2 March 1807; effective 1 January 1808
United States prohibits overseas slave importation
United States; enslaved Africans
Congress approved the prohibition on importing enslaved people from abroad on March 2, 1807, effective January 1, 1808. The statute left domestic slavery and commerce in enslaved people in place, including regulated coastwise transport. Section 4 denied illegal importers title to those they brought in but left their disposition to state or territorial regulations.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The Constitution’s 1808 threshold did not itself ban importation; Congress enacted a separate statute. This was not nationwide emancipation or a guarantee of freedom for every person illegally imported. Enactment, commencement and enforcement are different questions.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 5, pp. 97–98 (constitutional importation clause; statutory follow-through); supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Act of March 2, 1807, ch. 22, 2 Stat. 426–430, especially sections 1, 4, 6 and 8–10; Statutes at Large scan ↗
- National Archives, Slave Manifests for Charleston; enactment, effective date and coastwise manifests ↗