31 January 1865 A.D. House Passes 13th
Amendment
Editors. “House passes 13th
Amendment.” History.com. N.d. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/house-passes-the-13th-amendment. Accessed 31 Jan 2015.
House passes the 13th Amendment
On this day in 1865, the
U.S. House of Representatives passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution,
abolishing slavery in America. The amendment read, "Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States, or
any place subject to their jurisdiction."
When the Civil War began,
President Abraham Lincoln's professed goal was the restoration of the Union.
But early in the war, the Union began keeping escaped slaves rather than
returning them to their owners, so slavery essentially ended wherever the Union
army was victorious. In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation, freeing all slaves in areas that were still in rebellion against
the Union. This measure opened the issue of what to do about slavery in border
states that had not seceded or in areas that had been captured by the Union
before the proclamation.
In 1864, an amendment
abolishing slavery passed the U.S. Senate but died in the House as Democrats
rallied in the name of states' rights. The election of 1864 brought Lincoln
back to the White House along with significant Republican majorities
in both houses, so it appeared the amendment was headed for passage when the
new Congress convened in March 1865. Lincoln preferred that the amendment
receive bipartisan support--some Democrats indicated support for the measure,
but many still resisted. The amendment passed 119 to 56, seven votes above the
necessary two-thirds majority. Several Democrats abstained, but the 13th
Amendment was sent to the states for ratification, which came in December 1865.
With the passage of the amendment, the institution that had indelibly shaped
American history was eradicated.
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