SLAVERY IS ABOLISHED IN THE U.S.

13th-amendment-article.jpgTHE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION IS RATIFIED BY TWENTY-SIX STATES
ANNOUNCEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM SEWARD

The New York Herald
December 19, 1865

Following the end of the great Civil War, The Herald, the largest-selling newspaper at the time, publishes smack on page one, the amendment that abolished the heinous institution of slavery for all time.  Secretary of State William Seward issues the proclamation which states, in part:

“Article XIII, Section 1. 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.”

On the editorial page, the announcement reads, in full:”THE NEWS. THE ANTI-SLAVERY AMENDMENT.  Secretary Seward has officially announced that notifications of the adoption by the Legislatures of twenty-seven States of the amendment to the national constitution abolishing and prohibiting slavery throughout the country have been filed in the State Department; that the number of States being thirty-six, the amendment has been ratified by three-fourths of them, and that it is therefore now a part of the constitution, and valid to all intents and purposes.”Here is the complete and original printing of eight pages, and in very fine condition. (Scan looks “brownish”–actually the newspaper is nice and white as printed) A key event in African American history, and a coup for any museum, institution, or collector. December 18, 2015, will mark the 150th anniversary of the ratification announcement!

$8,500

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Posted by mmitchell | Filed Under African American History, All Historic Newspapers, The Civil War