The abolishment of slavery in the USA was a complex and gradual process that culminated in the mid-19th century. Several key events and developments contributed to the end of slavery:
Abolishment of Slavery in the USA
1. Abolitionist Movement:
- The abolitionist movement, which gained momentum in the early 19th century, advocated for the immediate and complete emancipation of enslaved individuals. Abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, used writings, speeches, and activism to raise awareness about the moral and social evils of slavery.
2. Underground Railroad:
- The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved individuals to escape to free states and Canada. Conductors, often abolitionists and sympathetic individuals, assisted escaped slaves on their journey to freedom.
3. Missouri Compromise (1820):
- The Missouri Compromise was a legislative effort to balance the number of free and slave states as new territories were admitted to the Union. It prohibited slavery north of the 36°30′ parallel in the Louisiana Purchase territory, except within the boundaries of Missouri.
4. Compromise of 1850:
- The Compromise of 1850 aimed to address the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories from the Mexican-American War. It allowed California to enter as a free state, strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act, and left the question of slavery in Utah and New Mexico to popular sovereignty.
5. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854):
- The Kansas-Nebraska Act, proposed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, allowed settlers in the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide the issue of slavery through popular sovereignty. This led to violent conflicts between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers, known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
6. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857):
- The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred Scott case ruled that enslaved individuals, even if taken into free territories, remained enslaved and were not entitled to freedom. The decision further heightened tensions between the North and the South.
7. John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859):
- Abolitionist John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry aimed to initiate a slave rebellion. The failed attempt increased sectional tensions and contributed to the polarization that eventually led to the Civil War.
8. Civil War (1861-1865):
- The Civil War, fought between the Northern states (Union) and the Southern states (Confederacy), became a defining moment for the abolition of slavery. President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 declared enslaved individuals in Confederate-held territories free.
9. 13th Amendment (1865):
- The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in December 1865, formally abolished slavery in the United States. It states, “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 combination of abolitionist activism, legal developments, and the Civil War ultimately led to the emancipation of enslaved individuals and the formal abolishment of slavery in the United States.