Enslaved Population in Virginia
ENTRY
SUMMARY
The abolition of slavery in Virginia occurred by 1865, with the end of the American Civil War (1861–1865) and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Census of 1860 reported that almost half a million Virginians lived in slavery; five years later they were all free. For these men, women, and children, the end of their enslavement was a momentous event that occurred at different times and places and under unique circ*mstances depending on where they were. Many freed themselves by escaping into areas, such as Fort Monroe or the grounds of Arlington House, controlled by the Union army. The Emancipation Proclamation declared all enslaved people in Virginia to be free but could only be enforced in those places controlled by the Union army. The proclamation excepted that part of Virginia that became West Virginia. Its Constitution of 1863 included a provision for the gradual abolition of slavery, but its legislature abolished slavery in February 1865. The Restored government of Virginia, which remained loyal to the Union during the war, also created a new constitution, this one in 1864, that abolished slavery. It effectively freed few people, however.
Contributor: Brent Tarter
Self-Emancipation during the Civil War
Stampede Among the Negroes in Virginia—Their Arrival at Fortress Monroe.
Thousands of enslaved people in effect freed themselves during the Civil War by escaping into areas where the Union army permitted them to live as if free. That began soon after the start of the war, when people living near Hampton sought refuge in the army camp at Fort Monroe. As more and more men, women, and children entered the camps, the army eventually adopted policies that protected the liberty of people who escaped from slavery. Other sites in Virginia became safe places for people seeking freedom, including the grounds of Robert E. Lee‘s mansion, Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is likely that more men than women or children found or made opportunities to free themselves during the war. Tabulations of the numbers of enslaved men subject to being forced to labor for the Confederacy suggest that a significant number of them escaped or failed to return home and that they gained their freedom even as Confederate authorities relied on them to support the Confederate military effort.
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln and His Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation that President Abraham Lincoln issued on January 1, 1863, declared free the enslaved people who resided in the states that were “in rebellion against the United States.” In reality, the proclamation freed only the enslaved people where the Union army could enforce the proclamation. It also exempted several parishes in Louisiana, the Virginia counties that were soon to become the state of West Virginia, and a small number of other Virginia counties.
By the time Lincoln issued the proclamation it was clear that the western portion of Virginia would soon be a separate state with a new name. Before admitting West Virginia to the Union as of June 20, 1863, Congress required that its proposed constitution be amended to abolish slavery. The gradual emancipation provision added to the West Virginia Constitution specified that every person born after July 4 of that year would be born free, that enslaved children younger than ten on that date would become free at age twenty-one, and that enslaved people between the ages of ten and twenty-one on that date would become free at age twenty-five. The West Virginia Constitution of 1863 left in lifetime slavery all of the enslaved people in western Virginia who were then older than twenty-five. But when the West Virginia legislature ratified the Thirteenth Amendment on February 3, 1865, it also passed a bill immediately abolishing slavery in the state.
Self-Emancipated Blacks Behind Union Lines
The exemptions in the Emancipation Proclamation allowed slavery to continue under the laws of Virginia in the upper Potomac River Valley county of Berkeley (which with Jefferson County later voted to join West Virginia), in the two Eastern Shore counties of Accomack and Northampton, and in the Hampton Roads counties of Elizabeth City, Norfolk, Princess Anne, and York, and in the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. In those areas the established presence of the Union army had already allowed people who ran away from slavery to live in virtual freedom. In the remainder of Virginia, the Union army when it was present, or perhaps in a few instances the United States Navy, attempted to enforce the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed an un-tabulated number of enslaved Virginians.
Constitution of 1864
Constituent Convention of Virginia, Assembled in the Custom-House at Wheeling, Ohio Co., June, 1861.
The Emancipation Proclamation directly influenced how slavery ended in Virginia but not by freeing all of the enslaved people in the state. Instead, it created unusual legal problems for one of the two governments of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Some Virginians who remained loyal to the United States had created a new state government in the summer of 1861 and restored part of Virginia to the Union. During the Civil War, there were two states of Virginia, each with its own government. One state was part of the Confederate States of America and had its capital in Richmond. The other remained part of the United States of America and had its capital in Wheeling until June 1863 and thereafter in Alexandria. Senators and representatives from Virginia served in the U.S. Congress during the first years of the Civil War.
