Amy Spain

March 10, 1865 - One of the last known executions of an enslaved person in the United States took place on this day in Darlington, South Carolina.

Amy Spain was a 17-year-old enslaved woman when Union troops briefly occupied the town near the end of the Civil War. As Confederate officials fled Darlington, many enslaved people began openly celebrating the arrival of the Union army. According to later accounts, Amy was heard shouting, “Bless the Lord, the Yankees have come!”

During the brief occupation, some enslaved residents began collecting property from the homes of former slaveholders. When Union forces soon moved on and Confederate authorities returned, Amy was arrested and accused of encouraging the seizures.

A Confederate military tribunal quickly tried and convicted her. She was sentenced to death and hanged from a tree in Darlington’s public square.

Amy Spain was executed on March 10, 1865 — only weeks before the Confederacy collapsed and slavery was formally abolished.

Her death is widely regarded as the last recorded execution of an enslaved person in American history.