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With this text, the colony of Rhode Island outlawed the importation of enslaved Africans and established the immediate emancipation of enslaved people in the colony in 1774. However, the law stipulated some important exceptions that made this change particularly ineffective.

This act shows the ways in which Virginia regulated manumitting (freeing) of enslaved people and the subsequent race-based laws for freedpeople.

In this document, the U.S. government outlined its new policy towards escaped formerly enslaved persons during the Civil War.

Congress asserts the federal government’s right to seize all property of individuals participating in or aiding the insurrection against the U.S. government.