“When did slavery end in the United States?” is a tough question to answer. Most people point to one of three dates: Emancipation Day on January 1, 1863; the ratification of the 13th Amendment on December 6, 1865; or Juneteenth on June 19, 1865. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation provided a pathway to freedom for enslaved African Americans in Union-occupied areas of Confederate states like Beaufort, Elizabeth City, Plymouth, and New Bern in North Carolina.