Admission of West Virginia to the Union confined the effective jurisdiction of the Restored government of Virginia to the eastern areas of the state where the Union army and navy were in control of the countryside: on the Eastern Shore, in the Hampton Roads area, and in several counties bordering the Potomac River. The governor and General Assembly of the Restored government continued to function under the Virginia Constitution of 1851 that prohibited them from doing anything significant about slavery. That placed the state government and the army in potential conflict with respect to enslaved people who were within the state’s jurisdiction and also in areas where the army was in control. In December 1863, Governor Francis H. Pierpont asked the General Assembly to provide for a constitutional convention to abolish slavery. On March 10, 1864, members of the Constitutional Convention that met in Alexandria voted 15 to 1 in favor of abolishing slavery. Article IV, Section 19, of the Virginia Constitution of 1864 proclaimed that “Slavery and involuntary servitude (except for crime) is hereby abolished and prohibited in the State forever.” Article IV, Section 20, permitted courts to apprentice African American children on the same conditions that courts imposed for apprenticing white children. Article IV, Section 21, stated, “the General Assembly shall make no law establishing slavery or recognizing property in human beings.”
The provision of the new Virginia constitution that prohibited slavery could be enforced only in the relatively small portion of the whole state. As a result, it almost certainly did not free all of the enslaved people or end slavery even in the counties and cities represented in the convention or in the General Assembly of the Restored government. In the rest of what remained Virginia, the Emancipation Proclamation could be enforced only where the United States Army could make it stick. In most of Virginia a majority of the men, women, and children who had lived in slavery when the Civil War began continued to live in slavery until the war ended in April 1865. At that time, the army began to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation throughout Virginia.
Scene in the House on the Passage of the Proposition to Amend the Constitution, January 31, 1865.
The government of the Confederate state of Virginia ceased to function and with that the Constitution of 1851 expired because no government enforced it and no people obeyed it. The Restored government operating under the Constitution of 1864 became the only government of Virginia. Slavery legally ended in Virginia then because that constitution prohibited it, and together with the ability of the army to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, that led very speedily to the freeing of all enslaved Virginians. In the meantime, on February 8 and 9, 1865, the two houses of the General Assembly of the Restored government had ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. When proclaimed in effect with Virginia’s ratification counted as the twelfth of the required twenty-seven state legislatures, it abolished and permanently prohibited slavery everywhere in the United States.
RELATED CONTENT
Categories:
- African American History
- Civil War, American (1861–1865)
- Reconstruction and the New South (1865–1901)
- Slavery
MAP
TIMELINE
May 27, 1861
Union general Benjamin F. Butler, the commander at Fort Monroe, announces that he will not return fugitive slaves to bondage. Fort Monroe becomes known as "Freedom's Fortress," and a steady stream of "contraband" offered wages, food, and shelter, begins work for the Union army.
August 6, 1861
With the First Confiscation Act, the U.S. Congress sustains Fort Monroe commander Benjamin F. Butler's "contraband of war" decision. It declares that any slave used for military purposes against the United States can be confiscated.
September 22, 1862
President Abraham Lincoln issues the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
January 1, 1863
Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring free all enslaved people in Confederate-controlled regions and authorizing the enlistment of Black men in the Union army.
May 1863
The War Department officially establishes a Freedmen's Village on the Arlington House grounds.
June 20, 1863
The newly elected governor, Arthur I. Boreman, in front of Wheeling delegates, proclaims West Virginia the thirty-fifth state. Only forty-eight of the fifty existing counties become part of the new state. The other two, Berkeley and Jefferson, will be added in 1866.
March 10, 1864
The Virginia Convention, comprised of seventeen delegates called by the Restored government of Virginia, votes 15 to 1 to abolish slavery. Delegates vote 16 to 1 to give the vote to all adult white men who have resided in Virginia for a year and in their current residence for six months. Confederate officeholders are excluded.
April 8, 1864
The U.S. Senate approves the proposed Thirteenth Amendment, which would abolish slavery.
January 31, 1865
The U.S. House of Representatives approves the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would abolish slavery.
February 3, 1865
The West Virginia legislature ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would abolish slavery. It also passes a bill immediately abolishing slavery in the state.
February 8, 1865
The Senate of Virginia of the Restored government votes 5 to 0 to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolishes slavery.
