4 Jul 1827 Jahr - Emancipation in New York

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Historically, the enslavement of African people in the United States began in New York as part of the Dutch slave trade. The Dutch West India Company imported 11 African slaves to New Amsterdam in 1626, with the first slave auction being held in New Amsterdam in 1655.

In the late 18th century steps toward the abolition of slavery in New York accumulated, but the legislature also took steps back. Slavery was important economically, both in New York City and in agricultural areas. In 1799, the legislature passed the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. It declared children of slaves born after July 4, 1799, to be legally free, but the children had to serve an extended period of indentured servitude: to the age of 28 for males and to 25 for females. Slaves born before that date were redefined as indentured servants but essentially continued as slaves for life.

African-Americans' participation as soldiers in defending the state during the War of 1812 added to public support for their full rights to freedom. In 1817, the state freed all slaves born before July 4, 1799 (the date of the gradual abolition law), to be effective in 1827. It continued with the indenture of children born to slave mothers until their 20s, as noted above.

Unrestricted freedom did not come to New York's slaves until a new emancipation law took effect 28 years later, on July 4, 1827.

On July 5, 1827, 4,000 blacks marched along Broadway, preceded by an honor guard on horseback and a grand marshal carrying a drawn sword. The parade wound through the downtown streets to the African Zion Church, where the abolitionist leader William Hamilton declared, "This day we stand redeemed from a bitter thralldom." Celebrations were held around the state. Even blacks in Boston and Philadelphia celebrated the news from New York. Thus, both Douglass's speech about the significance of Independence Day to American slaves and the celebration of slavery's end in New York on July 4, 1827, took place on the fifth.

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