Today 150 Years Ago – Intro to International Relations

Today North Carolina celebrates the 150^th anniversary of slavery’s end. North Carolina was the next-to-last state to ratify the 13^th amendment on December 4 1865 with a vote 100-4 House vote at the state Capitol. Only two days later, on December 6^th, Georgia followed. The Thirteen Amendment was officially ratified on December 6^th, making slavery unconstitutional in the United States. On April 8, 1864 it passed the senate and the House on January 31, 1865.

December 4, 1865 was a day that marked the history of the state, followed by many positive rapid changes the ratification of the 13^th Amendment brought. Only 3 years after the ratification of the amendment, 16 African-Americans were elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, and three were elected to the state Senate.

Today, a commemoration ceremony was help in the NC State House chamber at the Capitol, where the ratification of the 13^th amendment in NC was signed in 1865. The State Archives even put North Carolina’s copy of the amendment on display for a few hours. This was without a doubt a special occasion for the residents of the state since this document is rarely shown to the public due to its sensitivity to light due to how old the document is.

Tyler Grosse says:

December 7, 2015 at 12:44 am

Isn’t it crazy that 150 years later that slavery still exists In America, as well as globally, today. Dr. Datta has spoken about this issue numerous times before but the reason I bring it up is because of how utterly amazing it is that this could be true. How in the world is there slavery still in the world. The immorality of owning or enslaving another human being is not something that you even need to be taught. The right to liberty is an inherent freedom, one that cannot be stripped from a human being. And yet it is. It is such a shame. But, on a brighter note, in those three years, many African-Americans went from being considered “property” to seeing 19 African-American representing them in Congress. That is the type of talent and potential that presents itself when evils are eradicated and people are set free.

You can check out the link attached to read some short, pretty incredible biographies of survivors of modern slavery: http://www.walkfree.org/modern-slavery-facts/