Today (December 6) is the anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery. Here’s the very short story.
Congress passed the 13th Amendment in early 1865 (watch the movie Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis). President Lincoln signed it on February 1, and then the Amendment went to the States for ratification. The Amendment reads,
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Senator Lyman Trumbull from Illinois, a co-author of the Amendment, telegraphed Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby moments after President Lincoln approved the Amendment, earnestly encouraging the legislature of the President’s home state to be the first to ratify. Oglesby urged the legislature, saying,
“It is just, it is constitutional, it is right to do so.”
Illinois ratified it that very day, becoming the first state to do so. During that same session, the horrible “Black Laws,” which had been in force since the state’s birth, were also repealed.
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became part of our Nation’s governing document on December 6, 1865.
“Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois,
Can be writ the Nation’s glory, Illinois, Illinois…”