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In 1619, the first slaves came over from Africa by the English to start slavery in the South, specifically in Virginia.
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In the Northweest Territories, slavery was officially made illegal in 1787. The U.S. Constitution stated that Congress may not ban the slave trade until 1808.
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In 1808, Congress banned any importation of black slaves into the U.S. from Africa.
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Nat Turner, an enslaved African American, led a slave revolt. Many white people died as a result of it, and Nat Turner was hanged.
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When the Emancipation Proclamation was written and signed by Abraham Lincoln, it stated that the African Americans were free and they could fight in the Civil War. The Union started sending down soldiers to go and make sure that the African Americans were safe in the South and were not still being enslaved.
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Right after the Emancipation Proclamation stated that the African Americans could fight in the civil war, Massachusetts were the first to act on it. Although many whites were against it, they thought about how if the blacks were going to benefit from the war, they should be able to fight in it. Also, they thought that in order to defeat the South, they needed more soldiers.
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The 15th Amendment was finally ratified which gave blacks the right to vote, which they had never had.
