LoC Blog: Making Freedom the Law of the Land

Abraham Lincoln. Photograph by Matthew Brady, 1864

The Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln understood, was a wartime measure that wouldn’t ensure the freedom of slaves once the Civil War ended and furthermore didn’t apply in slave states that remained in the Union. The only solution, he knew, was a constitutional amendment that permanently abolished slavery throughout the United States. The Senate took an important step toward that end when it passed, by a 38-6 vote, a proposed amendment outlawing slavery on April 8, 1864. Passage in the House proved more difficult. That June, the amendment fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority required for approval. After winning re-election in November, Lincoln made passage in the House his top legislative priority. Following an intense lobbying campaign, the House finally passed the amendment, 119-56, on Jan. 31, 1865—cheered on by jubilant African-Americans watching from the gallery. ... [mehr] https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/02/african-american-history-month-making-freedom-the-law-of-the-land/