In the North, there was a large concentration of slavery in southern Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island. Slaves in the north were generally engaged primarily in farming--tending to crops and livestock--or were employed as household servants.

Connecticut, along with Rhode Island, were the last New England states to bring an end to slavery within its borders. In 1784 the Connecticut legislature passed the Gradual Emancipation Act which legislated the freeing of slaves born after March 1, 1784 when they reached the age of 25. In 1797, the age for manumission was reduced to 21. While this law appears, on the surface, to be a step in ridding the state of an unjust practice, it also had an economic basis by increasing opportunies for white laborers who were having difficulty competing with slaves.

Image: Profile of Flora, ca. 1796. Courtesy Stratford Historical Society, Stratford, Connecticut. Click here to read Flora's bill of sale.