The Thirteenth Amendment

During the early years of America, agricultural demands drove most of the economy allowing the South to demanded political protection. One of the protective measures was the Three-Fifths Compromise in 1787. The South wanted to count the slaves toward its population allowing for more representation. At the Constitutional Convention, the delegates decided to count a slave as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of determining the population for how many seats each State would have in the House. This solidified Southern control over Politics for several years to come. During the ante-bellum period, the demand for cotton grew continuously forcing yet another successful compromise for the South, the Compromise of 1850. A five bill document, but one very important bill, which was The Fugitive Slave

Beginning in the 1790’s, continuing into the 1800’s American politics became a brutal sport. Problems arose between the people as attention shifted from building a new federal government to how powerful that federal government would be. The decision of what America’s government would be and represent was more than urgent. Although American’s government was up in the air, citizens still made their wants for change known. For example, Franklin 's Address on Slavery (November 9, 1789) where he called for an end to slavery and gave ways that the tradition could be dismantled. As you can see, American leaders had a lot of pressure, responsibilities, and request at their feet.

One of reasons the confederacy failed was because the U.S. Congress, with Lincoln’s support, proposed the 13th amendment which would abolish slavery in America. Although the confederate peace delegation was unwilling to accept a future without slavery, the radical and moderate Republicans designed a way to takeover the reconstruction program. The Radical Republicans wanted full citizenship rights for African Americans and wanted to implement harsh reconstruction policies toward the south. The radical republican views made up the majority of the Congress and helped to pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens, and protected freedmen from presidential vetoes, southern state legislatures, and federal court decisions. In 1869, Congress passed the fifteenth amendment stating that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” To destroy the confederacy and make the south rejoin the union, extreme legal measures such as passing amendments needed to be taken by the government to affirm Union’s power over the south. The government also successfully being able to pass these amendments created a less discriminatory society and helped the south ease their beliefs on slavery, so that it could be easier for them to reunite with the

The book I read this month was titled Voices from the Civil War by Milton Meltzer. When the United States defeated Mexico we gained California, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado(Pg.1). In 1850 the Fugitive Slave Law came to power. It stated that all slave found in the North where to be returned to there owner. Many found the law to be unjust and refused to obey it(pg.11-13). Abraham Lincoln stated "A House Divided Against Itself Will Not Stand." 1855 Stephen Douglas won the senate seat against Abraham Lincoln(pg.16-20). On October 16, 1859 JOHN Brown with 21 men attacked the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry Virginia. He was going to try to arm as many slaves as he could. Two of Johns ' sons where killed with eight other men. John and the rest off the men where taken prisoner. Brown was sentenced to death(pg.20-21). The news of the raid made cities of the Southern states call for troops for fear for slave uprisings. Lincoln won his ele for president and the South seceded from the Union. The South the Elected Jefferson Davis as there President(pg. 25-26). Five weeks after Lincoln took the oath of office, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter. The Civil War had begun(pg. 33). The

James Buchanan took office in 1857. He was the fifteenth president of the United States. Buchanan won by the support he received from southern states. He served as the President of the United States of America right before the Civil War. Although he was in office before the actual war broke out, Buchanan was ruling over a nation that was quickly dividing. James had good intentions but he lacked personal will and the political skills to make a strong stand. With the right skills, he might’ve prevented the Civil War. Buchanan tried to deal with the issues of slavery and the tension between the North and the South by relying on constitutional doctrines. However, the North would not accept a document that favored the South, so Buchanan was greatly challenged. His policy was that slavery was for individual states and territories to deal with, not for the Federal government. He thought the problems could be resolved quickly and easily, which was a majorly incorrect assumption. Also during his presidency, political parties changed, the Democrats breaking up and the Republicans taking out the Whig

In the essay What We Can Learn About the Art of Persuasion from Candidate Abraham Lincoln: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Three Speeches That Propelled Lincoln into the Presidency, Michael Loudenslager analyzes the rhetorical devices used by Abraham Lincoln that made him the most prominent political figure of the day. When Loudenslager’s analysis is employed to real world applications in various business ventures, this knowledge can be extremely useful in becoming a successful persuader in every facet of life.

