Abolishing Slavery in America

Northern States Abolish Slavery

All of the Northern states had different policies concerning slavery before the American Revolution. In some areas of the country where religious groups such as the Quakers played a prominent role in political life, there was strong opposition to having slaves. Rhode Island was the first state to abolish slavery in 1774, followed by:

• Vermont in 1777


• Pennsylvania in 1780


• Massachusetts in 1781


• New Hampshire in 1783


• Connecticut in 1784


• New York in 1799


• New Jersey in 1804

These new states never allowed slavery within their borders:

• Maine


• Michigan


• Wisconsin


• Ohio


• Indiana


• Kansas


• Oregon


• California


• Illinois

The Antislavery Movement

The importation of slaves from other countries was banned in 1808, but the selling of slaves within our borders continued. Conflict grew during the 19th century between the northern and southern states over the issue of slavery. The northern states were going through an industrial revolution and desperately needed people to work in its factories. Industrialists in the North believed that, if freed, the slaves would leave the South and provide the labor they needed.

In 1831, Arthur and Lewis Tappan established the first Antislavery Society in New York. Two years later it became a national organization, and Tappan was elected its first president. Other early abolitionists (persons who actively fought to end slavery) soon emerged as leaders of the movement:

• Angelina and Sarah Grimke


• Frederick Douglass


• John Greenleaf Whittier


• Lucretia Mott


• Lydia Maria Child


• Robert Purvis


• Samuel Eli Cornish


• Theodore Weld


• Wendell Phillips


• William Lloyd Garrison


• William Wells Brown

The organization’s main supporters were from religious groups, such as the Quakers, and from the free black community. By 1840, the society had 250,000 members and 2,000 local chapters.

The Fugitive Slave Law

In 1850 Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law. Its main provision was that any federal marshal who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave could be fined $1,000. A person suspected of being a runaway slave could be arrested and turned over to any person who gave sworn testimony of ownership. A suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial nor testify on his or her own behalf. Any person who aided a runaway slave by providing shelter, food or any other form of assistance would be sentenced to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a fee, and this encouraged some officers to kidnap free African Americans and sell them to slaveowners.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

In 1854, Stephen Douglas introduced his Kansas-Nebraska bill to the Senate. It allowed people in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. The Act effectively repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which prohibited slavery north of latitude 36°30´. Southerners entered the area with their slaves, while active members of the Antislavery Society also arrived. Henry Ward Beecher condemned the bill from his pulpit and helped to raise funds to supply weapons to those willing to oppose slavery in these territories.

Kansas elected its first legislature in March, 1855. Although less than 2,000 people were qualified to take part in these elections, over 6,000 people voted—mainly Missouri slave-owners who crossed the border to make sure pro-slavery candidates were elected. The new legislature passed laws that imposed the death penalty for anyone helping a slave to escape and two years in jail for possessing abolitionist literature. In 1856, Abraham Lincoln joined the Republican Party and unsuccessfully challenged Stephen Douglas for his seat in the Senate.

In 1858 when he made a speech at Quincy, Illinois. Lincoln argued: "We have in this nation the element of domestic slavery. The Republican Party think it wrong—we think it is a moral, a social, and a political wrong…that affects the existence of the whole nation."

Opposition To Slavery in the Mid-1800s

During this period in American history, opponents of slavery were becoming more militant in their views. John Brown and five of his sons moved to the Kansas Territory to help antislavery forces obtain control of that area.

With the support of Gerrit Smith and other prominent abolitionists, Brown then moved to Virginia where he established a refuge for runaway slaves. In 1859, John Brown led a party of 21 men in a successful attack on the Federal armory at Harper's Ferry, hoping that his action would encourage slaves to join his rebellion and form an emancipation army. Two days later, Robert E. Lee and a company of marines attacked the armory. Brown and six men barricaded themselves in an engine-house, and continued to fight until Brown was seriously wounded and two of his sons had been killed. Brown was executed on December 2, 1859.

Southern slaveholders were outraged when, in 1860, the Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln as its presidential candidate. When the Democrats met in Charleston in April, 1860, it selected, Stephen A. Douglas. Unhappy with this decision, Southern delegates held another convention, where they selected John Breckenridge of Kentucky as their candidate, and the Constitutional Union Party nominated John Bell of Tennessee.

Abraham Lincoln won with 1,866,462 votes and beat Stephen A. Douglas (1,375,157), John Breckenridge (847,953) and John Bell (589,581).

The Emancipation Proclamation

Although the Battle of Antietam in September 1862 was a far cry from an overwhelming victory for the Union, President Lincoln felt strong enough to announce his Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation was formally issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, and stated, in part:

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

But, in order to keep the support of political conservatives, the Proclamation did not apply to the border slave states: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia. The Proclamation also provided for the acceptance of African American men into the Union Army and Navy. By the end of the Civil War, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom. As the Federal armies conquered more areas in the Confederacy, thousands of slaves were freed every day until nearly all (an estimated 4 million) were free by July of 1865.

The Amendments to the Constitution:

The Thirteenth Amendment passed the Senate on April 8 1864, and the House on January 31 1865. The necessary number of states ratified it by December 6, 1865. It stated:
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868, and was the first to define "citizens" and "voters" as "male," thus denying women the right to vote. It granted US citizenship to African American men. It stated:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870, and granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." But the promise of the 15th Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century. Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests, and other means, Southern states effectively disenfranchised African Americans. It wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed that the majority of African Americans in the South were registered to vote.