Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Learning by Teaching: The First 13th Amendment

Here is a fact I recently came across in my AP US History class. Apparently before the familiar 13th Amendment was passed, another one had been proposed called the Corwin Amendment (named after the politician who proposed it). The amendment would have made any attempt to by the federal government to interfere with slavery illegal. This final attempt at preventing the Civil War actually passed through Congress, but was never ratified by the states (more proof that the Civil War was about states vs. federal rights not slavery alone). The most ironic part is that the proposal that later became the 13th Amenmdent actually abolished slavery completely. Even more interesting, becaue the Corwin Amendment was not given a time limit and could technically still be ratified today. Here is a list of other failed amendments, including regulating child labor, equal rights for women and representation in Congress for Washington D.C.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:05 PM

    What about the child labor amendment introduced in 1924?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another interesting failed (but still pending) amendment!

    ReplyDelete

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