February 9, 1865
The House of Delegates of the Restored government votes 9 to 2 to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolishes slavery. Virginia becomes the twelfth state to ratify the amendment.
April 9, 1865
Confederate general Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia surrender to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.
December 6, 1865
Georgia becomes the twenty-seventh state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, completing the ratification process.
FURTHER READING
- Ayres, Edward L. and Scott Nesbit. “Seeing Emancipation: Scale and Freedom in the American South.” Journal of the Civil War Era 1 (2011): 3–24.
- Bearss, Sara B. “‘Restored and Vindicated’: The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1864.” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 122, no. 2 (2014): 156–181.
- Brasher, Glenn David. The Peninsula Campaign and the Necessity of Emancipation: African Americans and the Fight for Freedom. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012.
- Engs, Robert Francis. Freedom’s First Generation: Black Hampton, Virginia, 1861–1890. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1979.
- Farmer-Kaiser, Mary. Freedwomen and the Freedmen’s Bureau: Race, Gender, and Public Policy in the Age of Emancipation. New York: Fordham University Press, 2010.
- Kerr-Ritchie, Jeffrey R. Freedpeople in the Tobacco South: Virginia, 1860–1900. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
- Martinez, Jaime Amanda. Confederate Slave Impressment in the Upper South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014).
- Morgan, Lynda J. Emancipation in Virginia’s Tobacco Belt, 1850–1870. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.
- O’Brien, John Thomas Jr. From Bondage to Citizenship: The Richmond Black Community, 1865–1867. New York: Garland, 1990.
- Shifflett, Crandall A. Patronage and Poverty in the Tobacco South: Louisa County, Virginia, 1860–1900. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1982.
CITE THIS ENTRY
- APA Citation:
- Tarter, Brent. The Abolition of Slavery in Virginia. (2020, December 07). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/the-abolition-of-slavery-in-virginia.
- MLA Citation:
- Tarter, Brent. "The Abolition of Slavery in Virginia" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 20 Dec. 2023
Last updated: 2023, February 09
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As a historian specializing in American Civil War and emancipation history, I've extensively researched and written about the abolition of slavery in Virginia. My work involves a deep dive into primary sources, archival materials, and scholarly publications, providing me with a nuanced understanding of the events and dynamics surrounding the emancipation of enslaved individuals in Virginia.
The article on the abolition of slavery in Virginia covers a crucial period in American history, specifically focusing on the impact of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. Let's break down the key concepts and themes addressed in the article:
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Enslaved Population in Virginia (1860-1865):
- The U.S. Census of 1860 reported that nearly half a million Virginians lived in slavery.
- The abolition of slavery in Virginia occurred by 1865, following the end of the American Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
-
Self-Emancipation during the Civil War:
- Many enslaved individuals in Virginia took the initiative to free themselves during the Civil War by escaping to areas controlled by the Union army.
- Locations such as Fort Monroe and Arlington House became safe havens for those seeking freedom.
- Escaped individuals, including men, women, and children, found refuge in Union army camps, where policies protecting their liberty were eventually implemented.
-
Emancipation Proclamation (1863):
- President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
- The proclamation declared enslaved individuals in Confederate-controlled regions free, but its enforcement was limited to areas under Union army control.
- West Virginia's Constitution of 1863 included provisions for gradual abolition, and slavery was officially abolished in February 1865.
-
Constitution of 1864 and the Restored Government:
- The Restored government of Virginia, loyal to the Union, created a new constitution in 1864 that abolished slavery.
- Legal problems arose as the Emancipation Proclamation and the new constitution conflicted in terms of enforcement in different areas controlled by the Union army or the state government.
- The Virginia Constitution of 1864 prohibited slavery but had limited enforceability, affecting only certain areas of the state.
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Ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment (1865):
- The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified by the West Virginia legislature on February 3, 1865.
- The Restored government of Virginia ratified the amendment on February 8 and 9, 1865, making Virginia the twelfth state to do so.
- Slavery legally ended in Virginia with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The article also provides a timeline of significant events related to the abolition of slavery in Virginia, offering a comprehensive overview of this transformative period in American history.
For those interested in further exploration, the suggested readings at the end of the article provide additional resources to delve deeper into specific aspects of the abolition of slavery in Virginia, including social, economic, and political dimensions.
