The American experiment was never a question of whether or not we would have slavery, it was always a discussion of how we would get rid of this deeply ingrained and sinful practice that had been around for thousands of years, and still exists in parts of the world today. But America managed to abolish the practice entirely within the 76 years between the First Constitutional Convention and the Civil War.
Slavery was a global institution. Thus, many states had laws designed to keep it intact — whether by mortgages, inheritance, or laws for buying, selling, and freeing slaves and severe penalties if you broke them. Vermont, for example, had no vested interest in slavery, and ended it in 1777, while states like South Carolina literally went down with the ship to keep it in 1865. The process was tedious and arduous, but America abolished slavery in the length of one lifetime — through Federalism, federal legislation, and Civil War.
So here is a timeline of slavery in America drawn primarily from the official website associated with 2005’s four-part PBS documentary Slavery and the Making of America:
1776
The British colonies send the most epic break up letter in the history of the universe to Britain and we start the clock.
In Philadelphia, the Quakers forbid its members from holding slaves.
Delaware bans the importation of African slaves.
1777
Vermont, nearly a decade and a half before it became the fourteenth state, abolishes slavery and enfranchises all adult males.
New York enfranchises all free propertied men regardless of color or prior servitude.
1778
Virginia prohibits the importation of slaves.
1780
Pennsylvania begins emancipation.
A freedom clause in the Massachusetts constitution abolishes slavery. Massachusetts enfranchises all men regardless of race.
1783
Maryland bans the importation of African slaves.
1784
Rhode Island and Connecticut begin emancipation.
North Carolina bans the importation of African slaves.
Jefferson’s proposal to restrict the westward expansion of slavery fails. (Strike 1)
1785
New York passes a gradual emancipation law, and prohibits the importation of slaves.
The Northwest Ordinance forbids slavery, except as criminal punishment, in the Northwest Territory. Residents of the territory are required to return fugitive slaves.
1787
Rhode Island forbids residents from participating in the slave trade.
Delaware regulates interstate slave trade.
South Carolina ends domestic and international slave trade.
North Carolina levies a prohibitive duty on imported African slaves.
According to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787: “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory,” referring to all states northwest of the Ohio River.
See, while the North had already began abolishing slavery in several states, the South, which depended on slavery for their economy, argued that slaves were their property. However, they were also trying to count them as part of the population for census purposes.
Why was that important? If the south could successfully exploit the number of slaves for census purposes, that would mean they could acquire more representation and electoral votes to push forward their goals regarding keeping slavery legal and their own westward expansion. The northern delegates said absolutely not. After some debate, between 0/0 and 5/5 representation, they landed on 3/5s, which would ultimately leave the South short of the extra members of the House of Representatives and the electoral votes they needed.
1787-1789
The U.S. Constitution is drafted, ratified, and put into operation.
1788
Connecticut and Massachusetts forbid residents from participating in the slave trade.
1792
Thomas Jefferson tries again to abolish slavery in Virginia. He fails again. (Strike 2)
1793
Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, making cotton production more profitable, thereby increasing the market value of slaves.
The First Fugitive Slave Law is passed
1794
Congress prohibits slave trade between the U.S. and foreign countries.
1798
Georgia bans international slave trade.
1800
Congress prohibits U.S. citizens from exporting slaves.
1801
Congress extends the Virginia and Maryland slavery laws into the District of Columbia, establishing a federally authorized slave code.
1804
The U.S. bans the importation of slaves from foreign territories into Louisiana.
In Pennsylvania, the Underground Railroad is officially established.
New Jersey enacts laws introducing emancipation.
1807
On the first day he was legally able, Thomas Jefferson abolished all incoming slaves via the Slave trade. (Finally a win for TJ.) So, to reiterate: within 20 years of the birth of our country, this millennia-old stain on the world was already in the beginning of the end stages in America.
1817
The state of Georgia bans the slave trade.
1819
U.S. law declares slave trading to be a capital offense.
1820
The Missouri Compromise forbids slavery in the Louisiana territory north of Missouri’s Southern border
1826
Pennsylvania passes an anti-kidnapping law to protect free blacks.
1827
Tennessee bans slave trading.
1831
The Underground Railroad is given its name.
1832
Kentucky forbids residents from buying and importing slaves.
1843
New York, Vermont, and Ohio pass personal liberty laws.
1844
Connecticut passes a personal liberty law.
Oregon bans slavery.
1847
Pennsylvania passes a personal liberty law.
Frederick Douglass founds a black abolitionist paper called The North Star.
1848
Rhode Island passes a personal liberty law.
Connecticut law bans slavery.
1849
Virginia passes a law permitting the emancipation of any slave by will or deed.
1854-1855
Connecticut, Maine, and Mississippi pass personal liberty laws. Massachusetts and Rhode Island renew personal liberty laws first enacted in the 1840s.
1856
The Republican Party is formed out of the Free Soil Party.
1857
New Hampshire declares that no one shall be denied citizenship on account of African descent and, along with Vermont, repeals laws against the enlistment of blacks in state militia.
Ohio and Wisconsin pass personal liberty laws.
1858
Vermont passes a personal liberty law and declares that no one shall be denied citizenship on account of African descent.
1860
Abraham Lincoln is elected to the presidency.
1861
The Confederate States of America is formed. Jefferson Davis is elected its president.
The Civil War kicks off in South Carolina
1862
West Virginia is admitted to the Union as a free state. Its constitution calls for gradual emancipation.
Utah abolishes slavery.
1863
Maryland state law abolishes slavery.
1864
Lincoln signs repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri abolish slavery
1865
The thirteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishes slavery throughout the country, thanks to the sacrifice of nearly half a million Union Soldiers.
Abraham Lincoln keeps our country together on this Unionist idea that our best days were still ahead of us.
“All Men Are Created Equal” has been an ever present purpose since the birth of America; a purpose fought and sacrificed for by imperfect men. No other country has tirelessly pursued a moral good like the United States of America and we should be proud of our integrity, our history, and the courage it took ordinary men to achieve extraordinary feats.
