The following is a list of some of the key political and economic events that affected the development of slavery in the United States. 1619 The first slaves arrive in Virginia. 1662 Virginia decides that the freedom or enslavement of black children would follow the condition of their mother. 1777 In its state constitution, Vermont prohibits slavery. 1787 The Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in the Northwest Territory (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin). 1790 In the first U.S. census, slaves outnumber whites in South Carolina. 1794 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, a device that separates the cotton seed from the lint. This allows for the widespread production of cotton and the spread of slavery into the Lower South. 1800 Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved blacksmith, leads an unsuc- cessful slave revolt in Richmond, Virginia. He and twenty- five others are hanged. In response, state legislatures pass laws prohibiting the education of slaves and their public assembly. There are 900,000 slaves in the United States. TIMELINE OF EVENTS
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