Episode 2 of 3
1804 Gradual Abolition Act
- When
- 15 February 1804
- Where
- Trenton, New Jersey
New Jersey enacted legislation on February 15, 1804, to gradually abolish slavery, becoming the last northern state to do so.
The law freed children born after July 4, 1804, but required them to serve lengthy apprenticeships until early adulthood. This process left some Blacks in bondage as late as 1865, reflecting the state's continued reliance on slave labor in ports and agriculture.
Sources
- New Jersey Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
- History of slavery in New Jersey Wikipedia
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.