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1st Africans Arrive in Virginia
The first Africans arrive in Virginia. They appear to have been indentured servants, but the institution of hereditary lifetime service for blacks soon develops. The vast majority of slaves will be transported from Africa to the West Indies. -
Legal Recognizing Slavery
The practice of slavery becomes a legally recognized institution in British America. Colonial assemblies begin to enact laws known as slave codes, which restrict the liberty of slaves and protect the institution of slavery. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence declares that "All men are created equal." In spite of that, slavery remains a legal institution in all thirteen of the newly-established states. -
1777 vermont bans slavery
Vermont amends its constitution to ban slavery. Over the next 25 years, other Northern states emancipate their slaves and ban the institution: Pennsylvania, 1780; Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 1783; Connecticut and Rhode Island, 1784; New York, 1799; and New Jersey, 1804. Some of the state laws stipulate gradual emancipation -
1787 northwest ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in the Northwest Territory (what becomes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin). The ordinance together with state emancipation laws create a free North. -
fugitive slave laws
To enforce Article IV, Section 2, the U.S. Congress enacts the Fugitive Slave Law.It allows slaveowners to cross state lines to recapture their slaves. They must then prove ownership in a court of law. In reaction, some Northern states pass personal liberty laws, granting the alleged fugitive slaves the rights to habeas corpus, jury trials, and testimony on their own behalf. These Northern state legislatures also pass anti-kidnapping laws to punish slave-catchers who kidnap free blacks, instead -
Banning The Importing of Slaves
In 1807 Congress bans the importation of slaves, effective January 1, 1808, the earliest date allowed by the Constitution. The internal slave trade continues in states where the institution is legal. -
Supreme Court Enforcement of fugitive slave law
In Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793, stating that slaveowners have a right to retrievetheir "property." In so doing, the court rules that Pennsylvania's anti-kidnapping law is unconstitutional. At the same time, the Supreme Court declares that enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Lawis a federal responsibility in which states are not compelled to participate. Between 1842 and 1850, nine Northern states pass new personal liberty laws which forb -
Abe Lincoln Speech
Illinois Republicans nominate Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. In accepting, Lincoln delivers his "House Divided" speech in which he asserts that the nation can not endure permanently half-slave and half-free. Incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas agrees to an unprecedented series of debates held in towns across the state. Although the Democrats win control of the state legislature and reelect Douglas, Lincoln gains notoriety and becomes a contender for the 1860 presidential nomination.