Full Text of SR0065 98th General Assembly
SR0065 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois, the home state of President | 3 | | Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation 150 | 4 | | years ago freeing black persons held in bondage in Confederate | 5 | | territory and used all the influence of his office to ensure | 6 | | the passage through Congress of the Thirteenth Amendment to the | 7 | | United States Constitution, became the first state in the union | 8 | | to ratify that amendment on February 1, 1865; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in | 10 | | America and states that "Neither slavery nor involuntary | 11 | | servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party | 12 | | shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United | 13 | | States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, After receiving word that the United States House | 15 | | of Representatives had approved the Thirteenth Amendment, | 16 | | Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby on February 1, 1865, | 17 | | informed the State legislature of its passage and urged its | 18 | | immediate ratification on the grounds that doing so was "just" | 19 | | and "humane"; 3 1/2 hours later, the amendment stood ratified | 20 | | by both chambers; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The Thirteenth Amendment officially became the | 22 | | law of the land on December 18, 1865, after 27 states - 19 in |
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| 1 | | the north and west, and 8 in the south - had ratified it; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Each February, the nation observes Black History | 3 | | Month, a time of teaching and learning about the black men and | 4 | | women who are an integral part of our nation's narrative and | 5 | | have made outstanding contributions to national life and the | 6 | | ongoing struggle for freedom, justice, and equality; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The addition of the Thirteenth Amendment to the | 8 | | United States Constitution marked a turning point in the | 9 | | history of American race relations; despite being by no means | 10 | | the end of discrimination, injustice, and oppression, it | 11 | | represented the beginning of a road that has stretched from Jim | 12 | | Crow laws to Brown v. Board of Education to the Selma Civil | 13 | | Rights March to the nation's first black president and beyond; | 14 | | therefore, be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 16 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the month | 17 | | of February in 2013 as Thirteenth Amendment Ratification Month | 18 | | in the State of Illinois to recognize the importance of the | 19 | | Illinois General Assembly's proud vote for abolition in 1865 - | 20 | | the first in the nation - and this document's vital place in | 21 | | the annals of black and American history; and be it further
| 22 | | RESOLVED, That we encourage schools, civic organizations, |
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| 1 | | and other institutions in the State of Illinois, as they | 2 | | observe Black History Month, to study the passage and | 3 | | ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, the leaders who | 4 | | brought the State and nation to this historic moment, and the | 5 | | effects of ratification on Illinoisans and Americans of all | 6 | | races.
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