14. Gradual Emancipation
The dates in question led the researchers to wonder if the mummified woman was even free at the time of her death. New York embraced emancipation slowly and in stages. In 1799, slaves born after July 4th, 1799 would be considered free in New York, but any born before that date were still legally slaves. A new law in 1817 declared all slaves free, but it wasn’t enacted until 1827. Was this woman born a free New Yorker, or had she escaped southern slavery?