Many acts of legislation were passed between the American colonial time period and the period leading up to the Civil War regarding slavery. Often the laws themselves never mentioned slavery per se but instead referred to colored people, or simply indentured servants, who were often African American. Laws are listed by their date of their passage.
1619-1670: The Jamestown colonies enacted a series of
laws pertaining to the treatment of indentured servants and the expected
behavior of servants.
Jamestown
Indentured Servant Laws
1793: The 1793 Fugitive Slave Law was written as part of an agreement
between the United States and the Delaware Nation. Within the agreement
exists a provision that prohibits either group from hiding enemies
(including criminals, servants, and slaves) from the other.
Fugitive Slave
Law of 1793
1807: In 1807, the United States prohibited the importation of slaves
from Africa. From this point onward, slaves were essentially "bred"
within the United States and its territories and traded. It was illegal
to bring newly captured slaves to the United States after this law was
passed.
Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves
1820: The Missouri Compromise was intended to appease both pro- and
anti-slavery factions within the U.S. Congress. It regulated slavery in
the western territories. The former Louisiana Territories outlawed
slavery except for the new state on Missouri and the state of Maine was
admitted as a free state. The Act was repealed in 1854 (see The Kansas Nebraska
Act).
Missouri Compromise
1850: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 worked to extend the power of
the law originally drafted in 1793 (which was part of a larger agreement
between the United States and the indigenous nation of the Delaware).
Fugitive
Slave Act of 1850
1854:The Kansas Nebraska Act allowed for the territories of Kansas
and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. This act
repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
Kansas
Nebraska Act
1863: Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863
which declared freedom for all slaves in the Confederate States who
still legally held slaves at that time. It took northern victories
during the Civil War to enact this freedom in the south. Ultimately, it
would take passage of the 13th Amendment
of the United States Constitution to provide freedom for all slaves.
The
Emancipation Proclamation
1865: The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution officially
abolished slavery and essentially prohibited it from existing again
within the country. The abolition process was originally begun by
Abraham Lincoln with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
The 13th
Amendment of the United States Constitution
1868: The 14th Amendment to the United States was originally proposed
in 1866 but wasn't ratified until July 9, 1868. This law provides equal
protection under the law to all persons as opposed to citizens.
The 14th
Amendment to the United States Constitution