The Thirteenth Amendment
Some people say Thaddeus Stevens’ quote “The greatest measure of the 19th century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in the world” is over exaggerated. However, this quote is the truth behind the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment. In simpler terms, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed due to corruption, bargaining, and the help of Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the course of the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, Lincoln requested a re-voting of the Amendment, bargained with the House members, and never told a lie.
After the first voting of the Thirteenth Amendment, it was clear that it had not passed; however, Lincoln would not give up. Lincoln had urged the Congress to hold the voting again with the same question.
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Lincoln personally brought up each individual House member who had voted no into his office in order to try and sway their vote. Quite a few House members did change their vote to an “aye” after being persuaded to do so by President Lincoln in person. Lincoln also used his presidential power to appoint members of the House, whom accepted the Amendment, to sway others votes. Lincoln said,” I am President of the United States, clothed with great power…. a measure [The Amendment] of such importance that those two votes must be procured…., and I expect you to procure those votes.” Lincoln used his power in order to get the amount of votes needed in order for the Thirteenth Amendment to pass. This shows that “… [The Thirteenth Amendment] was passed by corruption…” due to the amount of power that Lincoln held over his followers and …show more content…
The passing of the Thirteenth Amendment was one of the most important situations in American history as it finally made the Declaration of Independence’s words, “… all men are created equal…”, true. The corruption within the House was necessary in order for the Amendment to pass. Without the corruption within the House, there would have never been enough members to vote “aye”. Without the “aye” votes from 2/3 of the House, the Thirteenth Amendment would have never passed. Lincoln never told a lie to the House about any of his intentions. His intentions were pure and all for the positive outcome of his country. Therefore, the quote “The greatest measure of the 19th century was passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in the world” truly explains the approach that the Thirteenth Amendment costed in order to
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