The never-ending end of slavery

It took almost 200 years to end slavery around the world. Passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in December 1865 was one key step. The amendment ended slavery in the United States.

However, other key moments must also be considered. These include:

• The 1794 French law that made France the first modern empire to outlaw slavery.
• The 1838 freeing of enslaved people in the British Caribbean.
• The much more recent 1981 banning of slavery in Mauritania, a West African nation. Mauritania was the last country in the world to end slavery.

The path to freedom was different in each society. In all places, newly freed people did not win immediate equality with other groups.

Abolition and the Haitian Revolution

In 1791 France was experiencing a revolution. French citizens had risen up to end the monarchy. A monarchy is a form of government where a King or Queen is the ruler.

Also in 1791, there was a major revolt of enslaved people in the French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue. Colonialism is when one country takes control over another place. The colonizer then takes advantage of its people and resources.

This revolt was successful. It led to the creation of the independent Republic of Haiti in 1804. It was the first place in the modern world where slaves ended slavery. The leaders of Western nations like Britain, France, and the United States were not happy with this development. They feared that enslaved people elsewhere would follow the example of Haiti and rise up too. As a result, Haiti was cut off from the international trade that would have helped its economy develop. Haitians were forced to struggle to survive. Many lived in extreme poverty. Formerly enslaved Haitians had won their freedom, but they had not gained respect from the rest of the world. Haiti was even invaded and taken over by the United States in 1915.

Abolition with compensation in the British Caribbean

Abolition in the British empire, and especially its Caribbean colonies, was not the result of war. It was the result of the pressure British Christians — both Black and white — placed on their government. These men and women managed to convince the British public that ending slavery was the right thing to do.

In 1833 the British Parliament passed a law abolishing slavery in Britain’s colonies. The British government paid former enslavers for the loss of their “property.” However, no such payment was considered for freed people, despite the years of free labor they had provided. They now had to fend for themselves. Most had no education and no money. In most British colonies, land and jobs were scarce. As a result, most of the formerly enslaved still had to work on plantations. Planters paid them barely enough to survive. And unlike Haiti, where both slavery and colonial rule were overthrown, these societies remained under British control well into the 1900s.

Abolition, government aid, and violence in the U.S.

The original purpose of the U.S. Civil War was not to end slavery. Yet, that was one of its results. The process began when enslaved people freed themselves by running away during the confusion of war.

The war was between the northern and southern states. The northern states who were against slavery were referred to as the Union. The southern states that were in favor of keeping slavery were called the Confederates.

Northern Union forces encouraged enslaved people to run away, in order to weaken the Confederacy. Full legal freedom did not come until months after the war ended. In December 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution. It outlawed slavery throughout the United States.

In the South, the formerly enslaved still faced enormous racial hatred from white people after the war. During the Reconstruction period (1865–1877), federal forces provided some protection. For example, federal officials built schools for freed people. They helped them understand paid labor contracts and guarded their voting rights. This help was limited, but it was more than what was offered in other slave societies. In those places, freed people received no help whatsoever.

However, with the end of Reconstruction in 1877, things got much worse for the formerly enslaved. Local southern governments introduced a set of new laws known as “Jim Crow” laws. These laws limited Black Americans’ freedom and controlled their labor. Pay for Black American workers remained very low. Many Black Americans were jailed for the smallest reasons and then sent to prison labor camps.

White society kept Black Americans under near constant watch. Police, bosses, and the general population all played a part in this system. Methods of controlling Black Americans also took more violent forms. Murder and killings carried out by mobs in public were commonly used to create fear and ensure submission. A mob is a large crowd of people, and sometimes is intent on causing trouble or violence.

State and local governments in the American South also blocked Black Americans from voting or running for public office. As a result, Black people had little political power to bring about change.

Later African abolition

Abolition also took place in other areas of the world. On the African continent, slavery had become more common during the time of the Atlantic slave trade. It had then expanded in the 1800s as big plantations developed. The abolition of slavery came mostly as the result of outside forces. European companies and the European leaders of African colonies concluded that enslaving Africans on their own soil was too difficult and expensive. They realized it would be more profitable to simply rely on low-wage workers. So, they outlawed slavery. However, it remained a common practice in many parts of Africa. Even after its independence from France in 1960, the African nation Mauritania did not fully outlaw slavery until 1981.

Common patterns

For the formerly enslaved around the world, freedom simply meant the legal end of slavery. It was a necessary first step toward inclusion in their various societies. However, freedom did not bring equality. Newly freed people did not gain the rights available to the other members of their communities. They entered freedom with nothing, and usually struggled just to survive. In many places, life didn’t change that much for formerly enslaved people.

The formerly enslaved and their descendants had to keep on fighting for equality long after the legal abolition of slavery. In many parts of the world, that fight continues today.