Slavery has existed throughout human history in many forms and locations around the world. However, in regards to chattel slavery, particularly in the Americas and Caribbean, there are some key dates that mark the legal end of slavery in various nations.
United States
In the United States, slavery was a legal institution under English common law and the law of the colonies. It was codified into the Constitution with provisions like the three-fifths compromise and fugitive slave clause. The importation of slaves was banned by Congress in 1808, but the domestic slave trade continued to grow. Following the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery in 1865, freeing over 3 million enslaved people. The full text of the amendment reads:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863 had declared free all slaves in Confederate-held territory, but it was the 13th Amendment that officially outlawed the institution across the entire country.
British Empire
In the British Empire, beginning in 1772, a series of court rulings found that slavery was unsupported by English common law. This meant that slaves could not be held in England or Wales against their will, but slavery remained legal in British colonies. In 1807, the British Slave Trade Act banned the slave trade across the British Empire, but existing slaves remained enslaved. Finally, the Slavery Abolition Act passed by the British Parliament in 1833 abolished slavery completely in all British colonies, freeing over 800,000 enslaved people.
Canada
Slavery existed in what is now Canada from the founding of New France in the early 1600s to the early 1800s, with around 4,000 slaves recorded in Upper Canada (modern Ontario) alone in the 1790s. In Upper Canada, slavery was outlawed through legislation passed in 1793 by the colony’s legislative assembly. In Lower Canada (Quebec), slavery was ended through court decisions in the late 1700s declaring that existing French law did not sanction slavery. Slavery remained legal in the Maritime colonies until it was ended in New Brunswick in 1833 and Nova Scotia in 1834.
Mexico
Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821 after over 250 years of Spanish colonial rule. As Spain moved to abolish slavery in its empire in the early 1800s, this had effects on slavery in colonial Mexico. After independence, the Mexican constitution of 1824 nominally abolished racial distinctions and did not endorse slavery. However, slavery continued de facto in some parts of the new country. The state of Coahuila y Tejas outlawed slavery in 1823 while it was still part of Mexico. After Texas independence in 1836, it reintroduced slavery. Slavery was abolished nationwide in Mexico with the Constitution of 1857 under President Benito Juárez.
Brazil
Brazil obtained independence from Portugal in 1822 and maintained slavery as an economic institution. It imported over 4 million African slaves, more than any other country in the Americas. Brazil passed a series of laws moving gradually towards abolition, first ending the slave trade from Africa in 1850 then freeing children born to slave mothers in 1871. In 1885, the country enacted the Golden Law, completely abolishing slavery and freeing over 700,000 enslaved people.
Cuba
Slavery was an integral part of Cuba’s plantation economy as a Spanish colony. Following wars for independence, slavery was first abolished on the island briefly in 1869 under reforms by the new Spanish government, before being reinstated just a few years later. Cuba finally abolished slavery permanently in 1886, freeing over 200,000 slaves.
Puerto Rico
The Spanish colony of Puerto Rico practiced slavery until 1873 when it enacted the Moret Law, providing for gradual abolition. This followed Spain’s abolition of slavery in its colonies in 1868. Over 30,000 slaves were freed in Puerto Rico under gradual emancipation.
Haiti
The Caribbean nation of Haiti, then the French colony of Saint-Domingue, was home to one of history’s largest and most brutal slave societies in the 18th century. Slaves rebelled in 1791 under the leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture, fighting for independence from France. Slavery was abolished in Haiti following the slave revolt and the colony’s independence as the new nation of Haiti was declared in 1804.
The Netherlands
Slavery was practiced by the Dutch empire in colonies like Dutch Guiana (Suriname) as well as areas that became Cape Colony and Natal in southern Africa. Abolition came gradually, beginning with the banning of the slave trade in 1814. Slavery itself was declared illegal in Dutch colonies in 1863, though in practice it continued into the 1870s. Over 36,000 slaves were finally freed in Suriname.
France
France practiced slavery throughout its American colonies, most notoriously in Saint-Domingue (Haiti). During the French Revolution, the National Convention abolished slavery in 1794 across all French territories, though Napoleon reinstated it in 1802. France re-abolished the slave trade in 1818 and slavery itself was banned in 1848 under the Second Republic.
Colombia
During over three centuries of Spanish colonial rule, slavery was a mainstay of Colombia’s economy. Manumission, or individual freeing of slaves by masters, grew more common towards the end of the 18th century. From 1821, after independence from Spain, the new government moved towards abolition. While not explicitly outlawed in the 1853 constitution, slavery was restricted, making it difficult to enforce. The last slave census in Colombia took place in 1843. Colombia officially abolished slavery in 1851.
Bolivia
The South American nation of Bolivia, known as Upper Peru under Spanish rule, gained independence in 1825. Slavery was not ended upon independence. In 1831, Simón Bolívar freed slaves who agreed to join the republican army against pro-Spanish forces. A decree abolishing slavery was issued in 1826 but it initially had little effect. In practice, slavery died out gradually over the next few decades rather than ending abruptly.
Uruguay
Slavery was part of the colonial economy of Spanish-ruled Uruguay into the early 19th century. When Uruguay gained independence from Brazil in 1828, the new constitution did not provide for abolition. The Uruguayan government freed slave children born after 1842 and allowed gradual emancipation for other slaves. In 1852, Uruguay officially abolished all forms of slavery.
