Ever hear of the “Corwin Amendment”?
I learned about it in an opinion piece by Jon Grinspan in
the Feb. 1 New York Times.
The so-called Corwin Amendment is a proposed constitutional
amendment that would forever protect the right of states to legalize slavery.
In fact, it was passed by Congress on March 2, 1861 (before the shooting
started at Fort Sumter), with the approval of President Lincoln, and
technically it’s still on the books, waiting for possible ratification by the
states.
It would have been the 13th Amendment if
two-thirds of the states had ratified it in the early 1860s.
The official 13th Amendment, finally ratified on
December 6, 1865, abolished slavery and “involuntary servitude,” except as
punishment for a crime.
The Corwin Amendment was sponsored by Rep. Thomas Corwin
(OH) and Sen. William Seward (NY), who became Secretary of State as one of
Lincoln’s “team of rivals.”
The proposed amendment stated:
“No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will
authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any
State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held
to labor or service by the laws of said State.”
In other words, it would have forever prohibited any
amendment to the Constitution that would outlaw slavery.
The supporters of the Corwin Amendment hoped that it and other
measures might forestall the impending outbreak of hostilities that became the
bloody Civil War.
The proposal was approved by bare two-thirds majorities in
both the House and the Senate—and note: seven states had already seceded, and
the elected congressmen from those states did NOT vote on the amendment.
Wrong on so many levels.
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015
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