Slavery was officially abolished in the United States with the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on December 6, 1865. The amendment, which was ratified by the required number of states, states that “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.”
This amendment marked the end of a long and painful chapter in American history that began with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia in 1619. It was a significant milestone in the struggle for civil rights in the United States, although it was just the beginning of a long fight for true equality and justice for African Americans.
