The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont, 1777-1810

Vermonters have always been proud that their state was the first to outlaw slavery in its constitution—but is that what really happened? 


“The Problem of Slavery in Early Vermont explodes this myth, demonstrating conclusively that the enslavement of people of color under various guises persisted in the state for another thirty years," attests Joanne Pope Melish, Associate Professor of History, University of Kentucky.

 

Harvey Amani Whitfield forces us to squarely consider the deepest questions about what freedom actually meant for African Americans in Vermont well into the nineteenth century.