The emancipation proclamation was a preliminary issued by Abraham Lincoln on september 22nd 1862. Abraham Lincoln and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which ended slavery in the United States, is a dramatic chapter of American history. The US Constitution, when it went into effect in 1789, had guaranteed the institution of slavery in America. In the early to mid-1800's, slavery became an increasingly divisive force in the country, with virtually the entire southern populace and many northern Democrats supporting it; and much of the North, particularly the Republican Party, opposing it. When Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the South decided to secede from the Union rather than risk the potential loss of slavery.
The only way slavery could be permanently ended was via passage of an amendment to the
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He decided to make use of his war powers as president to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which promised freedom to slaves in the southern states. How he gained support for this is an interesting story in itself. He had to not only to secure the support of the soldiers, but also overcome the doubt of many of the influential members of his own political party.
Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation was a huge step towards freedom for the slaves, but the amendment was still necessary to guarantee it. Surprisingly, the first effort to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, ending slavery, suffered a defeat in the House of Representatives by a vote of 93 to 65. Only four democrats voted in favor of eliminating slavery.
After this defeat, Lincoln took personal charge of the effort to reverse the vote of the reluctant democrats, and managed to sway enough votes that the Thirteenth Amendment succeeded in Congress the second time. It was passed in January, 1865 by a vote of 119-56 and sent to the states for