Printed and Manuscript Americana

Newtown, (Pennsylvania), April 8, 1790. Bifolium, 13 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. (337 x 210 mm). Manuscript order of manumission signed by Samuel Yardley, authorizing the freedom of enslaved man James on his 21st birthday, two years hence; written on the verso is a contract of indentured servitude for James, between Yardley and Mark Hapeny; counter-signed by James Hanna and William Linton. Paper seals intact. Creasing from old folds, some separations along same; paper loss to margins; scattered toning.

An interesting manumission document. Prominent Bucks County farmer Samuel Yardley (1769-1800) authorizes the manumission of a man named James, in two years, after he completes a period of indentured servitude.

On March 1, 1780, while still at war with Great Britain, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed an Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. The law prohibited the importation of adults and children into Pennsylvania for the purposes of enslaving them, hoping to limit slavery in general. While it did not affect those enslaved prior to its effective date, the law served as a model for other northern states to gradually free enslaved individuals.