Who was responsible for the end of slavery in the United States?

Abraham Lincoln played a pivotal role in the end of slavery in the United States through leadership during the Civil War and his issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. This landmark executive order, issued in 1863, declared the freedom of enslaved people in Confederate states, altering the character of the Civil War and setting a course towards total abolition. Lincoln’s commitment to preserving the Union and his moral opposition to slavery culminated in the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, which formally abolished slavery in 1865.

While George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both viewed as Founding Fathers of the nation, they lived in a time when slavery was still legally acceptable, and their legacies are mixed with their own connections to slavery. Frederick Douglass, on the other hand, was an influential abolitionist and former enslaved person who advocated for emancipation and equality but did not hold the political power necessary to abolish slavery. Lincoln's decisive actions were instrumental in shaping the legal and social frameworks that led to the end of slavery in the U.S.