The end of slavery

The end of slavery

The Declaration of Independence, which gave birth to the United States in 1776, stated that "all men are created equal." Yet the United States continued to be the largest slaveholding nation in the world until the Civil War. Americans tried to make equality a reality soon after the war by ratifying (approving) the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which officially abolished slavery throughout the United States. The place of blacks in American society, however, remained unsettled.

Excerpt adapted from the "Civil War" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999