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John Jay was the first Chief Justice of the United States and a president of the Manumission Society. A slaveowner, he worked hard for gradual emancipation. As New York Governor, he signed the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1799. "I wish . the time may soon come when all our inhabitants of every colour and denomination shall be free and equal partakers of our political liberty," he wrote in 1785. Jay's son William led the fight for total abolition in 1817.
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