1652 The first enslaved Africans arrive in New Amsterdam (Manhattan) with the Dutch West India Company. They become the first municipal labor force, building forts, clearing fields and constructing roads and homes.
1625 African slave workers provide labor at Fort Orange (Albany)
1644 The first enslaved blacks are freed in New Amsterdam during the Dutch-Indian War.
1680 England grants the New York Colony a monopoly on the production of wheat, substantially increasing the need for slave labor in the Hudson Valley region.
1682 The Colonial Legislature adopts a slave code requiring enslaved blacks to carry passes, and forbids any black male from being out at night without carrying a lantern.
1698 Enslaved Africans operate a mill at Philipsburg Manor.
1705 The Colonial Assembly approves" An Act to prevent running away of Negro Slaves out of the City, and County of Albany to the French at Canada." Slaves caught 40 miles north of Saratoga can be executed.
1711 The Wall Street Slave Market opens on an East River pier in Manhattan.
1741 Thirty-one black men accused of an alleged conspiracy to take over New York City are executed.
1799 New York State passes a gradual emancipation act. Black women born after 1799 will be freed at the age of twenty-five, black men at the age of twenty-eight.
1808 The New York State Legislature passes "An Act to prevent the kidnapping of free people of color," the second act of its kind passed in the nation, and the first passed in a state where slavery is still legal.
1817 New York passes a new emancipation act stating that all slaves in the state will be freed after July 4th 1827
1821 New York State Legislature restricts the voting rights of free black men, requiring them to own at least $250.00 in property and be residents for three years, compared to the $100.00 in property and one year residency requirements for white males.
1826 Property requirements reduce black voting to nil. Of a total black population of 12,499 in New York County, only sixteen meet the $250.00 property requirements to qualify to vote.
1827 July 4th is observed as Emancipation Day for blacks throughout
the state.
1846 A State wide referendum on equal suffrage for blacks and whites is defeated a vote of 224,336 to 85,406
1850 Congress enacts the Compromise of 1850 which includes a harsher Fugitive Slave Law. Federal Marshals are required to enforce the law, and heavy fines are levied on anyone aiding a runaway slave. James Hamlet of Brooklyn is the first person seized under the new law.
1860 New York City Mayor Fernando Wood asks the city council for permission to secede from the Union along with eleven Southern States.
1860 A statewide referendum on equal voting rights for blacks and whites is defeated 337,984 to 197,503. New York County voters reject equal suffrage 65,082 to 10,483.
