Full Text of SR0111 99th General Assembly
SR0111 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, 150 years ago this week, Illinois became the first | 3 | | state in the union
to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the | 4 | | United States Constitution; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in | 6 | | America, stating, "Neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude, | 7 | | except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have | 8 | | been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or | 9 | | any place subject to their jurisdiction"; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Illinois' native son, President Abraham Lincoln, | 11 | | who in 1863 had issued the
Emancipation Proclamation freeing | 12 | | all persons held as slaves in Confederate territory, exerted | 13 | | the full influence of his office to ensure Congressional | 14 | | passage of the Thirteenth Amendment
and propel the train of | 15 | | freedom farther down history's long track; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, On February 1, 1865, after receiving word that the | 17 | | United States House of
Representatives had approved the | 18 | | Thirteenth Amendment, Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby | 19 | | informed
the General Assembly of its passage and urged its | 20 | | immediate ratification on the grounds that doing so was
"just" | 21 | | and "humane"; three and a half hours later, the amendment stood | 22 | | ratified by both chambers; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The Thirteenth Amendment officially became the | 2 | | law of the land on December 18,
1865 after 27 states - 19 in the | 3 | | north and west, and 8 in the south - had ratified it; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Each February, the nation observes Black History | 5 | | Month, a time of teaching and
learning about the black men and | 6 | | women who are an integral part of our nation's narrative and | 7 | | have
made outstanding contributions to national life and the | 8 | | ongoing struggle for freedom, justice, and
equality; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The addition of the Thirteenth Amendment to the | 10 | | United States Constitution marked
a turning point in the | 11 | | history of American race relations; by no means the end of | 12 | | discrimination, injustice
and oppression, which persists today | 13 | | and which we unequivocally oppose, but the beginning of a road
| 14 | | that led through Jim Crow, Brown v. Board of Education, Selma, | 15 | | and to the nation's first black president and beyond; | 16 | | therefore, be it
| 17 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 18 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that February of 2015 shall | 19 | | be known as Thirteenth Amendment Ratification
Month in | 20 | | recognition of the sesquicentennial of the Twenty-fourth | 21 | | Illinois General Assembly's history-making
vote for abolition | 22 | | and the Thirteenth Amendment's vital place in the annals of |
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| 1 | | American history; and be it further
| 2 | | RESOLVED, That schools, civic organizations, and other | 3 | | institutions in the State of Illinois, as they
observe Black | 4 | | History Month, are also encouraged to study the passage and | 5 | | ratification of the
Thirteenth Amendment, the leaders who | 6 | | brought the State and nation to this historic moment, and the
| 7 | | effects of ratification on Illinoisans and Americans of all | 8 | | races.
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