 
Mum Bett and another Massachusetts slave successfully sue their master for freedom.
1782
Virginia, followed by other Southern colonies, encourages private manumission.
1783
Virginia emancipates those slaves who served in the colonial forces against Britain, provided that the slave's master gives permission.
1783
Maryland prohibits the importation of African slaves.
1783
Affluent free blacks in New Orleans, Louisiana, organize the Perseverance, Benevolence and Mutual Aid Association to support their own interests and assist the poor.
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1784
Rhode Island and Connecticut begin gradual emancipation.
1784
North Carolina prohibits the importation of African slaves.
1784
Jefferson's proposal to restrict the westward expansion of slavery fails.
1785
New York passes a gradual emancipation law, prohibits the importation of slaves, and allows masters to manumit slaves without posting bonds.
1785
Virginia deems any person with black blood to be a mulatto and declares that the use of the term Negro is understood to include mulattos.
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