The passage of the 13th amendment

This passage was after the civil war then and did culminate in the abolishment of the slave trade. It solely defines the role Lincoln undertook in the adoption and the implementation of the 13th amendment which made America a slave free country thus giving people the respect they deserved. Body Upon election in 1860, Lincoln took over a country that was increasingly unraveling day by day, revolving on a question whether slavery should be allowed to penetrate the Western territories of the nation. Initially elected to lobby and champion the enactment of the anti-slavery legislation, Lincoln never saw it as his duty to advocate for countrywide emancipation. While he was against the expansion of slavery into the West, Lincoln believed that under the constitution it was not on the federal government’s mandate to ban slavery in part of America where it was already established.

However, this was more of a military directive, freeing all slaves in the Confederacy where the President still had no control. The course of ending slavery was made more symbolic to the Union cause by this directive. As written by Historian Eric Foner, "never before had so large some slaves been declared free. By making the army an agent of emancipation and wedding the goals of Union and abolition, it ensured that northern victory would produce a social transformation in the South and a redefinition of the place of blacks in American life,” (Foner 23). On the national government level, Lincoln's declaration during the times of war on liberation left congressional members seeking ways to demolish as well to complete eradication of slavery from the states.

Fermont called for the adoption of a creation broadly safeguarding civil rights and endorsed the anti-slavery amendment. As argued by Michael Vorenberg a Historian, Lincoln’s surge toward abolition, was in fact, championed by the embrace of the 13th Amendment and the formation of Radical democracy. It was not until his acceptance for nomination to be President by the Republican Party, did Lincoln publicly declare his support for the amendment in place (Benedict 163). The open support by Lincoln, as well as increased efforts by the Republican Party to engage in the compromise leading to the formation of an all-inclusive political party, destabilized the Radical Democracy, and in September of the same year, its candidate, Fermont, withdrew from the Presidential race. Come November, Lincoln’s reelection seemed far but was helped by union military victories to defeat his opponent general George McClellan.

When the vote was being taken every Republican was present to vote for this final passage of the amendment. On January 31, 1865, the bill was passed by the representatives with a vote of ayes 119, the noes 56 which is a two-thirds majority. Before the amendment was ratified, the president committed a faux constitutional pass by signing the bill a step which was not required by the constitution. The day that followed Lincoln appointed a joint resolution to take the amendment to the state of legislatures for ratification. Unfortunately, he did not see the final confirmation as he was assassinated on April 14 and the amendment had to wait until December 18. Conclusion In conclusion, Lincoln’s push for ratification was symbolic in the cause of seeing out the 13th amendment.