Which 1777 constitution became the first in North America to prohibit slavery?

The Vermont Constitution of 1777 became the first constitution in North America to prohibit slavery.

Vermont adopted its constitution on July 8, 1777, while the American Revolution was still underway. The document declared that no person could be held as a servant or slave after reaching a specified age and also restricted the sale of people outside Vermont.

The constitution was unusually expansive for its era in other ways. It provided for universal male suffrage without a property qualification, allowing men who did not own land to vote. It also included a declaration of rights before the federal Constitution existed.

The document’s antislavery language did not instantly end every form of forced labor or eliminate racial discrimination in Vermont. Nevertheless, its constitutional prohibition was an important early milestone. Vermont joined the United States as the fourteenth state in 1791.