The Thirteenth Amendment
Both Abraham Lincoln and William Seward had a part in the creation of the Thirteenth Amendment.
It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On December 18, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been adopted.
President Lincoln and the other Republicans worried that the Emancipation Proclamation was just thought of as a temporary war measure. It didn't free many slaves in the border states, and technically, it didn't even abolish slavery.
The country would need something stonger than a proclamation, something connected to the power of the U.S. Constitution; an amendment.
This amendment would officially outlaw slavery, which the Emancipation Proclamation did not do by the time the Civil War was over. It was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 8, 1864. However, amendment died when the U.S. House Reprisentatives, as Democrats, rallied in the name of the states' rights.
Fortunatly, when Lincoln was re-elected in the vote of 1864, he was followed by a majority of Republican followers. The amendment was taken back to the House of Representatives, and was passed in a 119 to 56 vote, seven votes more than the needed 2/3 majority vote.
Some Democrats restrained, but the 13th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification. The amendment was adopted on December 6, 1865. On December 18, 1865, Secratary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been adopted.
It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On December 18, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been adopted.
President Lincoln and the other Republicans worried that the Emancipation Proclamation was just thought of as a temporary war measure. It didn't free many slaves in the border states, and technically, it didn't even abolish slavery.
The country would need something stonger than a proclamation, something connected to the power of the U.S. Constitution; an amendment.
This amendment would officially outlaw slavery, which the Emancipation Proclamation did not do by the time the Civil War was over. It was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 8, 1864. However, amendment died when the U.S. House Reprisentatives, as Democrats, rallied in the name of the states' rights.
Fortunatly, when Lincoln was re-elected in the vote of 1864, he was followed by a majority of Republican followers. The amendment was taken back to the House of Representatives, and was passed in a 119 to 56 vote, seven votes more than the needed 2/3 majority vote.
Some Democrats restrained, but the 13th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification. The amendment was adopted on December 6, 1865. On December 18, 1865, Secratary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been adopted.