Before Lincoln

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Before Lincoln, a number of other prominent figures held slaves during office, including; John Tyler, James Polk and Zachary Taylor. The last president to personally own slaves was Ulysses S. Grant. Serving two terms, between 1869 and 1877, the former general of the Union Army kept a single black slave named William Jones. However, even he granted him his freedom, noting later on that slavery was “a stain to the Union (that) people had once been bought and sold like cattle.” As was the fashion of the time, it was perfectly acceptable to own slaves. However, a growing movement, which had been given impetus by Abraham Lincoln, was sure to overturn this archaic institution.

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Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation championed the passing of the 13^th Amendment to end slavery. The bill was controversial at the time, and, Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s right-hand, who owned slaves, even lobbied against his own President! Finally, in 1863, the 16^th U.S. President Lincoln freed almost 3 million enslaved people with his Emancipation Proclamation. America was officially abolished two years later, with the adoption of the famous 13^th Amendment.

This article originally appeared on our sister site: science-a2z.com