Chile
Chile won independence from Spain between 1810-1818. Under early laws, children of slaves were to be freed at age twenty-five. In 1823, Chile passed a law providing for gradual emancipation over the next generation and the government purchased slaves for the purpose of freeing them. Slavery was officially abolished in Chile in 1823, though around 5,000 emancipated slaves still worked under a form of indentured servitude until complete abolition in the 1830s.
Venezuela
During Spanish colonial rule, Venezuela was an important slave society. Following independence in 1830, slavery was not abolished. A gradual abolition plan freed those born after 1821 first, then set emancipation dates for certain age groups. Though some provisions were initially ignored, slavery was officially abolished in 1854 in Venezuela, freeing over 50,000 people still held as slaves.
Ecuador
Ecuador abolished slavery in 1852, sixteen years after achieving independence from Spain in 1835. The practice of slavery under Spanish rule meant Ecuador had upwards of 10,000 slaves around the time of independence. Abolition came decades after most other countries in the Americas.
Argentina
The southern cone country of Argentina practiced slavery under Spanish rule. After achieving independence in 1816, the government moved to limit slavery. The Congress of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata banned the slave trade in 1812 but did not immediately abolish slavery. After a period of instability and further abolition laws, slavery was definitively ended with the Argentine Constitution of 1853.
Peru
Slavery was prevalent in colonial Peru for centuries, with a diverse mix of African, indigenous, and Chinese slaves as part of the colonial economy and society. Following independence from Spain, Peru immediately abolished the slave trade in 1821 but did not abolish slavery itself. Peruvian president Ramón Castilla issued a decree freeing all slaves in 1854. Slavery persisted in practice using systems like debt peonage affecting the indigenous population.
Paraguay
Paraguay, which gained independence from Spain in 1811, practiced widespread slavery of both African and indigenous people. After independence, Paraguay saw an influx of slaves from other South American countries with abolition movements underway. Slavery was crucial to the national economy. Paraguay officially abolished slavery in 1869 under Francisco Solano López, freeing over 90,000 people.
Table Summary
| Country | Year Slavery Abolished |
|---|---|
| United States | 1865 |
| British Empire | 1833 |
| Canada | 1833-1834 |
| Mexico | 1857 |
| Brazil | 1888 |
| Cuba | 1886 |
| Puerto Rico | 1873 |
| Haiti | 1804 |
| Netherlands | 1863 |
| France | 1848 |
| Colombia | 1851 |
| Bolivia | 1831 |
| Uruguay | 1852 |
| Chile | 1823 |
| Venezuela | 1854 |
| Ecuador | 1852 |
| Argentina | 1853 |
| Peru | 1854 |
| Paraguay | 1869 |
The Long Abolition Process
As the timeline shows, abolition of slavery in the Americas occurred over the course of decades, not overnight. Different nations ended the practice at different times through various means like new legislation, court rulings, and gradual emancipation. Haiti stands out as the first in 1804. While the United States’ 1865 abolition is often thought of as the definitive end, slavery persisted elsewhere for many more years after. Cuba and Brazil were among the last nations in the Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery in the 1880s. Many newly independent nations of Central and South America abolished slavery shortly after independence in the first few decades of the 1800s. But full enforcement of abolition was a challenging process, with freed people often continuing in coercive labor relations. Though legal slavery ended, related practices like debt peonage, indentured servitude, and racial segregation continued in some areas well into the 20th century.
The Anti-Slavery Movement
The abolition of slavery in so many nations over the course of the 1800s occurred in the context of rising anti-slavery activism and moral objections to the practice. Abolitionist movements pressed for an end to slavery based on liberal ideals of natural rights and human dignity. Slave revolts and resistance also played a major role, including in Haiti’s pioneering abolition in 1804 born out of violent uprising. In Britain, the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed in 1787 to lobby for abolition, succeeded by the Anti-Slavery Society in 1823. Prominent abolitionists like William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson helped pass Britain’s landmark abolition acts, while formerly enslaved people like Olaudah Equiano published anti-slavery narratives. In the United States, abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and William Lloyd Garrison called for emancipation through writing, speeches, and organizations like the American Anti-Slavery Society founded in 1833.
While abolition came about due to many factors specific to each country, the transnational character of the anti-slavery movement served to sway public opinion and legislate change. Activists throughout Europe and the Americas collaborated and shared ideas of human freedom that fundamentally questioned the morality of slavery then prevalent worldwide.
The Continuing Impact of Slavery
The legacy of slavery continues to impact societies around the world in the generations after legal abolition. The millions of Africans forcefully taken to the Americas starting in the 16th century were essential in building the economies of many colonies and young nations, shaping demographics, culture, and future inequalities. Former slave populations and their descendants struggled for political rights even after emancipation. Segregation, disenfranchisement, and other forms of discrimination persisted, particularly in the United States through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-60s. Issues of justice, equality, and reconciliation remain topics of debate and protest in the 21st century. Modern movements against racism, police brutality, and white supremacy are viewed by many as an extension of the same historic struggle against the enduring effects of slavery.