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Slavery -- Save or Destroy?
Weeks before the Civil War started, there was still hope of preserving peace and saving the Union. Representative Thomas Corwin (ROH) introduced an amendment to sustain slavery and make the amendment itself unamendable. Congress approved it, but the Civil War started before the states could consider ratification. Four years later, the states ratified the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery -- the opposite of Corwin's proposal.
House Joint Resolution 80 proposing a constitutional amendment to prohibit Congress from abolishing slavery (Corwin Amendment), March 2, 1861, Records of the U.S. Senate |