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1688 First protest against slavery by Quakers of Germantown
1775 Formation of the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes unlawfully held in Bondage at the Sun Tavern
1777 Vermont is the first state to abolish slavery
1780 Pennsylvania legislature passes act for the gradual abolition of slavery
1784 PAS resumes activities
| 1787 | PAS revises constitution to include non-Quaker membership |
| Benjamin Franklin elected honorary president | |
| Richard Allen and Absalom Jones organize the Free African Society | |
| The Northwest Ordinance outlaws slavery in the region northwest of the Ohio River | |
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The Constitution of the United States allows a male slave to count as three-fifths of a man in determining representation in the House of Representatives. |
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| 1788 |
PA amends 1790 slavery act to forbid removal of African Americans from the state |
| 1790 |
Society incorporated. PAS creates Committee for the Improvement of the Condition of Free Negroes |
| 1793 |
First fugitive slave law enacted by US Congress |
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Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, making possible the expansion of slavery in the South |
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| 1794 |
First American Anti-Slavery Convention held in Philadelphia |
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PAS Committee on Education establishes a school for black males. |
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First census of African American community conducted by PAS |
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Richard Allen founds the Mother Bethel African Methodist Church |
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| 1803 |
Benjamin Rush elected president of PAS |
| 1808 |
Federal law enacted prohibiting the importation of African slaves |
| 1813 |
PAS forms a new Committee on Education and erects a school building on Cherry Street that will become Clarkson Hall |
| 1818 |
American Colonization Society formed |
| 1820 |
Missouri Compromise |
| 1822 |
Denmark Vesey conspiracy |
| 1826 |
Pennsylvania legislature passes personal liberty law |
| 1827 |
Pennsylvania Free Produce Association formed in Philadelphia |
| 1828 |
Second PAS census of free African American community |
| 1829 |
Clarkson Institute formed |
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David Walker's militant antislavery pamphlet, An Appeal to the Colored People of The World, is published |
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First National Negro Convention meets in Philadelphia |
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| 1831 |
Nat Turner revolt |
| 1832 |
Nullification Crisis |
| 1833 |
Formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society |
| 1837 |
New Pennsylvania constitution disenfranchises African Americans |
| 1839 |
Formation of Vigilant Committee |
| 1838 |
Formation of the American Free Produce Association |
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Burning of Pennsylvania Hall |
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Third PAS census of free African American community |
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| 1840 |
Organization of Liberty Party, first anti-slavery political party |
| 1842 |
Prigg v. Pennsylvania declares PA personal liberty laws unconstitutional |
| 1843 |
PAS opens the Lombard Street Infant School |
| 1847 |
N. Kite’s PAS census of free African American community |
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Pennsylvania passes personal liberty law requiring trial by jury for accused fugitive slaves |
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| 1848 |
Free Soil Party organized |
| 1849 |
Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery |
| 1850 |
Fugitive Slave Act passes as part of the Compromise of 1850 |
| 1857 |
Dred Scott decision |
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William Still begins his UGRR journal |
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| 1859 |
John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry |