If I remember correctly, then the US was one of the first countries to abolish slavery
Not ever close.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline1569: An English court case involving Cartwright, who had brought a slave from Russia, ruled that English law could not recognise slavery.
1706: In the case of Smith v. Browne & Cooper, Sir John Holt, Lord Chief Justice of England, rules that "as soon as a Negro comes into England, he becomes free. One may be a villein in England, but not a slave."[16][17]
1772: Somersett's case held that no slave could be forcibly removed from Britain. This case was generally taken at the time to have decided that the condition of slavery did not exist under English law in England and Wales, and emancipated the remaining ten to fourteen thousand slaves or possible slaves in England and Wales, who were mostly domestic servants.[20]
1807, 25 March: Abolition of the Slave Trade Act abolishes slave trading in British Empire. Captains fined £120 per slave transported.
1807: The British begin patrols of African coast to arrest slaving vessels. The West Africa Squadron (Royal Navy) is established to suppress slave trading; by 1865, nearly 150,000 people freed by anti-slavery operations[34]
1811: Slave trading made a felony in the British Empire, punishable by transportation for British subjects and foreigners.
1815: British pay Portugal £750,000 to cease their trade north of the Equator[37]
1817: Spain paid £400,000 by British to cease trade to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo[37]
1818: Treaty between Britain and Spain to abolish slave trade[39]
1818: Treaty between Britain and Portugal to abolish slave trade.[39]
1818: Treaty between Britain and the Netherlands taking additional measures to enforce the 1814 ban on slave trading[39]
1831: Brazil adopts the Law of 7 November 1831, declaring the maritime slave trade abolished, prohibiting any form of importation of slaves, and granting freedom to slaves should they be illegally imported into Brazil. In spite of its adoption, the law was seldom enforced prior to 1850, when Brazil, under British pressure, adopted additional legislation to criminalize the importation of slaves.
1834: The British Slavery Abolition Act comes into force, abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire. Legally frees 700,000 in West Indies, 20,000 in Mauritius, 40,000 in South Africa. The exceptions, territories controlled by the East India Company and Ceylon, were liberated in 1843 when they became part of the British Empire.[42]
1835: Treaty between Britain and France to abolish slave trade[39]
1835: Treaty between Britain and Denmark to abolish slave trade[39]
1840: Treaty between Britain and Venezuela to abolish slave trade;[39] the first World Anti-Slavery Convention meets in London.
1841: Quintuple Treaty is signed; Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria agree to suppress slave trade[21]
1842: Treaty between Britain and Portugal to extend the enforcement of the ban on slave trade to Portuguese ships sailing south of the Equator.
1843: East India Company becomes increasingly controlled by Britain and abolishes slavery in India by the Indian Slavery Act V. of 1843.
1843: Treaty between Britain and Uruguay to suppress slave trade[39]
1843: Treaty between Britain and Mexico to suppress slave trade[39]
1843: Treaty between Britain and Chile to suppress slave trade[39]
1843: Treaty between Britain and Bolivia to abolish slave trade[39]
1845: 36 British Royal Navy ships are assigned to the Anti-Slavery Squadron, making it one of the largest fleets in the world.
1846: Persuaded by Britain, the Bey of Tunisia outlawed the slave trade; the policy was reversed temporarily by his successor.[44]
1847: Under British pressure, the Ottoman Empire abolishes slave trade from Africa.[45]
1848: Treaty between Britain and Muscat to suppress slave trade[39]
1849: Treaty between Britain and Persian Gulf states to suppress slave trade[39]
1850: In the United States, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 requires the return of escaped slaves to their owners
1862: Treaty between United States and Britain for the suppression of the slave trade (African Slave Trade Treaty Act).[39]
1863: In the United States, Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation which declared slaves in Confederate-controlled areas to be freed. Most slaves in "border states" are freed by state action; separate law freed the slaves in Washington, D.C.
1865: December: U.S. abolishes slavery with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; about 40,000 remaining slaves are affected.[53]
