ABSTRACT
Philadelphia and New York had long had sizable free black populations, and after the First Emancipation these communities grew dramatically. Urban free black communities were also havens for runaway slaves from the Upper South, where the grip of slavery was growing firmer. In 1800, both New York City's and Philadelphia's populations were more than 10 percent black. Free African Americans fled the declining economic opportunities in the countryside in search of a better life in the city. African Americans responded by building strong institutions of their own: black churches, Masonic lodges, schools, and relief societies were created at a dizzying rate around 1800. Numerous free blacks made outstanding contributions during the period following the First Emancipation. The gradual manumission laws passed during the First Emancipation worked: there were only a handful of aging blacks who remained enslaved in the North.
