Free state (USA)

In the history of the United States, a slave state was a U.S. state in which the practice of slavery was legal, and a free state was one in which slavery was prohibited or being legally phased out. Historically, in the 17th century, slavery became accepted in a number of English overseas possessions. In the 18th century, it existed in all the British colonies of North America. In the Thirteen Colonies, the distinction between slave and free states began during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Slavery became a divisive issue and was the primary cause of the American Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States, and the distinction between free and slave states ended.

Historically, slavery in the 17th and 18th century was practised throughout English possessions in North America. Slavery in the colonial US was established in each of the Thirteen Colonies. During British colonization, the number of people in slavery expanded, primarily drawn from the Atlantic slave trade. Organized political and social movements to end slavery began in the mid-18th century. The sentiments of the American Revolution (1775-1783) and the equality evoked by the Declaration of Independence stood in contrast to the status of most black Americans. Despite this, thousands of black Americans fought against the British in hopes of a new order. Thousands also joined the British army, encouraged by British offers of freedom in exchange for military service. (See Black Patriot and Black Loyalist).

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