The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 (2 Stat. 426, enacted March 2, 1807) is a United States federal law that stated that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States. It took effect in 1808, the earliest date permitted by the United States Constitution.
This act, a part of the general trend toward abolishing the slave trade (led by Great Britain), ended the legality of the U.S.-based transatlantic slave trade. However, it was not always well enforced, and slavery itself continued in the United States until the end of the Civil War and the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
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Famous quotes containing the words act, prohibiting, importation and/or slaves:
“Buttons: Clowns are funny people, Holly. They only love once.
Holly: All men aren’t like that, even if they act like clowns.”
—Fredric M. Frank (1911–1977)
“The poor, stupid, free American citizen! Free to starve, free to tramp the highways of this great country, he enjoys universal suffrage, and by that right, he has forged chains around his limbs. The reward that he receives is stringent labor laws prohibiting the right of boycott, of picketing, of everything, except the right to be robbed of the fruits of his labor.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“Art is not a treasure in the past or an importation from another land, but part of the present life of all living and creating peoples.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“I rejoice that horses and steers have to be broken before they can be made the slaves of men, and that men themselves have some wild oats still left to sow before they become submissive members of society. Undoubtedly, all men are not equally fit subjects for civilization; and because the majority, like dogs and sheep, are tame by inherited disposition, this is no reason why the others should have their natures broken that they may be reduced to the same level.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)