Changes

==Ratification==

==Ratification==

The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified on December 6, 1865, 309 days after Congress had proposed it [http://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html#Am13].  Many Southern states ratified it only because Congress had made ratification an official condition of their [[Reconstruction|readmission to the Union]] after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified on December 6, 1865, 309 days after Congress had proposed it.<ref>http://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html#Am13</ref> Many Southern states ratified it only because Congress had made ratification an official condition of their [[Reconstruction|readmission to the Union]] after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

   

   

New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky ratified this amendment after initially rejecting it.  Kentucky did not ratify this amendment until 1976, in a symbolic gesture.

New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky ratified this amendment after initially rejecting it.  Kentucky did not ratify this amendment until 1976, in a symbolic gesture.