New Jersey's Apology for Slavery

In November, New Jersey Assemblymen William Payne and Craig Stanley introduced a resolution mandating that the state apologize formally for its role in the Atlantic slave trade. (See below and the following four pages.) Expressing "New Jersey's profound regret," the declaration's text relates that New Jersey at one time "had one of the largest populations of captive Africans in the northern colonies." Although New Jersey prohibited the importation of slaves after 1786, it "was the last northern state to emancipate its slaves," waiting until 1846 to abolish the practice. The declaration extends "solemn regrets to those who were enslaved and the descendants of those slaves, who were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all citizens of the United States."

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On Jan. 7, the resolution cleared New Jersey's Assembly and state Senate in near-unanimous floor votes. Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, and North Carolina have already expressed official remorse for past support of slavery.

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