What year did slavery end in the united states?
First, a correction — the Emancipation Proclamation DID free slaves! No, not the instant it was proclaimed (in final form on January 1, 1863). But from then to the end of the war, as soon as Union forces were able to take charge of an area, its slaves WERE freed. And the proclamation DID open the way for later gains. Along with the practice of allowing blacks to fight (and gain much respect doing so) and Lincoln’s other political efforts, it helped convince border states to end slavery (as Lincoln had long urged them to do voluntarily), and finally to passage of the 13th amendment. And the complaint that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in Union territory is very misleading. The whole point is that the President had NO constitutional authority to simply declare slaves free because he wanted to! The basis for the Proclamation was his WAR powers — the right to deprive those in rebellion of property and other means of supporting that rebellion. ——————- Slave
