HR0150 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0150 LRB099 08873 MST 29045 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The United States of America, for nearly 250 years following the colonization of Jamestown, Virginia, was built in large part from the work of an estimated 500,000 men and women of African origin brought to the new country, forced into labor and deprived of their liberty; and

WHEREAS, The importation of these men and women into the United States continued until Congress outlawed the slave trade in March 1807, after which time slavery instead came to rely on those already enslaved and their descendants; and

WHEREAS, By 1860, the United States slave population had grown to number almost 4 million, accounting for more than 12% of the country's entire population; and

WHEREAS, Slavery, which President Abraham Lincoln called a "monstrous injustice", imposed harsh and inhumane conditions on slaves who were unable to escape, running directly counter to the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness expressed in the Declaration of Independence; and

WHEREAS, The national debate over slavery, which had begun with the United States Constitutional Convention and continued as new territory was added, included divisive decisions such as the Missouri Compromise in 1820 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854; it came to a head with the 1860 presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed expanding slavery into new territories; and

WHEREAS, Within 3 months of President Lincoln's election, 7 southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America and setting the country on a course for civil war; following the first shot of the Civil War upon the federal outpost of Fort Sumter off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina on April 12, 1861, 4 more southern states and border states seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America; and

WHEREAS, In the midst of the Civil War on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, granting freedom to all slaves in areas of the Confederacy not already under Union control, which enabled Union soldiers to enforce emancipation as they advanced into the Confederacy, freeing many American slaves; and

WHEREAS, A number of freed slaves, whether by means of emancipation or by means of escape, immediately enlisted in the Union Army to continue fighting for the freedom of all slaves; and

WHEREAS, On January 11, 1864, United States Senator John B. Henderson of Missouri submitted a joint resolution for a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, with the U.S. Senate passing the resolution on April 8, 1864 and the U.S. House of Representatives passing it on January 31, 1865; and

WHEREAS, Illinois was the first state to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on February 1, 1865; and

WHEREAS, With Georgia's ratification on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified by three-fourths of the states, and on December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to be valid as a part of the Constitution; and

WHEREAS, As the New York World stated on December 19, 1865, "The proclamation of Secretary Seward, published yesterday, making the official declaration required by law that the Constitutional amendment had been ratified by the requisite three fourths of the States, takes out of politics, and consigns to history, an institution incongruous with justice, and repugnant to the human sentiments fostered by Christian civilization"; and

WHEREAS, The Thirteenth Amendment freed all remaining slaves within the United States, which by that time numbered at least 40,000; and

WHEREAS, Though the fight for civil rights had only just begun, the Thirteenth Amendment marked an important turning point in American history and in recognizing the equality of all; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the 150th anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment on December 6, 2015; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois honors all individuals involved in the fight against slavery, especially those who gave their lives in support of the enduring legacy of freedom enshrined in the Thirteenth Amendment.