws prohibited black children from attending public school (These laws were repealed in 1849). 1808 The importation of new slaves was made illegal in the USA 1820 The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to be a slave state but kept it out of the North 1827 Anti-immigration law was passed in the Michigan Territory that required free African Americans to purchase a $500 bond and carry a certificate 1831 Nat Turner’s rebellion 1832 Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, a Quaker, organized the first anti-slavery society in the Michigan Territory at Adrian 1833 The Negro Riot occurred when Michigan African Americans and whites helped free two escaping slaves, Mr. And Mrs. Blackburn, from the Sheriff 1834 Erotius Parmalee Hastings organized the first anti-slavery society in Detroit 1836 The Michigan Anti-Slavery Society was formed in Ann Arbor 1837 Michigan became a state 1840 The Census listed 753 African Americans living in Michigan 1846 The Crosswhite case took place in Marshall 1850 The Fugitive Recovery Bill of 1850 forced legal officials to help slave owners or face a $1000 fine. It also denied the right for slaves to testify in court on their own behalf, allowed slave owners to take any black into slavery as long as there was an affidavit issued by any judge or magistrate, and levied a 6 month jail sentence, a $1000 fine, and up to $1000 in civil damages against anyone assisting a slave. California was admitted as a free state and slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia. The Western Territories were left open to slavery. 1854 The 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act left the issue of slavery in new states up to popular sovereignty and produced a civil war, called "Bleeding Kansas", where pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces engaged in vigilante activities. 1857 The United State Supreme Court’s Dred Scott Decision (Scott vs. Sandford) nullified anti-slavery advocates’ right to enforce "free" laws in their territories. It also stated that a slave did not become free by entering a free state, that the federal government could not bar slavery from any territory, and that African Americans were not and could not be citizens of the United States. 1856 Sojourner Truth moved to Battle Creek, Michigan 1860 Estimates show that more than 5,000 slaves escaped across the Detroit River, which runs between the United States and Canada 1863 The 102 United States Colored Infantry, an all black Michigan regiment, was formed to fight on the side of the North 1865 Surrender of the Confederate Army 1865 The 13th Amendment was signed abolishing slavery in the United States |
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