Today in History: Slavery was Abolished
By Toby Friedman
On December 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment, which
abolished slavery, was adopted as part of the United States Constitution.
This meant that the U.S. officially announced that slavery
is unlawful, and immediately over 100,000 enslaved people were freed. After a
bloody civil war, the blacks were finally given their ticket to freedom!
But, in the aftermath of the Civil War, blacks were faced
with new challenges. Years later they were still kept segregated from white people
in all public facilities.
The tough, arrogant whites made sure to remind the Negroes
that they’re different and will never be fully accepted. Only after a lot of
time and a lot of effort from activists did the African Americans gain full
freedom and equality.
(From the Presidential File Collection. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.)
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