1807

In 1807, Congress passed an act to "prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States…from any foreign kingdom, place, or country." This act went into effect in 1808, but ships still brought enslaved Africans to the US through the end of the Civil War. By 1865, over 12 million enslaved people had been brought to the United States. 

Pictured: A book containing the 1817 state constitution. The pages are yellowed, and the ink has turned brown with time. The beginning of the constitution reads "Constitution and form of Government for the State of Mississippi" in script. 

Credit: Mississippi Department of Archives and History