While both Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech and George Washington’s Farewell Address talks about the government and people uniting, Lincoln’s speech speaks more about slavery and Washington’s address advised warnings about the liberties necessary for the country/nation to survive. On June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln gave the speech at the State Republican to more than 1,000 delegates. He told them that they have to decide whether all states in the country will either promote slavery or end it completely. He states that the “government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free” because the house would not be able to stand. On the other hand, Washington’s address was published in the newspapers across the country on September

According to Document J, the Thirteenth Amendment, “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.” It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in ten states. Because it was issued under the President's war powers, it excluded areas not in rebellion, but in the end it applied to more than 3 million slaves at the time. Nonetheless, it was only a war measure to hurt the Confederacy and advance in the

Angela Davis Once said “Well for one, The 13th Amendment to the constitution of the U.S. which abolished slavery, did not abolish slavery for those convicted of a crime.” Although the amendment was desperately needed it made more problems for the U.S.The thirteenth amendment was about abolishing slavery. Many people had different opinions about this amendment. The amendment affected our nation dramatically.

In the year of 1865, the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress. This Amendment formally abolished slavery within the United states. This ratification was the final consent to considering the Three-Fifths compromise obsolete; A compromise that was relevant for many years reforming the idea of how the slave count should be considered into the population of the United States. Not only did this Amendment shatter the idea of giving slave three-fifths of a count toward the population, this was the first formal movement towards giving slaves an identity. Although, it wasn’t until the Fourteenth Amendment that slaves were defined as citizens. The Thirteenth amendment was the beginning of a developing chapter in History.

Lincoln’s political religion grounds itself in the American principle of equality. His political religion was necessary to bind the nation together in a time of dire need. The nation stood divided. One side believed it was their natural right to reap the fruits of another man’s labor, which denied his natural rights as well as his humanity, while the other side disagreed, affirming the humanity of the slaves and remained free. Lincoln pushed to change public sentiment in regard to slavery. In his 1858 speech “A House Divided”, he wrote,

A month after Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States. He was pursing to abolish slavery on December 6, 1864. This was known as the 13th amendment. Lincoln did purse abolishing slavery even though he was executed in April. On December 18th, this amendment was authorized.

The 13th Amendment was the first amendment to be written as a result of the Civil War. Before it was passed, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which was supposed to “free slaves in territory.” The Civil War was about reunification, but Lincoln soon realized it was about the abolishment of slavery, too. Lincoln wanted a constitutional amendment to be passed. I believe that this is the most important amendment because it directly affected many lives. With slavery, you take away a person’s human right to decide how to live! This amendment was the beginning of equality, which led the way for future generations.

The film Lincoln is set during the Civil War. Throughout the film Abraham Lincoln is getting closer and closer to the end of the war. In the movie Abraham Lincoln is concerned for one main reason. He is worried that the courts might overturn his Emancipation Proclamation once the Civil War finishes. This leads him to believe that his 14th amendment might be defeated by some of the returning slave states. Lincoln is not frantically trying to find the crucial votes he needs to pass the 14th amendment. President Lincoln heavily relies on two individuals to help him. The first individual is Francis Preston Scott and the second individual is Secretary of State William Seward. Blair is one of the founders of the Republican party. President Lincoln needs Blair’s help to secure some votes for the 14th amendment n some of the Western and border Conservative states. On the other hand, President Lincoln is working with Secretary of State William Seward to get some of the necessary democratic votes. Securing democratic votes will be a challenge for them. This is why they are targeting democrats who are lame ducked. They believe they will vote for the amendment because they do not have to answer to any of their voters anymore. Their votes do not come cheap though. Their reward for backing the passage of the amendment is receiving federal jobs. Later on in the film, the amendment comes to a vote. Right before voting commences a rumor starts swirling around in the senate chambers indicating that the Confederates want to pursue peace talks. Lincoln denies that they are in Washington D.C. because he told them to stay out of the city during voting. Voting goes on and ends with the passage of the 14th amendment. A few days later the civil war draws to a close with the surrender of Robert E. Lee and his troops