Lincoln issues a preliminary emancipation proclamation

President Castilla decreed abolition during a political crisis. Enslaved people had escaped, negotiated, and joined military forces; the government compensated owners while formerly enslaved people...

The Supreme Court ruled that Black people descended from enslaved Africans could not be citizens under the federal Constitution and that Congress could not bar slavery in federal territories. The...

Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter after slaveholding states seceded to protect slavery. Enslaved people escaped to Union lines and pressed the conflict toward emancipation. Their actions...

Congress ended slavery in the federal district and paid compensation to enslavers, while formerly enslaved residents received no comparable payment. Black Washingtonians had petitioned and organized...

The act declared enslaved people held by people engaged in rebellion against the United States to be free and empowered the president to employ Black men in military service. Its reach depended on...

The Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people in designated areas in rebellion to be free and authorized Black men to enlist in the Union Army. It did not immediately free everyone, and its...

General Orders No. 143 established a bureau to organize Black regiments in the Union Army. Black men had already pressed to fight, and their military service became a direct struggle for freedom and...

The Dutch emancipation law took effect in Suriname and the Caribbean colonies. Many formerly enslaved people in Suriname were compelled to work under state supervision for another ten years, a measure...

The Senate approved a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, sending it to the House for consideration. Passage reflected the Civil War, decades of antislavery struggle, and Black military...

The House passed the amendment abolishing slavery, which was later ratified by the states. Black activists had long demanded abolition and continued to press for equal rights and protection after...