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

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

in July 1777, and by a further provision in its Constitution, existing male slaves become 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 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 is bordered by 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 o ...

. 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 may refer to: Arts and media * "Admissions" (''CSI: NY''), an episode of ''CSI: NY'' * ''Admissions'' (film), a 2011 short film starring James Cromwell * ''Admission'' (film), a 2013 comedy film * ''Admission'', a 2019 album by Florida s ...

and existed as a largely unrecognized state until it was admitted to the Union as the fourteenth state in 1791. Vermont's admission to the Union made the state subject to the

Fugitive Slave Clause The Fugitive Slave Clause in the United States Constitution, also known as either the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labor Clause, is Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3, which requires a "person held to service or labor" (usually a slave, appre ...

of the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

(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 and 1850, 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 Stephen Jacob (December 7, 1755 – January 27, 1817) (his last name is sometimes spelled "Jacobs", and his birth date is sometimes incorrectly given as 1754) was an attorney, politician, and judge during Vermont's years as an independent republic ...

and Levi Allen, brother of the military leader

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for ...

. 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, 1791, because the government of Vermont took the position that Vermont was not a 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 Bennington County is a county in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,347. The shire towns (county seats) are jointly Bennington ("The Southshire") and Manchester ("The Northshire"), and the largest municipal ...

. 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 Ira Berlin (May 27, 1941 – June 5, 2018) was an American historian, professor of history at the University of Maryland, and former president of Organization of American Historians. Berlin is the author of such books as ''Many Thousands Gone: T ...

'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

External links

Vermont and the abolition of slavery

Additional reading

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

Slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...