Chapter DIV: Section 10: And be it further enacted, That when any person (21)

"On the last day of [January, 1865] … one of the grandest
events of the century was witnessed in the House of
Representatives in the final passage of the Constitutional
Amendment [the Thirteenth] forever prohibiting slavery.
Numerous propositions on the subject had been submitted, but
the honor of drafting the one adopted belongs to Lyman
Trumbull, who had introduced it early in the first session of
this Congress. It passed the Senate on the 8th of April, 1864,
only six members voting against it, … but failed in the House
on the 15th of June following. It now came up on the motion of
Mr. Ashley to reconsider this vote. Congress had abolished
slavery in the District of Columbia, and prohibited it in all
the Territories. It had repealed the Fugitive Slave law, and
declared free all negro soldiers in the Union armies and their
families; and the President had played his grand part in the
Proclamation of Emancipation. But the question now to be
decided completely overshadowed all others. The debate on the
subject had been protracted and very spirited. … The time for
the momentous vote had now come, and no language could
describe the solemnity and impressiveness of the spectacle
pending the roll-call. The success of the measure had been
considered very doubtful, and depended upon certain
negotiations, the result of which was not fully assured, and
the particulars of which never reached the public. The anxiety
and suspense during the balloting produced a deathly
stillness, but when it became certainly known that the measure
had prevailed the cheering in the densely-packed hall and
galleries surpassed all precedent and beggared all
description. Members joined in the general shouting, which was
kept up for several minutes, many embracing each other, and
others completely surrendering themselves to their tears of
joy. It seemed to me I had been born into a new life."

_G. W. Julian,
Political Recollections,
chapter 11._

"The Joint Resolution passed [the House of Representatives, on
the 31st of January], 119 to 56, 8 not voting, 10 Democrats
voting aye. … It was the greatest day the House had ever seen,
nor is it likely ever to see a greater."

_O. J. Hollister,
Life of Schuyler Colfax,
page 245._

The Thirteenth Amendment, which was ratified before the close
of the year by three-fourths of the States, and its embodiment
in the Constitution of the United States proclaimed by the
Secretary of State on the 18th of December, 1865, is as
follows:

"Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except
as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any
place subject to their jurisdiction.