Liberty's Chain: Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York

Fraunces Tavern Museum

In this lecture, recorded August 11, 2022, David Gellman explores the contradictions of the Jay family’s attitudes toward slavery over multiple generations. Enslaved and formerly enslaved people living in Jay households experienced isolation, even as members of the Jay family took increasingly radical approaches to law, policy, politics, and advocacy, culminating in John Jay’s signing of An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in 1799 as Governor of New York, which helped bring about the emancipation of enslaved people in New York in 1827. Gellman aims to bring new light and a fresh understanding of the Founder’s legacy.