Slavery, Abolition, and William Still: A Timeline
1688
First protest against slavery by Quakers of Germantown
1775
Formation of the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes unlawfully held in
Bondage (later becomes the Pennsylvania Abolition Society)
1777
Vermont is the first state to abolish slavery
1780
Pennsylvania Legislature passes law for the gradual abolition of slavery
1787
The Northwest Ordinance outlaws slavery in the region northwest of the Ohio
River
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
1788
PA amends slavery act to forbid removal of African Americans from the state
1790
Pennsylvania Abolition Society (PAS) incorporated (was formerly the Society for
the Relief of Free Negroes unlawfully held in Bondage)
PAS creates Committee for the Improvement of the Condition of Free Negroes
1791
The Haitian Revolution, a slave revolt led by Haitian Toussaint L’Ouverture,
begins
1793
U.S. Congress enacts first Fugitive slave law
Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, encouraging the expansion of slavery in the
South
1794
The First American Anti-Slavery Convention is held in Philadelphia
1804
Haiti is declared a free republic after slaves successfully revolt
1808
Federal law enacted that prohibits the importation of African slaves
1818
American Colonization Society is formed
1820
Missouri Compromise
1821
William Still born in New Jersey
The American Colonization Society helps to found the Black Republic of Liberia
1822
Denmark Vesey conspiracy
1826
Pennsylvania Legislature passes personal liberty law, making it illegal to bring a
person into Pennsylvania to be held as a slave
1827
Pennsylvania Free Produce Association forms in Philadelphia to boycott goods
produced by slave labor
1829
David Walker’s militant antislavery pamphlet, An Appeal to the Colored People of
The World, is published
First National Negro Convention meets in Philadelphia
1831
Nat Turner revolt
William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing The Liberator
1832
Nullification crisis
1833
Formation of the American Anti-Slavery Society and the Philadelphia Female
Anti-Slavery Society
1834
Slavery is abolished in the British Empire
1837
Formation of Vigilant Committee and Vigilant Association
New Pennsylvania constitution disenfranchises African Americans
1838
Formation of the American Free Produce Association
Burning of Pennsylvania Hall
1840
Organization of Liberty Party, first anti-slavery political party
1842
Prigg v. Pennsylvania declares PA personal liberty laws unconstitutional
Race riot in Philadelphia
1845
Frederick Douglass publishes Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an
American Slave/written by Himself
1847
Pennsylvania passes personal liberty law requiring trial by jury for accused
fugitive slaves
William Still marries Letitia George, and begins working as a clerk for the
Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery
Frederick Douglass begins publishing The North Star
1848
Free Soil Party organized
1849
Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery
1850
U.S. Fugitive Slave Act passes as part of the Compromise of 1850
1851
Sojourner Truth addresses first Black Women’s Rights Convention in Akron,
Ohio
1852
William Still begins working with the Vigilance Committee
Harriet Beecher Stowe writes Uncle Tom’s Cabin
William Still begins his Underground Railroad journal
1855
The Shepherd family escapes slavery with help from the Vigilance Committee
“Bleeding Kansas” conflict begins as result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act’s passage
in 1854
1856
The Taylor family escapes slavery with help from the Vigilance Committee
The Wanzer group escapes slavery with help from the Vigilance Committee
1857
Dred Scott decision
1859
John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry
1860
PA passes second liberty law outlawing use of state facilities or officials to
enforce federal Fugitive Slave Act, among other protections
Abraham Lincoln elected president
South Carolina secedes from the Union
1861
U.S. Civil War begins
1862
Congress allows the enlistment of blacks in the Union Army
Slavery is abolished in Washington, D.C.
1863
Emancipation Proclamation issued, freeing all slaves in confederate states
1865
U.S. Civil War ends
Congress passes Thirteenth Amendment passes, freeing African American slaves
1866
Petition to desegregate Philadelphia streetcars
1868
Fourteenth Amendment passes, granting African Americans U.S. citizenship
1870
Fifteenth Amendment passes, granting African American males the right to vote
Hiram R. Revels becomes first black U.S. Senator
1872
PAS advocates for an equal rights clause for the new PA state constitution
William Still publishes The Underground Rail Road
1895
W.E.B. DuBois’ Philadelphia Negro published
1896
Plessy v. Ferguson establishes “separate but equal” policy for public facilities
William Still becomes president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of
Slavery
1902
William Still dies in Philadelphia
1909
NAACP founded
1954
Brown v. Board of Education
1963
March on Washington
1964
Twenty-fourth Amendment passes, making poll taxes unconstitutional