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Passage of Anti-Slavery Law
- When
- May 18, 1652
- Where
- Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Rhode Island enacted the first law in America prohibiting slavery on May 18, 1652.
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations passed an act abolishing the holding of slaves. This legislation is recorded as the first law prohibiting slavery in America, marking a significant legislative moment in the colony's history.
Sources
- Rhode Island Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-24
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.