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Struggle & ResistanceAchievement & Excellence

1780s

1780–1789
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Oppression
The Constitution and the Three-Fifths Clause

The Constitution counts the enslaved as three-fifths of a person and protects the slave trade.

Resistance
Pennsylvania's Gradual Abolition Act

The first abolition law in the new nation, freeing future-born children of the enslaved.

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1780
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1781
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1782
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1783
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1785
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1786
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1787
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1788
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1789
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Key events

  1. September 17, 1787
    The Constitution and the Three-Fifths Clause

    The Constitution counts the enslaved as three-fifths of a person and protects the slave trade.

  2. March 1, 1780
    Pennsylvania's Gradual Abolition Act

    The first abolition law in the new nation, freeing future-born children of the enslaved.

  3. July 13, 1787
    The Northwest Ordinance bans slavery

    Slavery is prohibited in the Northwest Territory, shaping the free-state North.