During this time, the free black American population in the U.S was about 300,000. The largest population of free black Americans after 1810 was in the slave state of Maryland, as slaves and free blacks lived in the same communities. In New York State, a gradual emancipation law was passed in 1799, granting freedom to enslaved children born after July 4, 1799, after a period of indentured servitude into their 20s. In 1817 a new law was adopted, which quickened the emancipation process for virtually all who remained in slavery. The last slave was freed in 1827.