Juneteenth: 7 milestones in the struggle to abolish slavery
The international slave trade is abolished – 1808
In March of 1807, nearly 20 years after the Constitution was ratified, Congress passed a law that abolished the international slave trade, with the measure taking effect on New Year’s Day, 1808.
The Act moved to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States … from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”
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The legislation even garnered support from a few southern congressmen, partly because the domestic slave trade had become lucrative and millions of slaves were already in the nation.
“The widespread trade of enslaved people within the South was not prohibited, however, and children of enslaved people automatically became enslaved themselves, thus ensuring a self-sustaining population in the South,” noted History.com.
