Full Text of HR0150 099th General Assembly
HR0150 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The United States of America, for nearly 250 years | 3 | | following the colonization of
Jamestown, Virginia, was built in | 4 | | large part from the work of an estimated 500,000 men and
women | 5 | | of African origin brought to the new country, forced into labor | 6 | | and deprived of their
liberty; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The importation of these men and women into the | 8 | | United States continued until
Congress outlawed the slave trade | 9 | | in March 1807, after which time slavery instead came to rely
on | 10 | | those already enslaved and their descendants; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, By 1860, the United States slave population had | 12 | | grown to number almost 4 million,
accounting for more than 12% | 13 | | of the country's entire population; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Slavery, which President Abraham Lincoln called a | 15 | | "monstrous injustice", imposed
harsh and inhumane conditions | 16 | | on slaves who were unable to escape, running directly counter | 17 | | to
the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of | 18 | | happiness expressed in the Declaration of
Independence; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, The national debate over slavery, which had begun | 20 | | with the United States Constitutional
Convention and continued | 21 | | as new territory was added, included divisive decisions such as |
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| 1 | | the
Missouri Compromise in 1820 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act in | 2 | | 1854; it came to a head with the
1860 presidential election of | 3 | | Abraham Lincoln, who opposed expanding slavery into new
| 4 | | territories; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Within 3 months of President Lincoln's election, 7 | 6 | | southern states seceded from the
Union, forming the Confederate | 7 | | States of America and setting the country on a course for civil
| 8 | | war; following the first shot of the Civil War upon the federal | 9 | | outpost of Fort
Sumter off the coast of Charleston, South | 10 | | Carolina on April 12, 1861, 4 more southern states and border | 11 | | states
seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States | 12 | | of America; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In the midst of the Civil War on January 1, 1863, | 14 | | President Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation, | 15 | | granting freedom to all slaves in areas of the Confederacy not
| 16 | | already under Union control, which enabled Union soldiers to | 17 | | enforce emancipation as they
advanced into the Confederacy, | 18 | | freeing many American slaves; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, A number of freed slaves, whether by means of | 20 | | emancipation or by means of
escape, immediately enlisted in the | 21 | | Union Army to continue fighting for the freedom of all
slaves; | 22 | | and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, On January 11, 1864, United States Senator John B. | 2 | | Henderson of Missouri submitted a joint
resolution for a | 3 | | constitutional amendment abolishing slavery, with the U.S. | 4 | | Senate passing the
resolution on April 8, 1864 and the U.S. | 5 | | House of Representatives passing it on January 31,
1865; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Illinois was the first state to ratify the | 7 | | Thirteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution on | 8 | | February 1, 1865; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, With Georgia's ratification on December 6, 1865, | 10 | | the Thirteenth Amendment was
ratified by three-fourths of the | 11 | | states, and on December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H.
| 12 | | Seward proclaimed it to be valid as a part of the Constitution; | 13 | | and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, As the New York World stated on December 19, 1865, | 15 | | "The proclamation of
Secretary Seward, published yesterday, | 16 | | making the official declaration required by law that the
| 17 | | Constitutional amendment had been ratified by the requisite | 18 | | three fourths of the States, takes out
of politics, and | 19 | | consigns to history, an institution incongruous with justice, | 20 | | and repugnant to the
human sentiments fostered by Christian | 21 | | civilization"; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, The Thirteenth Amendment freed all remaining |
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| 1 | | slaves within the United States,
which by that time numbered at | 2 | | least 40,000; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Though the fight for civil rights had only just | 4 | | begun, the Thirteenth Amendment
marked an important turning | 5 | | point in American history and in recognizing the equality of | 6 | | all; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 9 | | recognize the 150th
anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment on | 10 | | December 6, 2015; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois honors all individuals | 12 | | involved in the fight against
slavery, especially those who | 13 | | gave their lives in support of the enduring legacy of freedom
| 14 | | enshrined in the Thirteenth Amendment.
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