Twenty-eight citizens of Delaware seek the gradual abolition of slavery in the state. They cite moral, political, social, and economic reasons. In the past thirty years, the petitioners state, the slave population in the state has declined from one-seventh to less than one-thirtieth of the population. Hence, "were we to descend even to the sordid calculation of loss and gain, the sacrifice required by a gradual abolition, would be as nothing." They "respectfully solicit" the legislature, "as the guardians of the publick welfare, to designate a day, after which all coloured children born in our State shall be free."
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Repository: Delaware State Archives, Dover, Delaware