Draft of Senate Joint Resolution Submitting the Thirteenth Amendment to the States
1864
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This document is a draft of the Senate's joint resolution of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. A joint resolution is a formal opinion adopted by both houses of the legislative branch. A constitutional amendment must be passed as a joint resolution before it is sent to the states for ratification.
Transcript
S. R. 16Joint Resolution.
[crossed out: Substitute] amendment
[typed text adhered to document]
[crossed out: Joint Resolution]
Submitting to the legislatures of the several States a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States.
[italics] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, [end italics] (two-thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Constitution, namely:
Article XIII.
Section 1. [handwritten] Neither slaver nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall [crossed out: hereafter] exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Sec. 2 Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
S.R. 16
Joint Resolution
[horizontal line]
Substitute
Amendment
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.
National Archives Identifier: 1943528
Full Citation: Draft of Senate Joint Resolution 16 Submitting the 13th Amendment to the States; 1864; (SEN 38A-B2); Bills and Resolutions Originating in the Senate, 1789 - 2002; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/senate-thirteenth-amendment, April 18, 2025]Activities that use this document
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