1. Slavery Was Legal in All Original Northern Colonies
Every colony north of the Mason-Dixon Line legally sanctioned slavery from their founding. Massachusetts, for instance, codified slavery in 1641 with the Body of Liberties, allowing enslavement of “captives taken in just wars” and “strangers as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us.” Similarly, New York and New Jersey legalized slavery in 1664 (battlefields.org). These legal frameworks established and perpetuated the institution of slavery in the Northern colonies.
