Seward, William Henry (1801-1872) [Sealed certification of the Thirteenth Amendment]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03264.01 Author/Creator: Seward, William Henry (1801-1872) Place Written: Washington, D.C. Type: Document signed Date: 2 February 1865 Pagination: 1 p. : docket ; 24.3 x 20.4 cm. Order a Copy
Seward, Secretary of State, certifies accompanying true copy of Thirteenth Amendment (GLC03264.02). Contains faded seal and fragmented dark blue ribbon. Partially printed on United States Department of State paper.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by the Senate April 1864, by the House January 1865, and ratified December 1865, abolished slavery as a legal institution.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting: I certify, That annexed is a True copy of a Joint Resolution of Congress, entitled "A Resolution submitting to the legislatures of the several States a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United State;" the original of which is on file in this Department.----------
In testimony whereof, I William H. Seward , SECRETARY OF STATE of the UNITED
STATES, have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of the Department of State to
be affixed.
[text loss]ONE at the City of Washington, this second---------- day of February, A.D.
1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the 89th .
William H. Seward [2] A Resolution
Submitting to the legislatures of the several States a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Constitution, namely:
Article XIII
Section 1. Neither slavery nor [3] 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.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Approved, February 1, 1865.
[Docket]
asserted Copy of the Joint Resolution of Congress purposing amendment to Constitution of the U.S. approved 1th Febry 1865 filed Jul 6, 1865,
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