When was slavery abolished in the United States?
Slavery was abolished in the United States by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified on December 6, 1865, after the Civil War.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in the Confederate states free, but it did not apply everywhere and could not be enforced until Union armies arrived. A permanent, nationwide end to slavery needed a constitutional amendment.
Congress passed the 13th Amendment in January 1865, and enough states ratified it by December. It states that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.
Juneteenth
On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people there were free. That day, known as Juneteenth, has been celebrated by African Americans for generations and became a federal holiday in 2021.
After the 13th Amendment, the 14th Amendment in 1868 granted citizenship and equal protection under the law, and the 15th Amendment in 1870 barred denying the vote based on race, although many states found ways to restrict voting for decades.
Did You Know?
Britain abolished slavery in most of its empire with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, and Brazil, in 1888, was the last country in the Americas to abolish it.