Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated with the “Scroll Left” and “Scroll Right” buttons or by dragging the pointer to a date on the timeline waveform (located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile). To filter by a particular topic and see a smaller section of the data, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. Hover over the abbreviated filter tags in the blue boxes to see the complete name of the filter, or click a filter to display all the data with this tag. If you want to take a deeper dive into a specific topic by viewing a narrative essay page and a curated timeline, click on “Stories.”

Read More
Scanned version of original bill on parchment paper. Includes act text in small cursive.
The act was passed by the ninth congress of the United States.

Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves passed.

1807

SLA
RHRR
LLP
GEND
IM
The act was passed by the ninth congress of the United States.

The Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves bans the importation of enslaved African people into the United States. Taking effect in 1808, the act leads to the inflation of the price of enslaved people, and makes enslaved women’s reproduction even more invaluable. This will result in 50,000 enslaved Africans becoming the first "illegal aliens" in the U.S. In order to protect the profits of the U.S. system of enslavement, people enslaved by countries other than the U.S. are considered to be illegal.