On this day in 1865

Dec. 6, 1865

Engraving of the congressional resolution for the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, published in 1868. Credit: Smithsonian Institution

The state of Georgia provided the final vote needed for the 13th Amendment to become part of the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery: “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.” 

Two days before, Mississippi lawmakers had rejected ratification. In 1995, the Mississippi Legislature, trying to rectify the historic mistake, voted to ratify the anti-slavery amendment. Because of a paperwork snafu, the vote didn’t become official until 2013.

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