On this day in 1865, Alabama ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, to be followed closely by North Carolina and Georgia. The Amendment outlawed slavery in the United States. The immediate impact of the amendment was to make the entire pre-war system of chattel slavery in the U.S. illegal. The impact of the abolition of slavery was felt quickly. When the Thirteenth Amendment became operational, the scope of Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was widened to include the entire nation. Although the majority of Kentucky’s slaves had been emancipated, 65,000–100,000 people remained to be legally freed when the amendment went into effect on December 18. In Delaware, where a large number of slaves had escaped during the war, nine hundred people became legally free.
The Three-Fifths Compromise in the original Constitution counted, for purposes of allocating taxes and seats in the House of Representatives, all “free persons”, three-fifths of “other persons” (i.e., slaves) and excluded untaxed Native Americans. The freeing of all slaves made the three-fifths clause moot. Compared to the pre-war system, it also had the effect of increasing the political power of former slave-holding states by increasing their share of seats in the House of Representatives, and consequently their share in the Electoral College.
As the amendment still permitted labor as punishment for convicted criminals, Southern states responded with an array of interlocking laws essentially intended to criminalize black life. These laws, passed or updated after emancipation, were known as Black Codes. Mississippi was the first state to pass such codes, with an 1865 law titled “An Act to confer Civil Rights on Freedmen”. The Mississippi law required black workers to contract with white farmers by January 1 of each year or face punishment for vagrancy. Blacks could be sentenced to forced labor for crimes including petty theft, using obscene language, or selling cotton after sunset. States passed new, strict vagrancy laws that were selectively enforced against blacks without white protectors. The labor of these convicts was then sold to farms, factories, lumber camps, quarries, and mines.
Pineapple and Spam???
BADA BING!
ust a helpful reminder as Christmas approaches: if your birth year starts with 19, wrap your presents on a table, not the floor.
There is no truth to the persistent rumor that France intends to seize control of the Rock of Gibraltar from England and rename it “De Gaulle Stone.”
He’s paved the rose garden. He’s bulldozing the White House. There’s a planned UFC fight on the lawn. What in the white trash hell is happening?!
I just want to go back to a time where my first thought of the day is not, “what the hell did he do now?”
Why is a cow tired after giving birth? Because they’re decaffeinated.
What do you call a hippie’s wife? Mississippi.
Statistically speaking, 6 out of 7 dwarves are not Happy.
tRUMP’s healthcare plan has been “two weeks away” for so long it technically qualifies as a pre-existing condition.
Scientists planted human brain cells in a Sweet Potato. Its very first words, “I think therefore I yam”.
Mourning people really enjoy funerals before lunch.
This morning I saw an envelope on my doorstep that said: ‘Do Not Bend’. I stood there for ages trying to figure out how to pick it up.
My friend told me I was courageous for golfing so badly in front of people. I said it doesn’t take courage, but it does take a lot of balls.
Today is the birthday, in 1981, of American singer Britney Spears, referred to as the “Princess of Pop”, she has had a significant cultural impact in the 21st century and is credited for helping revive the teen pop genre She scored the 1999 US & UK No.1 single ‘Baby One More Time’, (one of the best-selling singles in history), and the 1999 album Baby One More Time, spent 82 weeks on the UK chart. With over 150 million records sold worldwide, Spears is one of the best-selling music artists in history, with Nielsen SoundScan ranking her the fourth best-selling female album artist of their era. Forbes listed her as the world’s highest-paid female musician twice, in 2001 and 2012. Spears received numerous industry awards, including one Grammy Award, six MTV Video Music Awards, and seven Billboard Music Awards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-u5WLJ9Yk4
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