ENDING SLAVERY
IN PENNSYLVANIA

We esteem it a peculiar blessing granted to us, that we are enabled this day to add one more step to universal civilization, by removing as much as possible the sorrows of those who have lived in undeserved bondage...
     -- Prologue to the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery

In 1780, Pennsylvania became the first state in the country to pass an Abolition Act.  The existing slaves remained enslaved, while their registered children would obtain their freedom after their 28th birthday.

When released from slavery, they were to receive the same freedom dues and other privileges "such as tools of their trade," as servants bound by indenture for four years.  Slaves were to be registered and those not recorded were to be free.

As to how the vote on the Act played out in Northampton County, there was an even split (with half of the county's legislative delegation voting in the affirmative and half in the negative).

Eight years after passing the Gradual Abolition Act, the assembly of Pennsylvania amended the legislation in 1788.  The amendment prohibited slaveholders from transporting pregnant enslaved women out of the state with the intention of having the child born into slavery elsewhere, rather than labor for their master until the age of 28.  In addition, the amendment declared that enslaved individuals owned by people who intended to move or settle in Pennsylvania permanently should be declared immediately free.