Delaware's Signers and Slavery: It's Complicated
Join Eric Mease for Delaware’s Signers and Slavery: It’s Complicated, an exploration of a striking shift in Delaware’s Revolutionary-era history. When Delaware’s three signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor,” two were enslavers. Yet by 1787, when delegates convened to sign the U.S. Constitution, only one of Delaware’s five signers enslaved others. What changed? This presentation deepens our understanding of Delaware during the American Revolutionary period by examining the complex relationships between the state’s signers and slavery—and how those relationships influenced Delaware’s fragile and evolving abolitionist movement.
This FREE program is made possible with a grant from Delaware Humanities
- Date:
- Friday, February 13, 2026
- Time:
- 3:00pm - 4:00pm Eastern Time
- Location:
- Green Room - Conwell
- Library:
- Milton Public Library
- Audience:
- Adults Teens
- Categories:
- Community and Culture History and Genealogy