PA County Index

Feature Articles

Tips on Using This Site

PA Enslavement FAQs

A series of pages exploring
various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania

Feature Articles

• Buying a Slave
  Where did Pennsylvanians buy slaves?
• Pennsylvania Slave Merchants
  Who were some of the professional dealers in slaves, in Pennsylvania?
• Resistance by Enslaved Persons
  What are some of the ways enslaved persons resisted their bondage?
• Slave Names
  How did enslaved persons get their names?
• Agriculture and Slave Labor
  How were enslaved persons used on Pennsylvania farms? Did Pennsylvania have "plantations?"
• Pennsylvania's Black Codes
  Read the harsh laws passed in colonial Pennsylvania to control free Blacks and enslaved persons.
• Profiles of William Kelso and Sons by Fred Kelso
  The Kelso family operated a ferry and held enslaved persons in Dauphin, Cumberland and Erie counties. Included on this page are photographs by Fred Kelso of the July 4, 2000 re-enactment of the operation of the Kelso-Harris ferry. This re-enactment featured a replica of the original ferry craft used by the Kelso and Harris families.
• An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery
  Full text of the original act, passed on March 1st, 1780.
• A Comparison of Servitude Agreements
  Full text of separate servitude agreements for two young men, one white and one Black.
• Images of Enslavement
  Scans of original newspaper advertisements offering enslaved persons for sale, registration documents and miscellaneous documents, and discussion of commercial images including Nathaniel Currier's Branding Slaves on the Coast of Africa. Also included are photographs of slave burial sites and histories of slave burials at local cemeteries.