The mid-Atlantic and New England states might have provided a model for
such a gradual process with their post-nati emancipation statutes. If I
remember corrrectly, children born after a certain date to slave parents
would be held in a form of indentured servitude until a certain age and
then freed.  I know that post-nati proposals were floated in 1831, but I
don't know if their authors specifically pointed to these previous state
laws as examples.

I also recall some interesting ideas in Peter Kolchin's work that
compared emancipation in the British and French West Indies and in the
U.S.  He argued that British and French plantation owners were often
absentee and didn't have the same concerns about the social consequences
of emancipation. In fact, by accepting emancipation by law these
landowners ended up shaping the labor system after emancipation much to
their advantage.  In contrast, southern slaveholders ended up losing
much of that control over labor, if for a brief time.

Gregg Kimball
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
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Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 12:27 PM
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Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Madison's slaves (and black descendants?)

Juretta--

You know the literature better than do I, but didn't most emancipations
north of Virginia proceed on gradual lines that permitted slave owners
to recoup their investments as well as some profits?  If I recall
correctly, the 1831 emancipation proposal discussed and defeated in the
Virginia legislature suggested a gradual plan, not a single abrupt
termination of the institution.  

All best,
Kevin
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University