The New Jersey Legislature approved a law for the gradual emancipation of enslaved African Americans, becoming the last Northern state to initiate the abolition of slavery. The law freed children born to enslaved mothers after July 4, 1804, but required them to serve lengthy indentures—men until age 25, women until age 21—delaying true freedom for decades. Despite its limitations, the law marked a critical step toward ending slavery in the North.
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